Anyone polished their rims? Is it alot of work, and secrets or advice you could share?

 

Unless you have the equipment (industrial buffing wheels, compounds, etc.) and a lot of time to spare, wheel polishing is a hell of a lot of work and very time consuming. My advice is to pay someone else to do it.

 

I have a friend that specifically does wheels. I can get a price for you if you'd like.

 

Does polishing rims repeatedly (2 or 3 times over a few years) result in damage to them? I'd think polishing removes some of it's surface, no? I'm just a slob and can't seem to keep up w/ maintaining my polished rims, so I might have to get 'em polished every few years...

 

The majority of the material is removed when you take it down to a smooth surface. Once you do that you shouldn't have to remove hardly any material to get the polished surface back.

 

What I mean is...they remove a bit of the surface to get it smooth, stain-free etc... then a few years later, I have 'em repolished, then again a few years later. Wouldn't that be taking from the material on the rims? Or is it so minor that it's negligible?

I may see if I can just get them polished and clearcoated to help make 'em a bit less high maintenance...kinda like what I'm gonna do to the engine bay peices.

 

yep time consuming it is. i'll post pics of the past and current rims i've done for myself and my buddies.

 

Nah, you won't be taking off enough material w/ a polish job for it to make a difference in the integrity of the wheel.

Clearcoat will eventually peel. And polished wheels *are* maintenance intensive. Repolishing/touching up your wheels on a regular basis is a PITA. Just chrome the ******* if you want that BLING.

 

Yep, but Ramy seems to believe that chrome is really high maintenance.

 

Good...just wanted to make sure.

Yea I've seen how clearcoat peels...but I'd imagine it'll last a MUCH longer time than the straight polish (try one week...lol). I let my car sit for weeks at a time, and only wash her once a month or two (she's in a garage), and only wax her twice a year. Paint's perfect... The wheels...don't get me started. I gave up on 'em the first month lol. So I may just try the clearcoat.

Re: chroming them, I thought chrome was super high maintenance because it reacts w/ water, and will rust/tarnish etc... But then I read that chrome's actually a brownish color, and the nickel they coat it w/ gives it the super bright finish, and if it's triple grade (the highest) etc, it should be just fine. I don't know what to believe. Oh and isn't chrome a LOT shiner than polish? (Not to mention VERY expensive! )

You didn't see BlueRex's sig, did you?

Jason, I've personally seen IC pipes that were chromed w/ big nasty brown rust spots. NO MATTER what you do to polished peices, they'll never turn like that. THAT'S my worry. A polished peice gets dirty, you can buff it out...or just have it repolished. It's cheap. Chrome goes bad, you're gonna be digging DEEP into your pockets...plus the damage's a lot more extensive. Correct me if I'm wrong plz.

 

See below...

Didn't we already have this conversation ?

Sounds like your friends don't know how to take care of their cars. I'm not gonna pretend I'm an expert on chrome, but the chrome wheels on my friend's Z are just as shiny as the day they came from the factory and all he does is spray his chrome cleaner on them, one wipe and they're good as new. I have heard of chrome "pitting," not sure what causes this. I've also heard it reacts with salt too IIRC. But I do remember that there are different grades of chrome so maybe it's dependent on that, not sure. There's the extent of my knowledge on the subject, not much at all .

 

you could always have them clear powder coated, a little tougher than clear coat paint.

 

How often does he have to do this? (I'm serious). Plus, the double spokes and ridge between the rim and the lip make cleaning very time consuming...

Not a prob, cuz she don't see the road until the streets are 100% clean.

Is it 100% transparent? Cuz it would be kinda counterproductive to polish the rims, then put on a powdercoat that isn't clear. There goes your nice polished shine...

 

Everytime he cleans his car, (or whenever enough brake dust collects to warrant a cleaning) which during the summer becomes quiet often. The rest of the time it's under a cover in his driveway and the wheels are still fine.



Why do you think they call it clearcoat?