G'day All

Just wanted get some thoughts from you guys on the following.

I'm about to send my wheels of to a proffesional wheel polisher (16" Fuchs) to get cleaned up etc.

I've been given a number of suggestion about what to do with my wheels once I get them back to keep that mirror like shine on them and to keep them easy to clean. The two suggestions were

1. Clear coat spray ( 2pac)

or

2. Clear powder coating (have spoken to a powder coater and reckons they would come up a treat, also said he could powdercoat the back black)

However.....having spoken to the polisher he has recommended steering clear of this as he mentioned that after a year or so the clear powder coating starts to turn a yellow tinge.

And for the clear coat, after a bit of a scientific explanation about the pores in the metal etc, basically said that the clear coat doesn't/bond/react/expand and shrink with the metal very well and can crack or deteriorate etc.

He also mentioned that there was some good products out there that can keep the shine on the wheels provided you don't mind a touch of elbow grease every now and again.

So if anyone out there has had there wheels polished and then coated in either a clear coat spray or powdercoat, can you please give me some feedback and either confirm or disprove these suggestions. Please let me know how long you've had them coated for too.

Cheers

Brad



:o

[Edited on 27-6-2003 by Baja Wes]

back to the old ceramic coatings.

Get a phone number and call them. I saw a set that had been blasted then clear ceramic coated.
Looked wonderful

Sorry bud, But shouldnt the title be Clear coating Polished Alloy? If it were chrome, they wouldnt need and Protectant!
On the topic, The best way to do it, is have them Polished, and maintain them, by using Alloy polish! You can get this stuff from all good mag wheel retailers!
If you really want them to be Sparkly all the time, they will prolly need a light going over with the buff after a year or 2 anyway! In regards to the clear not sticking properly, well, Fuchs from factory had paint on them, so Im pretty sure paint/clear will be ok!

N!

G'day N!, yeah sorry I was using the word chrome a bit loosely - should have said "polished alloy".

As for the factory paint, I thought the paint/colour was from anodising not paitning, I actually have no idea what the difference is but after speaking to the polishers, anodising is much harder to get off than paint, which is why I thought they may be different.

Anyway I'm only going of the suggestions from the polisher, but thanks for your feedback, have you personally had any experience in coating alloy or have had any products coated??? experience - good, bad or otherwise??

cheers

Brad

Anodising is Bloody hard to get off, But the paint is still paint! Best thing to do is to ring a Porsche restorer, and see what they do! Swan Porsche In WA might be able to help! Im just Polishing the wheels, and Putting nothing on top (except allow polish, which has a protectant in it!) Thats prob, the best way to go about it, and At least that way your not experimenting with exp wheels! It all comes down to how many Porsche wheels your polisher has done! Also, the Climate up there is a little diff to here so.....

N!

Hey who is polishing your rims ? I have a set of Riviar's I want to get done .

What are they costing you .

Cheers,

go here
http://www.por15.com/

then go to this section
http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=246

cos I think it is what your after.

An Australian supplier can be found here
http://www.ppc.au.com/category21_1.htm

I haven't used it, but it looks like it might do the trick. I filled out the catalog request form on the australian site and got a nice colour catalog in the mail.

It seems to give good results


I would also be interested in who is doing your alloy polishing. I am about to get something done with my intake and valve covers on my V6. Am tossing up between polishing them, then coating with Glisten clearcoat. maybe using the colour dye paint first. Or ceramic coating.

The product Wes is refering to is called PC Glisten (as he says). I have used it on my buggy to protect the cheap chrome Taiwan pully cover. I put it on about 18 months ago and it has worked really well. I ended up just brushing it on and that was fine for what I did but I think you would get a better finish if you sprayed it. It is self levelling so brushing is pretty good but there are a few surface defects.

The other thing is it takes ages for this stuff to dry and is as sticky as anything. To get the best finish you really need to be able to do it in a dust free enviroment and leave it for 4 days before trying to do anything with it. After 2 weeks it is rock hard but before that it is quite soft.

After 18 months on my buggy it has not gone yellow and there is no rust or flacking of the cheap chrome.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth of experience.....

