Messed-up DFR500 wheels

[1TallMF]

Well, long story short, I had to move for a new job in January, and the car sat outside for 2 months before I could get an underground parking. There must've been some road salt on my wheels while it sat there, and now the machined lip on both rear wheels looks like crap!

I tried mother's wheel polish and nev-r-rdull, but neither could touch it. Has anyone ever refinished wheels before? Should I totally sand-down the lip and gradually go to finer paper then polish? What would you guys do? I can't tollerate them looking like that

The damage:

Its even visible from far

 

[earleys94gt]

Since they are that badly pitted, sanding might be the only way to bring them back.

Or maybe a place near you that can refinish the lip only

 

[Pokageek]

SHEESH!! I can't believe wheels are that sesnitive!!! That would seriously P me OFF!!

 

[1TallMF]

Well, the wheels weren't super-expensive ($180 CDN each) and I got a strange feeling it will be nearly as expensive to have someone refinish them, so I might as well tackle that on my own. I don't think I can make them look even uglier.

 

[mustang6tee8]

depending on how much clear coat there is, you could use a 2000 or 3000 grit sand paper and then buff it. i'm sure there is enough to do so

 

[blksn955.o]

It looks like the coating is only on the center. Try wetsanding with some 1500-2000grit paper or even some steelwhool(sp?...no friggan idea). Then hit with the polish.

Just make sure you move in straight movements back and forth so with the grain of the machine work.

 

[turbogt]

damn.. those are hypercoated right?? I don't remember if the lip is clearcoated or not.. It's been too long since I have seen my baby..

 

[1TallMF]

they're anthrocite, and at first I thought the lip was machined and clearcoated, but now I'm starting to believe they're just machined and bare. They would stain very easily in the summer if I didn't dry them after washing, and now this...
I'm gonna take a crack at wet-sanding them maybe next weekend, and see how that works.
Should I just re-clear them after the polishing? I bet the paint wouldn't stick very well.

 

[urban96]

pull the wheels off, or one wheel at a time and use some 1K sandpaper followed by the mothers powerball. also flitz polish is the best ive found so far for my polished wheels. easy to apply and great results

 

[1TallMF]

thanks for the replys guys, I'll try out the wet-sanding maybe this week or next weekend and post some results

 

[urban96]

also, instead of using water try using polish as lube for the sanding

 

[uNdErCoVeR]

If all else fails.. Throw some slicks on them and buy a new rear set for the street.

 

[1TallMF]

If all else fails.. Throw some slicks on them and buy a new rear set for the street.

good call...

 

[Methodical]

Why not call the manufacturer and see what they suggest? They may have a product or steps to fix it.

 

[Juggalo95]

80 grit and a d/a..j/k...1000 grit wet then then 2000 grit. try not to break through the clear coat..then reclear the lip. if you break through the clear and hit the polished alloy..you will have to polish the metal and then clear it. Im a auto painter and this is how Id approach fixing that problem

 

[1TallMF]

Thanks for the tip
I've got the things I think I need to do this, I'll attempt it this weekend and post results. Thankfully the fronts still look fine, so thats 2 fewer wheels I have to work on. I'm still not convinced that the lip has a clear-coat on it, the painted anthrocite part does, and it does not show any signs spots or corrosion of any kind. The polished lip is highly susceptible to water stains and corrosion.

 

[gcomfx.com]

I would still contact the wheel manufacturer. They could have forgot to clear it. Plus they might cut you a deal on fixing and clearing if it wasn't a mistake.

 

[1TallMF]

Progress!

So I finally got to taking one wheel off and sanding it down.

I started with 1000-grit, and quickly found I had to go down to bare metal to get rid of the spots, so I went all the way. If anyone has bought these replica DD wheels before, they'll know that you can see the machining marks on the shiny lip. Well, I sanded those down to a smooth surface, then went over everything with 2000-grit, and finally some metal polish and 3 coats of clear.

The whole process took me 2 hours and wasn't that hard, I'm glad I didn't pay someone a few hundred dollars to do it for me.

This is a reminder pic of what I started with:

This pic shows the difference the 1000-grit does, and the scratches left-behind:

And these pics show the final product, after the clear-coat was applied:

Its not 100% perfect, there are still a few spots here and there on very edge (tire lip), but they are not that noticable. I was too lazy to take-out the dremel to fix it.

And for those of you who are married, the wife will kill you if you wet-sand your wheels this way

I won't be able to do this once I'm married in a couple years, so might as well enjoy it while I can.

One more wheel to polish in the morning!


gotta love 315's....

View attachment 326613

 

[94GTCoupe]

looks good.beats buying a new wheel.

 

[Pokageek]

Thanks for posting the results. This is good to know.