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With the MR2 V6 build on hold for now and Santa Pod & RRG09 rapidly approaching I figured it best to get a car cleaned up ready to roll The obvious choice is my Delica - but unfortunately this has been used more as a workhorse for the past few years and its shiny lustre has long gone under a patina of dirt, moss, mud and neglect - 3+ years without so much as a wash has taken its toll.....especially when it has been put through some serious ordeals during that time. Anyway, on with the question: My alloys are were 'raw' polished finish which looked AWESOME when shiny, but over the years corrosion & pitting has taken the place of the shine. I know what I need to do to get the shine back....but does anyone have any hints/tips/advice for keeping the shine? Laquer is not an option - it's more hassle than it's worth because once water starts getting in under the laquer (which doesn't take long....especially as mine seems to spend a lot of time in water) then all the laquer has to come off again before a re-polish. Not practical. I love the look of the raw polished finish and I know it's not a maintenance free finish, but aside from autosol every other week are there any good ways of keeping the shine a little longer between elbow grease sessions? Car polish? Wax? Some kind of oil? I won't ever let it get as bad again as it is now but if there is a good way of maintaining the shine more easily I'd really love to know? Here is what the wheels currently look like: not too bad until you look a little closer: The result of a vehicle that has done amazing service but a little overlooked in the pampering department! One wheel after 4hrs of elbow grease and sore fingers: When I get time, the other three will end up looking the same.....but keeping the shine is now my biggest concern. Thanks for any advice & tips
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markbognor
South East
Posts: 9,970
Club RR Member Number: 56
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I read a reference to alloy wheel wax on another forum the other day.
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I've always just gave them a little polish every couple of months, even a quick going over with T cut will help.
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ezzysi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,189
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I use an alloy wheel specific wax on mine, can't remember the brand at the mo but will have a look later.
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1991 Mk2 Golf Gti 8v 2005 Passat tdi (daily) 1971 Mk1 Escort 2004 Touran (her's)
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Excellent - thanks guys.
Nice to know there is a specific product out there for helping to keep the shine.
If you can find out the name of the product (and more importantly - is it any good?) then I'd be really grateful.
El mucho gratitude,
MM
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Did you just go over them with increasingly fine sandpaper to get the shine up?
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theres several wheel waxes and sealants available , while they help ,the wheels still need alot of maintenence
might i suggest a high gloss powder coat instead ..polished rims are very hard work in the winter
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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Did you just go over them with increasingly fine sandpaper to get the shine up? LOL - maybe I should have.....but alas, no. Just lots of rubbing compound, wiping off then t-cut, then brasso. It's not as shiny as I'd like, but it'll do for now. These wheels will probably be getting a coat of satin black paint once the pitting is out of all four (becoming my winter/use & abuse/worry free set)....I've got another set of wide alloys which I am currently working on with autosol and lots of blisters to get really shiny ready for new rubber and Santa Pod/RRG09. It is these 'summer' alloys that I really want to protect....especially as they are very, very intricate!! ;D
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Wax is king - I used normal Autoglym Super resin polish on my polished Castalletes on the lupo. Waxed them once and it lasted 3 months without touching them before needing a tickling with autosol.
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Last Edit: Jun 22, 2009 8:51:14 GMT by cobblers
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Tim
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,340
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Looks good.
Seriously though, your arms (and teeth if you grit them when concenbtrating like i do) must kill. after stripping the paint off a set of allotys by hand i've vowed never to do any paint stripping or polishing manually again. Next time its gonna involve a drill/dremel/angle grinder/orbital :-)
Wipe over with wd40 every once in a while?
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There are a whole range of products aimed at maintaining a level of protection on wheels. Just like paintwork, once you have polished, you should then wax and ideally add a sealant. Polish offers no protection itself as it just an abrasive. One product that is well thought of in detailing world for protecting wheels is Poorboys Wheel Sealent. Applied to the polished wheel this will help protect against grime, brake dust etc. www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/poorboys-wheel-sealant/prod_9.htmlThere is also a very good wax that also has mild polishing qualities that I would recommend. It can also be used on alll metals, paintwork etc so is great value for money - Bilt Hamber Autobalm, amazing stuff, anti rust properties and lasts ages. www.bilthamber.com/autobalm.htmlWell recommended. Just apply it sparingly or it is a swine to buff of. Do not use WD40 as this wear off easily and worse, will just attract grit that will then scratch the wheel when it is cleaned off. Also, importantly use a non acidic wheel cleaner to prevent corrosion, DO NOT EVER use wonder wheels or similar products! Best choice here is a product called Bilberry wheel cleaner. PH neutral, very very effective and last ages too as it is effective in high dilution. www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/valet-pro-bilberry-wheel-cleaner-1-litre-/prod_499.htmlDo not go to Halfords expecting to find these sorts of products.
