Okay, I'm trying to fix the lip on the Billit rims (from mustangtuning about 2 years ago so no warranty left..right?) because somehow the clear coat got eaten away in certain spots. I remember someone wrote a thread about it awhile ago but I couldn't find it so I thought I remembered it...well I think I was wrong. So I started with Air Craft Remover to remove the clear coat on only the lip because that's the only place with spots. So the spots were left over and I thought maybe lightly sand with 1000 grit, well that turned out bad because it lost its "shine" and now has a brushed aluminium look. I miss the shiny part! Can I now polish this lip or should I put a new clear coat on it??? Which would look best? Will polishing make it look kinda LIKE chrome or what it used to? I can post pics tomorrow because I'm on 56K now. Any good ideas welcome, I only did this on one rim so if I need to I can just buy a new rim and live with the others, not that I want to do that.
Wheel Polishing?
- Thread starter whty98
- Start date
i have some clear coming off my back wheels. not much. but it was kauffman tires fault. fuggers. :rant:
theres always wheel repair shops. theres a guy here in atl that does em $30 a wheel. might have him come out and do my bullits. if he can do good on them ill let him do my fr500s.
theres always wheel repair shops. theres a guy here in atl that does em $30 a wheel. might have him come out and do my bullits. if he can do good on them ill let him do my fr500s.
whty98 said:
First off....DO NOT EVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE ANY CHEMICALS ON BARE ALUMINUM WHEELS! I don't care what the bottle says. You will etch into the surface of the metal and permanently fuck it up.
1000 Grit sandpaper is perfect for getting ready to polish but you need to be 100% that you got ALL the clearcoat off the wheels. I'd reccomend wet sanding them with that 1000grit sand paper. Rinse them off throroughly. Dry'em. NOW you're ready to polish. You can do it by hand but that shit sucks. Do yourself a favor (b/c this isn't the last time you're going to polish these I assure you) and go buy a Mother's Powerball and a drill. Your fingers and elbows will thank you. Get a tub of Mother Aluminum Polish (the cheap 3 dollar shit....the 13 dollar billet crap isn't any better in my book) at the parts store. Pick a section. I do one space between the spokes at a time. Rub a good amount of polish onto the rim face. Hit it with the powerball! Work back and forth. It will turn black almost immediately...this is normal. Buff it until it is about to dry out, and with a COTTON OR MICROFIBER CLOTH, buff it out. Thats it....BLING!
Make sure you get all the polish off or else it will come back to stain the wheel.
To take care of it, wash it with mild soapy water, and then DRY THEM. Water will leave mineral deposits on the rims....
So are my billit anthracite rims all aluminium? It's ONLY the lip of the rim. I don't like the sanded clear coat because it's too dull. Can I polish the lip like Ryclef said and then clear it to make it stay like they were from the factory? I live in the country so uncovered polished metal pieces just doesn't sound good(am I wrong?)
