How do I get a mirror shine???

[e46tknv]

I went through 180,220,400,600,800,1500,2000 grits and have a nice smooth finish but where is the mirror finish that I was expecting????

I used mothers metal polish after, ran it through twice and the shine didn't change after the 1st time.


Is it the polish that does it? Anything else I need to do?


This is what I got
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My friend e46. His lip is almost like chrome. He will get my wheels like this but I'm tryna save a trip and not go there
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[pDubs]

Why did you start at such a low grit? Lowest I have ever started at is 400. Most of the time I don't go below 600. Did you completely strip your clear coat with aircraft stripper or something similar? Follow my step by step from when I refinished a set of wheels last year. You might have started at too low of a grit and really need to make sure you get out all the scratches from the previous grit completely. Yours look like mine after I stopped at like 800, maybe 1000. If you didn't strip the clearcoat then basically what you did was flatten out the clearcoat on the lips, which would explain why it's not a mirror finish.

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1092612&postcount=7

[e46tknv]

Of course I removed the clear coat.
And I went low due to some curb rash that I sanded off.

I don't know man. I did everything thoroughly and carefully and don't have the same shine as you. Then again, we don't have the same lip. Maybe it's a different type of aluminum. Yours is ridiculously shiny.

What am I doing wrong and what can I do to correct the issue

The effect of the stripper
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[lalitv74]

The absuloute BEST policha nd wax I have ever seen comes form a company called KLASSE of Germany! It is MAI LORDER or INTERNET order ONLY and no stores carry it! it is SO GOOD the car looks like it GLOWS in the DARK! It all depends on WHAT TYOPE of car finish you ahve and WHO made the car from WAHT YEAR! MAGUIARS< makes great stuff as well but it is STILL not as good as this one! BYE!

[pDubs]

I polished my style 5s as well. Came out same looking as my LMs. That stripper looks weird. What is all that black stuff? The stripper I use comes in a spray can. I just mask everything but the lip off. Spray it, wait 20 minutes. Hose it off. Pretty much all the clear comes off instantly. I then always repeat and it works out perfect. Seems to be much easier than the kind of stripper you have to brush on.

http://www.brackinwholesale.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product/a-322.jpg

[e46tknv]

I'm not sure what the stuff is. My buddy told me not to use a spray can and to use the container instead. Whatever
Clear coat was completely off.

Why is mine not as chrome looking like yours?
Did you use a special compound? Fast rpm wheel?

[pDubs]

Nope all hand sanding. You are WET sanding correct? Keep the sandpaper in a bucket of water and every once in a while spray the wheel off with a hose or spray bottle to remove the gray residue sanding creates. How much time are you taking on each step? I spent a solid hour on 400, then maybe 50 minutes of 600, then maybe 45 minutes on 800, then probably 30-40 minutes on each step afterwards. Then with the mother's polish you use a cotton rag and buff the wheel. What direction are you sanding in?

[Kyle Anderson]

Starting at 180 is fine to get out large imperfections... I've had to start at 100 before.

To start, more care sanding between steps will help. Maybe drop back to 600 and work back up. Hard to tell from the picture, but you might be fine. After 1500 I use a brown tripoli polishing compound with a 6" stitched buff. I also have pink rouge but rarely use it. The Mothers polish is really more of a cleaner, which is what I use after polishing compound.

[pDubs]

Yeah starting that low is fine in only that spots that need it, like curb rash. Doing the entire lip with 180 is basically creating deep scratches that never needed to be created. It's tough to get those out.

[e46tknv]

I wetsanded from 180-2000. No luck. I'll try more sanding this weekend and see what happens.

[ChristopherG]

A cotton flap polishing wheel with jewlers rouge on a dremel will help speed things up. Then finish up the process with a good quality metal polish on cotton wadding or wool by hand.

[Dannbodge]

Try a different metal polish imo

[e46tknv]

Will give it a shot tomorrow. I hope it works out. Then will use shine seal on it to avoid polishing every week

[xlr8tin]

Mine also came out similar to your pics, e46tknv. I tried it over and over about 3 times, each time only having to go as far back as 600 or so with zero improvement. I also did everything the same as everyone here has mentioned. I gave up, and put the wheels back together and put on shine seal. I think it looks good, but it's not a mirror finish which kinda irritates me almost to the point where I want to get rid of the wheels and buy ones that are already refinished to a mirror shine. Oh well, I'll put tires on them soon and see how it looks on the car. That will be the real test.

[e46tknv]

Yea. It's not the sanding. But hey. I got my lips to where I want em.


Before

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After


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[xlr8tin]

What did you end up doing to make it work out?

[e46tknv]

What did you end up doing to make it work out?

some sort of rotary my friend used. I dont know exactly.

[xlr8tin]

Can you please find out? Take pics of the equipment or something? I'd appreciate it ;-)

[Parallel]

Get an angle grinder and attach a polishing wheel to it. Use three different grades of polishing compound and they will shine like a mirror.

[xlr8tin]

I already tried this...

[Parallel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qkVaWE2_n8



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw9bBQwAgOI

[e46tknv]

I already tried this...

No you have not. And it was a grinder. It instantly went from my dull finish to "hello gorgeous mirror finish"

I finished assembling my wheels. What a damn b&tch that was.

[pDubs]

Yeah putting wheels back together is a real PITA. Especially the style 5 bolts.

[xlr8tin]

I can show you a picture of my angle grinder with polishing pads and polish if you don't believe me. No one tells me I didn't do what I just said I did

[e46tknv]

Yeah putting wheels back together is a real PITA. Especially the style 5 bolts.
I didn't use style 5 bolts. I used bbs rs bolts. Much nicer

[e46tknv]

Those, have to be held from both sides.

[pDubs]

I think that's easier. The style 5 bolts are a PITA to hammer out and to snug them back in. Putting my BBS LMs back together was cake compared to these. They're both 2 piece as well. Bolts literally just slip right through. Torque in a star pattern around 20-21 ft lbs in what I did. Post some pics of them back together. What color are you doing the faces?

[e46tknv]

I did them a blue color. Will post up pics of the car when I put all the goods on

[witty4242]

A decent cheap setup is to get the small angle grinder and some buffing wheels from harbor freight.

[e46tknv]

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[hc1001]

497854

i can still see scratches in the lip. It looks like you may not have gotten rid of all the lower grit sanding when you moved to the next finer grit.

[e46tknv]

It's the best it's gonna look. I didn't skip any grits

[Parallel]

Sometimes you have to spend more time at the finer grits to get the mirror polish. Nobody says you skipped the stages of sanding. You just need to do more if you want a mirror finish