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Jun 22, 2009 17:16:30 GMT
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Thanks for the help and advice everyone. I'll certainly look into getting some of the wax & sealant. AlOlympic, I'll be having a closer look at those links you posted. Many thanks for that. Now to show the reason for the request. As mentioned above, the wheels in the pics I'm not too worried about. If I can keep on top of them, they are fairly easy to clean/polsih etc...being fairly smooth with a simple design (and they might be getting a coat of black anyway for winter duties) The actual wheels I am enquiring about are just a bit more fiddly!!!!!! I took the afternoon off work today to get started. Dremelled out the kerb marks on the rim, lots of sanding of the rim, wet & dry.....then COPIOUS amounts of rubbing compound, t-cut and brasso all over saw one of the wheels looking a bit more 'satisfactory'. You can probably tell that these are not easy wheels to polsih up. I can't even split them down because they are riveted together, not bolted. One down, three to go......but boy will it be worth it when I'm done! Hopefully you can see now why I want to give them some protection? I've now got eight VERY sore & blistered fingers to match two VERY sore & blistered thumbs - might take a day off between wheels to let them recover a bit. The kerbing has come out really well and you can't tell that the wheel was badly scuffed around the rim. Might take some before & after shots of the kerbing repair when I do the next one. Do you reckon there is much of a difference in finish then? Bring on the SHINE! ;D ;D
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Jun 22, 2009 17:42:04 GMT
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Looking good. Here was me thinking my cosmics "would do for now" but there's no way I can be seen in public withthem now. Where's my polishing mops.
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Jun 22, 2009 18:29:19 GMT
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they look very smart bruce
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smile
Part of things
snappin' necks and cashin' cheques
Posts: 84
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Jun 22, 2009 19:08:10 GMT
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I was recommended a product called "Belgom Alu" for polished wheels. I bought some too but alas I've never had a chance to use it as I never had the effort in me to finish polishing the wheels..... and that was with a drill based metal polishing kit! So I salute the hell out of you for doing that by hand!
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Feelin' high as hell, flyin' through Palmdale, skatin' on Dayton rims
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Thanks for the comments guys ;D Smile, I didn't do all the work by hand.....I used a Dremel to grind out the kerbing on the edge of the rim because some of the kerbing was quite deep (how the previous owner curbed them on 33" tyres I'll never know??) I then used 120 grit sand paper to smooth them down followed by 400>800>1200 wet & dry (all by hand) then got to work with the rubbing compound>T-cut>Brasso (again by hand) The outer edges of the wheel were pretty easy because the lips are smooth and so was the centre 5 spoke part, but as soon as I got into the 'fluted' area on the main dish it got really awkward because the flutes dip into quite a sharp V (28 of the damn things!) not to mention trying to get in & around the rivets (32 of them!) which almost butt up against the edges of the flutes! The area a few mm around each of the rivets is still a bit messy, but I don't think there is much I can do about that without spending crazy hours on each one. If you look really close they aren't amazing but the overall look once you stand back a foot or two is pretty good. I'll get some more pics up when I get the second wheel started tonight. Thanks again for the links and pointers. I'll certainly be investing in some sealant & wax to protect my hard work!
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smile
Part of things
snappin' necks and cashin' cheques
Posts: 84
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Jun 23, 2009 16:51:49 GMT
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These were mine that I was working on. Such a shame I never finished them, if I'd just polished up the faces of the wheels I'd have probably got them done in 2 days! Instead I was fussy and wanted to do the insides (bearing in mind there multispokes!) and it defeated me . Now I'll probably have to sell them for peanuts. ...and this is what I looked like afterwards, anybody need some coal? Just peel it off my face!
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Feelin' high as hell, flyin' through Palmdale, skatin' on Dayton rims
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ezzysi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,189
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Jun 23, 2009 18:11:42 GMT
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This is the stuff I used Bruce, Rimwax! check out the funky colour! Its really easy to apply and lasts well on my amg replicas but there factory finished not mirror polished alloy, got mine from fleabay for about 12 squids. Cant say if its better or worse than using normal carwax as i've only used this, works well for me tho'
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1991 Mk2 Golf Gti 8v 2005 Passat tdi (daily) 1971 Mk1 Escort 2004 Touran (her's)
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Jun 23, 2009 19:55:44 GMT
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Erm, I don't know if any products will do a better job than a bit of solvol every month as you already pointed out, but to make it easier, have you thought of a couple of polishing mops for a drill? One for application and one for buff/shine? Takes a fraction of the time and leaves a spare hand for tea drinking. You can top-up the shine on some already polished rims - even as detailed as yours in about 30 mins.
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Jun 23, 2009 22:44:14 GMT
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Call me a cheat but I just put my mop on my slots with some autosol and they came up really good! Depends how bad the wheels are to start with of course and on the shape. Total time: about 15 mins.
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Last Edit: Jun 23, 2009 22:49:41 GMT by datman
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