# Polished Lip Looks Corroded



## defiant (Jan 10, 2008)

I'll get a pic on here later but I took these rims in for a refurb a couple of weeks ago. I cleaned the car yesterday and I've now noticed that the lip on all 4 alloys look 'dirty' or corroded, like when you have breakdust on them. But this is only on the lip as the inside of the allows have cleaned up just fine.

Does anyone know what might have happened?


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## Arienol (Jul 10, 2007)

The bare alloy has been attacked by corrosion. This has happened to the wheels on my Clio Cup. There is a noticeable line where the paint stops and the bare alloy begins. You could have the lips polished and lacquered, alternatively you can polish them yourself and thoroughly seal them.


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## defiant (Jan 10, 2008)

Thanks for the reply mate. But if they are corroded then why has this not happened to the whole of the polished section of the alloy. They are deep dish so not only is the lip polished but the dish on the alloy is also polished.

It can't be that the lip is corroded and the dish (which is also polished) is not corroded.

It's really weird because I had another look just now and it's like someone got masking tape and taped the dish bit off (the section that is fine) and treated the lip so that it looks discoloured now. 

This must have something to do with the refurb right as the alloys are only 5M old.


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## PureKLAS (Jun 2, 2007)

What wheels are they defiant? Do you have a picture of the lips and the dish?


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## defiant (Jan 10, 2008)

View attachment 3520


View attachment 3521


Hope this helps. Corroded is the wrong word - the rim is still smooth the touch. Just looks filthy. Soap and water doesn't work on whatever is on the edge of the rim.


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## defiant (Jan 10, 2008)

^^ :thumb:


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

I used to use some belgom on my dishes, did the trick


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## Low_bm (Apr 1, 2008)

try some autosol, or any other good metal polish


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## aceraf (Apr 11, 2008)

I have a similar problem with my Borbet T's with a polished dish.

They have a very deep dish, and with my car being an auto i get lots of brake dust on the fronts.

I hadn't cleaned the car for a while, and i found that when it came to cleaning them that they were caked in what looked like corrosion. I got most of it out by washing the wheels, drying and then going over the wheels with the meguiars metal polish. But to get them perfect they'll need more work.



















I currently have the following products...
*Cleaners*

R222 (P21s) High Performance Wheel Cleaner Kit








http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=290217091309&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=019

R222 Special Performance Wheel Cleaner








http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=176

R222 Metal Polishing Soap (formerly P21s by Smartparts)








http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=119

I've only tried the R222 (P21s) High Performance Wheel Cleaner Kit on the wheels so far, and i'm not too impressed, did a similar job to when i clean them with Meguiars Shampoo Plus. I seemed to use quite alot of it to try and clean the wheels and this product isn't cheap at £15 for 500ml!
Will Try the others this week. The cleaning soap should remove the pitting that you get on wheels of this type, but i'm a bit worried that the provided sponge with put scratches into the polished surface of the wheels.

If anyone knows of any cleaners that will do as good a job or better than the above then please advise, as the cleaner we can get the wheel, the easier it'll be doing the next step (restoring the shine, and removing imperfections).

*Polish/Sealant*

Alu Tech polish








http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/metal-cleaning.html

MOTHERS Famous Billet Metal Aluminum Alloy Wheel Polish








http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=160027901874&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=006

Meguiars NXT Generation All Metal Polish








http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-amp-exterior/meguiars-nxt-all-metal-polish/prod_106.html

Chemical Guys Wheel Guard








http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-amp-tyres/chemical-guys-wheel-guard/prod_197.html

The Alu tech is a harsh cleaner and will remove alot of imperfections, but won't give a good finish, so i use the Mother's billet metal polish after using that to give a good finish. The mother's billet likewise won't remove major imperfections, but will produce a very good finish. The meguiars is in the middle, and when in a hurry as a single application this produces the best comprise.

The CG wheel guard is good on painted surfaces, but i've found it doesn't really stand up well on the polished surface. I find it also dulls the polished surface when i apply it to that.

The Meguiars metal polish is good at restoring the shine, and also protecting the wheel aswell.

All of these repel water when applied, however i feel that the CG wheel guard just isn't upto the job when i comes to polished wheels.


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## Bandito (Feb 25, 2008)

cheers mate
you have a point there :thumb:

but what about lacquer - dont you think its more suitable in terms of long-time protection?the new alloys came from the factory lacquered dont you know - maybe they also have a point here

the problem here is that the clearcoat makes the shine look dull/less shiny+it doesnt stick well to polished surfaces  maybe someone has a manual/thread on this?


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## aceraf (Apr 11, 2008)

Bandito said:


> cheers mate
> you have a point there :thumb:
> 
> but what about lacquer - dont you think its more suitable in terms of long-time protection?the new alloys came from the factory lacquered dont you know - maybe they also have a point here
> ...


I polished my wheels myself, and could've lacquered them, however i have found from past experience that polished wheels and lacquer don't go well together.

The lacquer seems to peel very easily, and you end up with water under the lacquer corroding/discolouring the wheel from under the lacquer which makes them look like sh*t.

Also, with a polished surface if you get imperfections you simply flat the wheel down with fine wet+dry and repolish...if you have lacquered wheels and get imperfections you have to strip the lacquer off, repolish the wheel and then re-lacquer.

That and the fact it reduces the shine (whole point of polishing wheels in the first place!).


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## aceraf (Apr 11, 2008)

And to add onto my previous post,

the R222s Special cleaner (lighter green) performs very well on the polished surface of my wheels, and cleans really easily. It foams up better than the darker green and thus clings to the dirt a bit better.

Still pricey though as i still had to use a few squirts to cover the whole wheel.

The R222s Soap i find is pretty harsh and dulls the wheels. I didn't use the sponge provided as it's way to harsh to get a good finish, so i used the sponge that's provided with the r222s special wheel cleaner.

I suppose it could be good if your wheels have caked on dirt.

I have also used 00wire wool on the wheels for the first time, and i must say it's made the wheels alot shinier. It dulls initially, and i then polished them back up using the Meguiars Nxt Metal Polish.

Heres a post i made for a different forum:-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gave the car a good clean today so thought i'd throw some pics up.

Paid particular attention to the wheels, since polishing them i've struggled to find a cleaner/sealant combo that was both easy to use and effective at keeping the shine of the wheel.

Todays results came from

P21s Wheel cleaner (lighter green)
00 Wire wool (gone over all wheels)
Meguiars NXT Metal Polish (2-3 coats/applications per wheel)

Here are the pics.




































































































Pics were taken a hour or so after washing so wheels have already got some dust on them which i couldn't be bothered to wipe clean for the pics.

Finally got a lower lip spoiler fitted after nearly 4 months of not having one...the tech 2 lit is still sat in my garden half prepped so hope to press on with that and get it fitted (hopefully before winter :roll: ).

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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

Here's a thread relating to polished lips on rims from Volk's/Ray's.
Found on another forum, but I thought it might be interesting reading.

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?t=293892


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