Messed up my wheels I think

[choppedliver]

Had some stubborn brake dust and other grime after the car wash so put on some whee cleaner. Got distracted and left it for a couple of minutes vs 30 seconds and whilst all the dirt is gone the wheels have what I assume is damage to the clear coat where it's all dull but its random and streaky. Not a good look. I assume the only option is to get them resprayed, though nothing seems to have come off (I.e. no peeling)

I used the wheel man for touch ups, but I think this is a bigger job. Any recommendations?

Thanks

Byron

[drjekl]

Try a simple polish with a swirl remover cutting compound, this may remove the tarnished portion that you have witnessed (from what you have mentioned i dont believe it would have damaged the paint)

What wheel cleaner did you use?

[choppedliver]

Originally Posted by drjekl

Try a simple polish with a swirl remover cutting compound, this may remove the tarnished portion that you have witnessed (from what you have mentioned i dont believe it would have damaged the paint)

What wheel cleaner did you use?

I'll give it a whirl. It does appear to be on the clear and more like a surface tarnish as you've said. I used Meguirs spray on. It's meant to be alkaline and the paint seems to ok.

B

[choppedliver]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

All wheels or just one? As suggested you could try compound polish.

Never use acidic wheel cleaners. P21S is awesome ph neutral cleaner.

All, the wheels are not great and their is gutter rash on one and some unexplained scratches/marks, so whilst they aren't perfect, they are ok. I could justify repainting, but if compound polish will work then that's a lot cheaper.

The cleaner is alkaline but obviously if you leave it on too long it does bad things!

Results this weekend.

B

[UR25IO]

Was the wheels hot when you washed it?
If so just rewash it with the same process just with a much shoter cooking time...
thoroughly rinse it with water..
it could be the wheel cleaner drying up and stained it

[froop]

Any pics Byron?

But yeah, I think your best bet is some simple paint polish. Start with just a simple polish to see if that'll help first before going to something with more cut.

[froop]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

Unlikely that polish will fix if clearcoat is damaged. Given the difficult angles on the wheels it could take hours of polishing. Good excuse to get new wheels or paint them a new colour.

It's surprising what a little polish can do sometimes.

Some douche left a bin right in the middle of my driveway and when I was reversing out (up a steep hill) I couldn't see it and smacked right into it. When I looked at the damage there was maybe a 10-15cm long, 3cm wide mark along the corner of the bumper with black marks, what looked to be deep scratches.

I took some autoglym super resin polish to it when I got home that night just to give it a go thinking I would need a respray and managed to reduce it to the point where the damage is virtually invisible. If I look really really closely at the right angle you can see where the clearcoat isn't as thick but apart from that it's all good.

If the acid has just hazed the surface of the clearcoat a little elbow grease with an MF pad and some light polish could do the trick. The 261M wheels should be pretty easy to polish too. Now trying to polish 1M or aftermarket CSL replica wheels is a completely different matter

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

Byron happy to swap you a mint set of 261s for your set with $500 my way

[choppedliver]

Some crap photos.

I'm so not sure if redoing will make it worse or better! The wheels were warm (not hot).

Stu, your offer is mighty tempting. I will try and clean first and if that is not succesful your offer will be the go!

B

[froop]

I reckon polish on that should do well. Just looks like light hazing.

[choppedliver]

Righto polish it is, thanks for all the input guys!

It reminds if when you leave turps to dry on something!

B

[Walter K]

Another option is you could try plasti dip. Give a whole new look to your wheels and hide the curb rash. It's inexpensive and most of all reversible. In the Photos and Videos section of the forum there is a Dipped the OEM Sport wheels and PE Exhaust thread that shows some plasti dip OEM wheels to give you an idea. I had some rash on mine and after the dip, people think I got brand new wheels. Anyways, good luck.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=836593

[choppedliver]

The swirl remover and then polish worked well. It wasn't as much work as expected and took about 90 minutes. The wheels are as good as old :-). Doing this made me realise how many little blemishes they have. Oh well.

Thanks to everyone who helped me.

Byron

[drjekl]

Great to hear!

Most wheel cleaners are required to be agitated to work effectively via scrubbing with a dedicated wheel scrubbing brush.

I believe those tarnished portions you had on your rims was essentially the by product of the wheel cleaner not being removed from the surface of the rim hence why the polish removed this gunk from the wheel.

Now you have your rims looking good, apply a dedicated wheel sealant. They are worth the $ and effort in applying as it makes cleaning so much easier! (I use nanolex wheel sealant)

[choppedliver]

Originally Posted by drjekl

Great to hear!

Most wheel cleaners are required to be agitated to work effectively via scrubbing with a dedicated wheel scrubbing brush.

I believe those tarnished portions you had on your rims was essentially the by product of the wheel cleaner not being removed from the surface of the rim hence why the polish removed this gunk from the wheel.

Now you have your rims looking good, apply a dedicated wheel sealant. They are worth the $ and effort in applying as it makes cleaning so much easier! (I use nanolex wheel sealant)

Thanks. Will do on the sealant. On the cleaner I sprayed it on and then wash ed it with copious water. Still not sure why it made a mess. I redid it for 15-20 seconds before I did the polishing and it only left more mess tarnish. It does remove the brake dust well but it's in the bin now as it leaves a mess.

B

[Knightelf]

Originally Posted by Walter K

Another option is you could try plasti dip.

From experience, when removing plastidip it can peel off the paint on the wheels (especially if you have chips) and also damage the chrome on the wheel caps.

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

Plastidip is temporary rubbish. Do it properly or not t all IMO

+1. Seems like the fad these days though.