Mark.

I have recently had my Fuchs polished by a guy here in brissy - Brisbane Best Polishing. He is based in a little place at coopers plains or rocklea (around there). I just dropped off my spare wheel 6x15in Fuch to be polished - most of the anodising had already been sanded off but still had some remaining which will need to be sanded. If you take in a bare alloy wheel it will cost less, whereas if they have to spend time sanding before polishing it will cost more.

The spare will cost me $120 for the one. I painted my polished fuchs in two pack clear last weekend. If I was a professional painter I'm sure it would have turned out better but I made a couple little runs and couldn't get really good coverage in the deep dish rims. Good enough for me though. Here is a pic of one polished fuch before clear coat.

Alan

The crowd Baja Wes and J&SBlue
is talking about www.ppc.au.com is brilliant for keeping your shiney wheels shiney. I've used Glisten PC and I was amazed at how the appearance came out. Go to the web site and fill in the request catalogue and they will send you a colour brochure in the mail and you can then order the paint to come in the mail. Easy!
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Mark

G'day Guys

Sorry for the late response, Wes/Brad in answer to you question, the guy I am looking getting to do my alloys is as follows:

Prestige Metal Refinishers
Brian Atkinson
Ph: 3201 1330
Mob: 0416 206 155

He is located out at MT Crosby, I believe he specialises in hot Rod wheels etc, his card says Show Quality Guaranteed. A guy here at work used him and said final product was awesome (I haven't seen the wheels to confirm this though)

He gave me an over the phone quote of approx $200 per wheel (ouch) howver I mentioned that the paint on the wheels may be anodised etc, so he may have upped the cost a little for that.

But he reckons the final product would be like they were brand new and said that he takes care of an gutter rash etc

Could be all talk though.

Seems a bit dearer than Alans price, I have seen Alans wheels and they were pretty good a few minor imperfections but that was going overthem with very very fine tooth comb.

So will need to make a decision....better the devil you know vs the devil you don't?

Was hoping to go out and visit this guy at some time and have a look at his work.

If I end up going through him I will post piccys and feedback.

Cheers

Brad

I made my decision and bought an 8" bench grinder with a mop wheel, and a heap of sanding and polishing wheels for my die grinder. I have taken the "if you want something done right, do it yourself" approach. should be fun anyway.

Now I just have to order some Glisten PC.

I thought I might ask while this thread is up and running.....

I've just got some Cookies and I was going to clean off the old paint and re paint them, first with some etch primer then whatever colour I choose to go for, all rattle can of course.... nothing but the best for this budget

Basically I'd like the paint to stick.

Any comments.... (On the theory, not the actual (rattle can) method)

Ta
Jeremy

I can also vouch for Glisten PC, just make sure you use the marine clean which preps the surface. Don't go too mad with thick coats as ti can run over time and as ti takes about 4 days to properly cure ti is hard to fix!
I used it on my 16" fuchs and it is coping fine with English weather, dirt comes off fine when you wash the car...
Rich

Order the free catalogue from http://www.ppc.au.com  and read it through, Jeza. It explains that the AP120 product will prime your metal to make the paint stick, without affecting the quality of the surface. They even say it will make paint stick to Chrome! That's why I have some on order.

What you probably want is the "Polished Alloy Resto Kit," for $59.00, but you may want to get a little POR 15 black for background for the cookie-cutters.

Just a note: Paint POR15 products in a well-ventilated area, or use a fresh-air ventilated hood if you decide to spray it. Their products are urethane-based and the fumes are very dangerous.

I have been paying $35 a whell, you guys must get a really good job, I was very happy with mine and will be getting more done there, to think I was hopeing to find a cheaper place ..:cry

Have not used these guys, but have spoken to them, Approx $35 per wheel(Depends on the wheel)

Marsden Mag Polishing
38059123
59 Hickory St
Marsden, Qld, 4132

$35 - that a great price, what condition does the wheel need to be in to start with??

Does this include removing of paint and/or anodizing??

G'day guys/girls

just following up on an earlier post with some before and after shots

Before: