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Wheel Polishing/Refurb....Some pics of the results from today


DodgyRog
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As some of you know, I got the wheels off of Fearless's Chargespeed recently

 

Well after a good clean the lips are worse than I thought and I have tried to polish them back up by hand and to be honest I am not getting anywhere fast

 

On my build thread it was mentioned about using a machine polisher

 

So I am after a machine polisher, put up a wanted thread http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?288868-Electric-Rotary-Polisher

 

but what other things will I need, is there specific pads compounds etc

 

The lips have some pitting as well as hazing

 

Any help would be good, I would love to have these on the Supra by the Dragonball, but at the present rate I am not going to make Dragonball 20

 

What options do I have, I need to keep the cost to a minimum as well

Edited by DodgyRog
Title changed to reflect the new post (see edit history)
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I made my old rims perfect again its hard work.. But this is the way I did it:

 

Very course sandpaper to rub down the uneven surface.

Then use 400 grit

Then use 400 grit + water

Then 800 grit

then 800 grit + water

Then 1200 grit

Then 1200 grit + water

Then 1500 grit + water

Then 1500 grit + Maguires metal polish

Then Maguires metal the hell out of that rim!!

 

Was:

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/4682/96376895.jpg

 

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/435/94777364.jpg

 

After:

 

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4837/48766295.jpg

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I made my old rims perfect again its hard work.. But this is the way I did it:

 

Very course sandpaper to rub down the uneven surface.

Then use 400 grit

Then use 400 grit + water

Then 800 grit

then 800 grit + water

Then 1200 grit

Then 1200 grit + water

Then 1500 grit + water

Then 1500 grit + Maguires metal polish

Then Maguires metal the hell out of that rim!!

 

Was:

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/4682/96376895.jpg

 

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/435/94777364.jpg

 

After:

 

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4837/48766295.jpg

 

Great work on those!

 

I need to polish my lips, as it's time to get them back on the car. At least they're not too bad at all :)

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Well I just went with a polishing wheel for the drill

 

Although I have not quite finished yet and I am going to have to except that I am not going to get rid of the pitting until I can afford to send them to Ibrar

 

They have come up okay, I need to go over them by hand, as I have a few fine scratches from the drill

 

This is the one I have only given a quick wash

 

image

 

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image

 

And the one I am working on

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

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QUICK TIP . If you got a Dremmel , use the fine attachment polisher . All my rims are curbed so i started on the worse one today. Once you,ve buffed the rim and got rid of the scratches and pitted spots, i rubbed it down with 1200 wet n dry, looks 100% better . By the way i used a Clark Rotary Tool , much better than Dremmel , with more attachments..

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Spent some time yesterday and most of today on the other rear wheel

 

I only have about half an hour of polishing to do and it will be done

 

but I am doing it in the back garden and it's now peeing down, so I have had to stop.............gutted lol

 

Proberbly not a good idea to try and finish it with an extension lead and electric drill I guess:badidea:

 

 

This is it for this weekend then

 

image

 

So one to finish and these 2 to do

 

image

Edited by DodgyRog (see edit history)
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I am still hand sanding with wet n dry,

 

240 to get the worst of the lacquer off, but not to excessive so as to not scratch up the rims to much

 

Then a proper work out with 600 grit

 

and a final 1200 grit to smooth them back a bit

 

then I am using a polishing wheel that came in a kit from Halfords (it was just something I could get my hands on quickly and local)

 

The compound bricks were very dry (not sure if they are supposed to be or not) and didn't seem to be doing much, so tried using AutoSol

 

The AutoSol seemed to work fine, so I have just continued with that method

 

Then once they are looking like the pics with the polished lip with no middle in, I go over them by hand again, this time with Britemax Easy Cut and then Final Finish

 

This leaves them with a nice glossy shine, I have then sealed them with a few coats of Rim Wax

 

I not saying this is a method people should follow or that it's a good way of doing it, as I am sure there are quicker ways, but it is working for me (to a degree) and it was using stuff I had to hand locally at minimal cost

 

I am not getting the pitting out with this method, just getting the mirror polish back, the pitting obviously improves, but I think I am going to send them to Ibrar in the winter (funds permitting) to get the centres Black Chromed and the lips repolished to get rid of the pitting

 

The polishing ring, although from Halfords, seems to be holding up well, the one connected to the drill has done 2 wheels nearly at this stage, the other is unused so far

 

image

 

The kit I got

 

image

Edited by DodgyRog (see edit history)
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Cheers for that, I'm going to polish up some stainless soon and didn't really know where to start, that is useful information to help me make a start :)

 

No problem, I had no idea how to do this a week or so ago, but I am really please with the results so far

 

Just take your time, it's a slow process, but rewarding

 

As I said, this may not be the best or quickest way though

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Quality work there mate, they have come up really well.

 

Thanks a lot, I am actually really enjoying it, although it takes forever

 

You need a special compound for stainless or it will scratch easy! good luck

 

Cheers Rob,

 

as I have said I am no expert, so please don't just copy what I am doing blindly

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Not having much work is really hard on the pocket, but it means I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with these wheels now

 

Weather permitting and they could be finished at the weekend, then I just need to sort out the coilovers to allow these hugely dished rims partly under my arches:cool:

 

image

 

 

Looks like I am not going to get any work today either, so I am going to wash and wax the Supra and then either do a bit more on the wheels or start on the coilovers, probably the coilovers, as it looks like the weather is going to be lovely down here today

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