nleksan
11-21-2008, 12:44 PM
I have some DPE R07 Variant-S in "Brilliant Polish", which for those not in-the-know, is non-clearcoated Super-Highly-Polished Forged Aluminum. It scratches easily, likes to hold onto brake dust, and is a royal PITA all-around. But man, when it's cleaned and with some fresh protectant on it... It looks out-of-this-world!
I typically wash with a pH neutral wheel wash, which is let sit for 10-15sec and immediately rinsed.
Then, I was with pH Neutral car-soap, using a couple of different brushes to attack different areas. Then comes another round of rinsing.
For the polish, I crack open the Mothers Billet and Aluminum (best on the market for the $$, I swear on my life!) and polish the wheels with a combination of Mothers PowerBall "Mini" and hand-polishing. This is done until every surface on the front-face of the wheel, as well as the sides of the spokes, have been polished to an INTENSE shine (all scratches disappear).
I finish it off with 1-3 coats of WheelWax, depending on how long the wheels have gone "without".
This has the face and spokes looking AMAZING for about a week, and then the dust from my Axxis Ultimates and Powerslot "Cryo"-Slot's have built-up to where they have to be wiped down, and then they look amazing for a week, and rinse and repeat (pun intended).
Well...
Unfortunately, ever since I came into possession of the wheels (about 5-6 months ago), they have had some light curb rash on one of the wheels (driver's-side rear; 2" of "medium-depth" rash and 4-6" of "shallow-depth" curb rash) that I want to remove. It is too deep, I imagine, to just be sanded out. It would need to be filled in with some kind of primer/sandable-primer/filler in order to achieve the mirror-like glaze that the wheels SHOULD have EVERYWHERE.
QUESTION:
How do I repair curb-rash on a no-clearcoat, fully-polished, forged aluminum wheel? Can I do it at home or should I really take it to a wheel specialist?
I typically wash with a pH neutral wheel wash, which is let sit for 10-15sec and immediately rinsed.
Then, I was with pH Neutral car-soap, using a couple of different brushes to attack different areas. Then comes another round of rinsing.
For the polish, I crack open the Mothers Billet and Aluminum (best on the market for the $$, I swear on my life!) and polish the wheels with a combination of Mothers PowerBall "Mini" and hand-polishing. This is done until every surface on the front-face of the wheel, as well as the sides of the spokes, have been polished to an INTENSE shine (all scratches disappear).
I finish it off with 1-3 coats of WheelWax, depending on how long the wheels have gone "without".
This has the face and spokes looking AMAZING for about a week, and then the dust from my Axxis Ultimates and Powerslot "Cryo"-Slot's have built-up to where they have to be wiped down, and then they look amazing for a week, and rinse and repeat (pun intended).
Well...
Unfortunately, ever since I came into possession of the wheels (about 5-6 months ago), they have had some light curb rash on one of the wheels (driver's-side rear; 2" of "medium-depth" rash and 4-6" of "shallow-depth" curb rash) that I want to remove. It is too deep, I imagine, to just be sanded out. It would need to be filled in with some kind of primer/sandable-primer/filler in order to achieve the mirror-like glaze that the wheels SHOULD have EVERYWHERE.
QUESTION:
How do I repair curb-rash on a no-clearcoat, fully-polished, forged aluminum wheel? Can I do it at home or should I really take it to a wheel specialist?