# Devastated - Wonder Wheels has ruined my polished Volk rims.



## carl0s (Apr 12, 2006)

Hi guys! I'm new here. A friend (we're all friends there!  ) from the supra forum has sent me here.. here's what's happened:

I have used Wonder Wheels Hydochloric Acid wheel cleaner on my new Volk GT-AVs, and it is damaging the polished dish area on the rears. I should have read the label which says "Not suitable for: frickin' anything".

I tried cleaning the other rear wheel with just a jumbo sponge and some car shampoo, but the grime wouldn't move.

Two questions:
What product is recommended for cleaning them normally?
How best can I restore the damaged dish - it's only a very slight whitening of the surface, but it looks disappointing. I'm planning on buying various metal polishes, and dismantling the rim (removing the centre piece).

Here's the damage. I have included pics of the fronts for reference, which strangely were also cleaned with the same stuff, but aren't showing up any damage.



























































































What do you think guys?


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## RobDom (Oct 26, 2005)

Sadly you're not the only one to have damage caused by strong wheel cleaner, I just ruined all my anodised centre caps with Meguiars Wheel Brightener:



















Using something like Autosol may bring back the polished finish on your rims, best ask a wheel pro though for the best advice, Jus Wheels on here may be able to offer advice?

You need to be VERY careful with wheel cleaners, something like Einszett non-acidic wheel cleaner says it's suitable for all wheel finishes including anodised: http://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=9946


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## Razor (Oct 25, 2005)

P21S Wheel cleaner is pretty good, expensive for a wheel cleaner but then again endorsed by Porsche (only wheel cleaner to be endorsed by Porsche (Germany) )- its a citrus based wheel cleaner.

Hmm what else - I use Wonder Wheels but only for exhaust tips to remove the carbon deposits. Awesome stuff.


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## Beeste (Oct 25, 2005)

Myxa may have some advice for you? Drop him a pm.


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## db_abz (Jan 19, 2006)

Wonder wheels (and Megs Wheel Brightener) are excellent products but you have to be very careful and follow the instructions and disclaimers!

The bad news for RobDon is that the anodised coating is ruined and not recoverable  

The good news for Carl0s (welcome Carl0s!) is that the top layer of your polished alloys is ruined but if you remove that then the shine can come through! :thumb: 

All you have to do Carlos, is to remove the top layer of oxidised alloy. This can be accomplished with a variety of metal polishes (it's going to take some time and effort though!) and personally I've been very impressed with Meguiars NXT All Metal Polysh.
It seems to have a good cut to begin with and then breaks down to leave a highly polished finish.
It can be applied by hand using a terry towel cloth or by using a metal polishing mop on an electric drill and has always left a good finish for me.

Make no mistake, it's going to take more effort to restore than it would have to just clean the wheels with something more suitable in the first place, but at least it's recoverable!

I would reckon it's going to take around 30 minutes per wheel to get them back to where they were, working by hand. By machine, maybe a bit quicker but it looks like there's so many little fiddly bits on your wheels that doing it by hand will probably work out the best anyway.

Belgon Alu is highly recommended as a last step as it offers a small amount of abrasive to leave that bling look and also adds a wax protection to your wheels to make the next clean-up a little easier as well :thumb: 

Dave


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## myxa (Jan 16, 2006)

*Outer rim concern*

Hi, sorry to see the wheels.  
Give me a call, it will be easier to explaine what to try, ( as you can see it is a silly hour to type loads of stuff ) 
Normal alloy wheel polish will not do much good,
Try a small polishing kit from ##frost## google search.

At worst , they will need stripping and the rims machine polishing.

I am doing a sets for people on here, look out for the threads to see what is done.

Mark


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## Ruth M (Feb 27, 2006)

ah no thats enough to make ya cry - this is why i only ever put car shampoo, water and wax near my wheels with polished lip. i dont trust much else 

I reckon you could fix that tho it doesnt look THAT bad


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

Argghhh sorry to hear this mate, Myxa is the man for restoring those rims.

Everybody listen up, you don't need harsh wheel cleaners, my current wheel wax combo of Carlack 68 with Collinite 845IW on top is 8 weeks and going strong, is all you need is soap and water.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Sorry to see the damage, mate - good luck getting them fixed up. 

