Faded Aluminum

[bimmerfan2000]

Anybody know how to fix oxidized aluminum?
I hear classictrimcoat.com is the only fix.
BF

[IcemanBHE]

Towed to E38 forum...

[Kiyoskia]

Are we talking about the interior window strips?

[amschnellsten]

meguire's aluminum polish works great.

[Edwin NL]

Advertisement?

[BlackonBlackVIP]

Advertisement?


I'd say yes, site is kinda BMW driven (all BMW pic/vids) and the guy has one post. Stuff looks decent enough..

[AwesomeIsLuke]

Company is based out of Atlanta, and look at his location. Interesting coincidence, no?

[mpower5266]

Sand with 220-400-600-800-1500-2200
Nuvite f7
Nuvite compound c
Nuvite compound s

And you get this.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh122/740idriver/IMG_2725.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh122/740idriver/IMG_2737.jpg

[Xephius]

Sand with 220-400-600-800-1500-2200
Nuvite f7
Nuvite compound c
Nuvite compound s

And you get this.


FWIW, you should call around to local wheel repair shops. They charged me $25 a wheel to polish and clear coat the wheels if they didn't have to prep them.

John

[mpower5266]

FWIW, you should call around to local wheel repair shops. They charged me $25 a wheel to polish and clear coat the wheels if they didn't have to prep them.

John

I charge more than that to polish them, but they are show quality.

Here they are done and put together.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4877884902_3cab43696b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4879477753_34a73ab9df_b.jpg

[hybridracers]

If you are sanding to those steps, you are crazy. I can show polish those lips at 400 grit.

granted I did it for a living (worked in a chrome plating shop) to put myself through college and I have several thousand in equipment but man......thats a lot of unnecessary work.

OP: If you want to fix your window strips around the outside, you need to strip the annodizing and buff it and re-annodize it. OR you can constantly polish it.

[mpower5266]

If you are sanding to those steps, you are crazy. I can show polish those lips at 400 grit.

granted I did it for a living (worked in a chrome plating shop) to put myself through college and I have several thousand in equipment but man......thats a lot of unnecessary work.

OP: If you want to fix your window strips around the outside, you need to strip the annodizing and buff it and re-annodize it. OR you can constantly polish it.

You have to sand that way or you wont get the machine marks out, and to hide any repairs you may have made with a file. I can skip some of them every now and then but for the most part you have to do it that way.

[Xephius]

I charge more than that to polish them, but they are show quality.

Here they are done and put together.


Very nice work. I can see the effort going into it for a show. I run 18's because they have high curbs in Houston and I hate $150 curb rash repairs. Also, my wife occasionally drives the car and it is much bigger than her xB. She has 15" wheels.... Aftermarket, but 15". Lots of sidewall-o-forgiveness.

Good looking wheels though.

John

[hybridracers]

You have to sand that way or you wont get the machine marks out, and to hide any repairs you may have made with a file. I can skip some of them every now and then but for the most part you have to do it that way.


If you have the right tools you should never have to go above 400 grit to get perfection. I sometimes will run up to 600 to bring out a couple flaws that end up in it but the buffs and compounds you choose do the work.

[mpower5266]

If you have the right tools you should never have to go above 400 grit to get perfection. I sometimes will run up to 600 to bring out a couple flaws that end up in it but the buffs and compounds you choose do the work.

I have done a few sets of style 5s and style 19's and it takes 220 to get the machine marks out of the wheel. I can make them very shiny without sanding at all but to make them smooth and "mirror" finished you have to sand. I would love to see what you are using that would get those marks out with only 600 grit.

[hybridracers]

Shoot me a PM and Ill do what I can to elaborate. I havent done much polishing work in about a year but Ive built several bike that were placed in magazines as well as about a dozen cars that have had my work all over them through the years. I got my start in motorcycles doing polishing work and when I went to college I needed a job to survive so I worked in a chrome plating shop.

I have more knowledge of metal finishing and plating systems than I can stand. I Do a lot of extensive work and I can tell you this, I take rough cast wheels off of motorcycles and never go so far as 600 and get a chrome like finish every time.

[rdorman]

I rarely 'sand'. I will go through a couple grits of greaseless coupound for leveling and large defect removal. Then onto a emery followed by tripoli for aluminum. FYI, you can tell if aluminum is anodized with an OHM meter. If it is conductive, it is not. Various places sell an Anodize stripper.

[hybridracers]

you can use oven cleaner to strip aluminum. Its the sodium hydroxide you are looking for to eat the aluminum oxide. In otherwords, you want pure lye.

[AwesomeIsLuke]

you can use oven cleaner to strip aluminum. Its the sodium hydroxide you are looking for to eat the aluminum oxide. In otherwords, you want pure lye.

As long as you don't use it to clean carbon off your pistons and cylinder walls :)

+40 internets to those of you who know what I'm referencing.

[hybridracers]

I have no idea what you mention but I pity anyone who used oven cleaner to clean an aluminum block and pistons with nikasil plating.

[bimmerfan2000]

Go to classictrimcoat.com and watch a video.

[mpower5266]

Shoot me a PM and Ill do what I can to elaborate. I havent done much polishing work in about a year but Ive built several bike that were placed in magazines as well as about a dozen cars that have had my work all over them through the years. I got my start in motorcycles doing polishing work and when I went to college I needed a job to survive so I worked in a chrome plating shop.

I have more knowledge of metal finishing and plating systems than I can stand. I Do a lot of extensive work and I can tell you this, I take rough cast wheels off of motorcycles and never go so far as 600 and get a chrome like finish every time.


I rarely 'sand'. I will go through a couple grits of greaseless coupound for leveling and large defect removal. Then onto a emery followed by tripoli for aluminum. FYI, you can tell if aluminum is anodized with an OHM meter. If it is conductive, it is not. Various places sell an Anodize stripper.

I guess I need to look into some stuff, although I can knock out a wheel including sanding in about an hour or so.

[Xephius]

+40 internets to those of you who know what I'm referencing.

-10 Internets for saying Internets.... Doh

[jammer1138]

Will the outer rim of the M-pars take a polish like that? How do you keep the polishing contained to the outer rim and not the painted middle?
Yeah, may sound like a stupid question, but I'd rather be thought stupid than proving it my screwing up a decent wheel. The later one costs me more money.