How do I polish my wheels lip?
- Thread starter w0ngdc5
- Start date
Street5927
New member
At this point, I would try a good metal polish and some #0000 steel wool.
JohnKleven
New member
You won't be able to polish the lip until you fully remove the clearcoat. I would recommend having the lips blasted, then you can start from scratch, but you will need to start with sandpaper, and work your way down until you can polish out with metal polish. Or just get the whole wheel powdercoated, and never worry about it again. The problem with polished wheels is that they need constant attention.
John
John
Powder coating sounds nice but I'm not looking to spend a couple hundred bucks doing it. Hopefully I can just deal with what I have now. So should I wet sand the lip with 2000 grit then follow with a metal polish using steel wool? Sorry I'm really noob with polishing and stuff lol.
jtford95
New member
Looks like the clear coat is peeling off. Strip the rest of the clear off, then polish out the lip. Then reclear coat it.
Street5927
New member
w0ngdc5 said:
Powdercoating isn't really that expensive. There is a company near where I live that does quality PC and they quoted me $35 per wheel to sandblast, prep and PC them; plus the durability and finish is unbelievable. I am going to have mine done this summer when the weather breaks.
vtec92civic
New member
powder coating is great stuff!
As stated before you need to remove the remaining clear coat. Once removed you will need to sand the rim because from what the pictures you posted up show is scratches in the aluminum already.
I would start with 2000 Grit and work your way up from there. The finer of a sand paper you use the easier it will be to polish the rims back to a brilliant shine.
Once sanded and polished you can either take them to a shop and have them clear coated again or you can get some clear yourself and do it.
I would run 2000 grit -> 2500 grit -> 3000 grit
and see how that works, if you need to go higher then 3000 which will be highly unlikely you can they do make 3200, 3500 & 4000 grit and even higher.
As stated before you need to remove the remaining clear coat. Once removed you will need to sand the rim because from what the pictures you posted up show is scratches in the aluminum already.
I would start with 2000 Grit and work your way up from there. The finer of a sand paper you use the easier it will be to polish the rims back to a brilliant shine.
Once sanded and polished you can either take them to a shop and have them clear coated again or you can get some clear yourself and do it.
I would run 2000 grit -> 2500 grit -> 3000 grit
and see how that works, if you need to go higher then 3000 which will be highly unlikely you can they do make 3200, 3500 & 4000 grit and even higher.
vtec92civic said:
if 0000 steel wool didn't help 2000 grit probably won't either. Its always safer to start higher grit but judging by the picture the scratches look much deeper than than 1000 grit or maybe even lower. I have found alluminum to polish out great at 2500 grit. But then everyone is different, in the end we are all doing the same. so have fun sanding. Oh and i have found a dremel on with a soft wool pad works great in those hard to reach areas.
PeterRS said:
Wat.
Probably any sealant will perform this function well.
I doubt any sealant on the wheels will help the clearcoat damage problem.
To the OP: I as well would suggest powdercoating. Depending on how picky you are about your wheels, you probably want, after removing the CC, have them protected by a new CC or powdercoat.
I would go to sandpaper if you don't want to get it fixed professionally. Try 1000 grit and work your way up to around 2500. If 1000 doesn't remove the etching, go to 800 and so on. After sanding it, you can polish it with a metal polish such as Mothers.
I've done this on my wheels and it took a lot of work.
I've done this on my wheels and it took a lot of work.