I only ever use strong wheel cleaners if I eally need to (Megs Wheel Brightener) and I'm careful what I use it on - generally, if a wheel needs cleaned beyond a shampoo, I'll try Autoglym Engine and Machine Cleaner as its nice and mild, and only if that doesn't work step up to Megs Wheel Brightener. Good thing is the AG can be used in the wheel arches too (keep off the brakes, though!), so do the whole job lot in one!  

If you wax the allows with something like Megs Tech Wax, then they really only will need to good wash with car shampoo every wash of the car...


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

Not good, but as said above, not too bad either. In future, protect them with Klasse All In One topped with 2-3 coats of Poorboy's Wheel Sealant, and you will find brake dust won't stick and you won't need to use anything other then normal shampoo and a wash mitt again (provided you wash them every week). Any longer and a wheel friendly cleaner like Menzerna 7.5 Gel will be fine, helping to shift grime without damaging the finish.


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## Serious Performance (Oct 26, 2005)

Agree with Razor..... We've only ever recommended P21S Wheel Cleaner for Volk Rims, no matter what finish but, especially as so much of their lines are anodized or polished etc, and we've had alot of experience with these wheels over the years personally, and with friends and customers cars.

Hope they come out all okay.


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## vindaloo (Jan 5, 2006)

P21S has never done any harm to any of my rims & is great stuff.

This is all the more sickening when you consider WW has again come top in the latest AutoExpress wheel cleaner test; I wonder (no pun intended) how many alloy wheels they are responsible for damaging. Your average punter will just spray the whole wheel/ tyre liberally with the stuff..... then watch his wheels dissolve before his eyes


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## carl0s (Apr 12, 2006)

Thank you so much for the replies guys. I'll digest it all properly shortly.
As you say, they don't look too bad. Some people from the supra forum are saying that the etched/damaged bit will come back through if I don't keep them waxed. I wonder if this is because they might be slightly anodised for protection or something? The rayswheels.co.jp site doesn't mention any anodising, but then it doesn't say too much at all.

I'll go have a look for some P21S now. Somehow I have a feeling it won't be at Halfords...


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## JD-GTi (Feb 6, 2006)

vindaloo said:


> P21S has never done any harm to any of my rims & is great stuff.
> 
> This is all the more sickening when you consider WW has again come top in the latest AutoExpress wheel cleaner test; I wonder (no pun intended) how many alloy wheels they are responsible for damaging. Your average punter will just spray the whole wheel/ tyre liberally with the stuff..... then watch his wheels dissolve before his eyes


Yeah I was just reading this article this morning from AutoExpress - 
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product_test/66583/alloy_wheel_cleaners.html

JD


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## carl0s (Apr 12, 2006)

JD-GTi said:


> Yeah I was just reading this article this morning from AutoExpress -
> http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product_test/66583/alloy_wheel_cleaners.html
> 
> JD


It was the "Auto Express best buy - 7 times winner" which made me think it was useful stuff.


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## vindaloo (Jan 5, 2006)

carl0s said:


> I'll go have a look for some P21S now. Somehow I have a feeling it won't be at Halfords...


Just try our friendly & helpful site sponsors


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

sorry you had probs mate, just another example why people should ask on here before trying certain products, better to be safe than sorry


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## RobDom (Oct 26, 2005)

So P21S and Einszett are delicate wheel finish friendly, any others? I used 1Z on my wheels with no effect on the caps.


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## carl0s (Apr 12, 2006)

Well guys I really goofed up. I took one of the rear rims apart (they are two-piece) and started polising the dish in the house with some autoglym metal polish (just using rubbing action with hand/fingers).
Unfortunately now you can see the area where I have polished looks different.
I later noticed the 'not suitable for mirror finishes' on the back :doh:!

It's not so bad, just needs some proper polishing on there. I've found a guy who can re-polish them to mirror finish, but it might even be worth me getting a price on a replacement outer-rim part.

Reading the autoglym label, it says for mirror finishes to use the 'super resin polish', but this, with an orbital buffer, had no effect at all.. it's like it's completely non-abrasive and did jack to the surface. (This stuff isn't a metal polish at all - the label on the back says it's just a general polish - paintwork an' all).

Some guys have recommended 'Brilliant' metal polish. Any other ideas on metal polish that would get the mirror finish back, should I decide to have another go with the orbital buffer?

thanks for all your help so far :thumb:


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