# Winter Months? - Polished Rims (pics)



## dr_shabzzz (Dec 5, 2006)

These rims are unlacquered, just polished with autosol



















Is there any way I can get them through the winter months without taking them off?

Should I get them lacquered at a bodyshop? And then some Poorboys sealant on top?


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Use poor boys myself. but don't just add one coat get 3 on there.
Its risky business though. just remember to continually top it up, to protect the rims.
Unfinished wheels are always a big worry.


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## geert dr (Jul 13, 2007)

I would'nt leave them on the car , they will be ruined after the winter due to the salt !
Put some cheap winterwheels on your car !
If you get them laquered you can be sure that the laquer will peel off after 
some time because laquer does not stick so well on polished rims !!!


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## dr_shabzzz (Dec 5, 2006)

When I got the rims they were very dull, didn't even look polished...after a few hours elbow grease I was able to get them to a decent shine with autosol?

Or is the damage irreversible without proffesional polishing?


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

if they look good, they're sort of OK - point was, though, that salt will eat at them.
There's clear powder coat apparently available (I also polished my summer wheels a couple of winters ago and I've been fighting with them ever since) - and that would be far more likely to stick than paint.

If they're that important (they're split rims, too, no?) then get some simple winter rims.

Bret


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

You want some C5 from Gtechniq! Thats your answer. Wash / degrease your wheels, give them a few coats of sealant / wax. Polish the unprotected rim, IPA wipe down and apply C5. Then keep ontop of washing with foam, not wheel cleaner.


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## Zax (Jan 30, 2007)

Just pick up a set of steel wheels for the winter an throw your good wheels back on in March when the salt has been washed away.
OR pick up a set of old alloys no matter what they look like this year (you can refurb them in the summer )

There are sets of Toyota wheels on Ebay just now from £8 collected.

It also gives you a good chance to give your good wheels a big polish up and multiple coats of sealer over the winter. This means that you will not have to do much more than a light wash for your good wheels come next summer .

just a thought


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## dr_shabzzz (Dec 5, 2006)

If I can I want to keep them on



Phil H said:


> You want some C5 from Gtechniq! Thats your answer. Wash / degrease your wheels, give them a few coats of sealant / wax. Polish the rim, IPA wipe down and apply C5. Then keep ontop of washing with foam, not wheel cleaner.


Where can I get c5 from?

Which degreaser to use? Is it something you should wash the whole car with?

You said seal/wax...and then polish?? Also what's IPA...sorry just a little confuzled


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Cover the polished bit in Vaseline. It'll get dirty as hell but your polished rims will be protected from the air and the salt.

Remove it using a good tar remover.


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## _SYC_ (Nov 22, 2007)

I've got BBS RM's on my Golf and with the salt it just kills them, I polish them with a mop on a drill and then with my fingers between all 30+ bolts, nightmare but gotta be done to keep them sweet.

This is part way through polishing them last year when I didn't realise what the salt was doing to them:

Takes about an hour to polish each wheel and normally I take them off the car.... much easier


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## Dipesh (Oct 12, 2007)

Take them off! If you fall behind on maintenance, they may even pit!


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

dr_shabzzz said:


> If I can I want to keep them on
> 
> *Where can I get c5 from?*
> 
> ...


Try here not on listing but on full list in post 1 :thumb:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=80595&highlight=c5+sealant


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## Hog Maniac (Nov 28, 2008)

It can be done but you have to wash them every day of coat them in a protection such as waxoil. Unfinished alloy is my speciality but it takes alot of effort to keep nice.

Once pitted they will never look the same unless they are re finished.

My bike went through 3 winters and still looks like this.

Try Megs NXT after the autosol. You will be impressed.


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## ukimportz (Mar 23, 2007)

buy some standard 5 spoke mr2 rims for the winter m8 thats what i did with mine 

prob get a set of 4 from the scrappys cheap enough!!


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## jim55 (Nov 12, 2008)

just get a tin of acf -50.its for the aircraft industry -brush it on and itl put a barrier on them that normal washing wont take off (itl come off with tar remover or some other strong solvent )i used it on the exposed bits of my bike ,like the vaseline thing ,they may look a bit ****ty over winter but remove the acf and hey presto ,,,shiny (and no salt damage:thumbget it on e-bay £10 a tin


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## edthedrummer (May 30, 2007)

Yeah my BBS RS' are a *****. I've so far still only managed to polish 2 up and protect them with poorboys purely because of the nights coming in so fast. I'm terrified i'm going to ruin them. The dish on them picks up stonechips like nobodies business too


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

Or you could sell the wheels to me for my MR2 :thumb:

Seriously i would take them off unless you are prepared to clean them after every drive.


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## dr_shabzzz (Dec 5, 2006)

I'm slightly lucky in the fact that the roads I travel on, 90% of the time, don't have much grit on them by the time I get there...as I only ever leave the house at around midday, by which time most of it has gone...hence i would like to keep my rims on...car looks crappy with the stock rims 



jim55 said:


> just get a tin of acf -50


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACF-50-CORROS...14&_trkparms=72:1299|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

Is that the stuff? better than vasoline?

So this is roughly what I'm gunna do...

1. Degrease rims with some sort of citrus degreaser- which one shall I use??
2. Wash the rims with Megs Endurance shampoo
3. Clay the rims wit Bilt Hamber Soft clay
4. Polish them to buggery with Autosol/Mothers metal polish
5. Protect them with Poorboys
6. Apply some acf-50/vasoline for more protection

:detailer:
7. Wash the rims with shampoo at least once a week

Does this sound right?


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Best to remove them over winter IMHO. Makes it all the sweeter when you refit them in the spring as well. 

Lacquer doesn't like to adhere to a nice shiny surface (nothing for the paint to get a good grip of) so I wouldn't go down that route either.

How about a nice set of painted steels and some spacers to keep a cool look over winter.

Alan W


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## Hog Maniac (Nov 28, 2008)

Motorcycle spray lube or waxoil so also good. No need to wash them.


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

If you have to keep them on, may I suggest Blackfire Wet Diamond All Metal Sealant; this is a relatively new product from Blackfire that is designed to add bombproof protection to all polished metal surfaces (although it also works brilliantly on alloy wheels). Our own long term tests on polished exhaust tips and our own alloy wheels have shown it to offer a quite frankly amazing level of protection against both contaminants and the elements. Even the exhaust tip on Clark's WR1 has remained free from bonded soot, despite it frequently getting too hot to touch, and on my VTS, it outperforms all other wheel sealants I've tested by some margin. Might be worth considering if you are forced to keep them on!

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/blackfire-wet-diamond-all-metal-sealant-wheels.html


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## _SYC_ (Nov 22, 2007)

I've got some of the standard BBS wheels for the winter they should be going on this Friday, then i'll polish the RM's up and put them to bed till the summer.


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## dr_shabzzz (Dec 5, 2006)

Blackfire Wet Diamond All Metal Sealant...better than waxoil or vasoline? or shall I put vasoline on top of it?


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## organgrinder (Jan 20, 2008)

I presume this Blackfire Wet Diamond All Metal Sealant is only for use on bare metal and wouldn't work or be recommended on normal laquered wheels?


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

That's the thing; it's essentially a more durable version of Blackfire's paint sealant, and has been fortified to better withstand extreme heat without any negative effects. Therefore, whilst it is a wee bit too gloopy (and indeed even unnecessary) for bodywork, on painted wheels and the like it provides a lot more protection against hot brake dust and soot. We've been testing it on our own painted alloy wheels since September, and it's outperformed every other product I've ever tried in terms of preventing brake dust from bonding firmly. Rather shamefully, last Saturday was the first time I've washed my car in over a month, and with just a wipe of the microfibre mitt and normal suds my wheels came up perfectly clean. Same story on the exhaust tip, all of the soot just wipes away. I'm dead impressed with this product and suggest it is ideal for both polished metals and painted alloys. :thumb:


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## Hog Maniac (Nov 28, 2008)

My only concern is if the winter can destroy polished ally through lacquer. Will this stuff protect them enough.

Say you get a stone or other item rub a bit off it will instantly start to corrode away.

The only way to keep them truly nice is to wash daily and reapply the sealant.

Its a real pain I know after washing my Harley daily but it can be done.

I find megs NXT metal polish quite good.


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

I totally agree; no product can provide bombproof protection, and in many cases the degree of success or otherwise of any maintenance programme will depend just as much on the effort put into it.


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