I have an old set of 14" wide anson slots that need to be refinshed. Can anyone recomend a shop that i can send them to?
I did try it myself. I bought one of every polish (everyone has an opinion on what is best) I wet sanded them (used many $'s of wet paper) and I bought a wheel buffing kit on e-bay. I used all the different compounds and I still am not happy with the finish. My wallet is lighter, my arms hurt and I have a buffing kit I will (I hope) to never use again...
Took my wheels from this... To this with never doing it before...... I started with 600 grit, then 800,1000,1200,1500,2000 then some very fine steel wool. I kept it lubed while sanding with WD-40 and when it was time to paint centers I scrubbed it all down so that the oils were completely off. The pics don't really do them justice. The wheels were shot when I got them and now they look brand new. I am definitely not an expert but I went slow and took my time.
i know the look he's looking for..they shine like a mirror..chrome like Ive got the same wheels..and have been looking for the same look
I stopped at 2000 grit because I wanted a machined look but by all means going up to 2500 then braking out the polishing compounds could definitely give you that chrome mirror like finish. Now the real question is who want's to upkeep those wheels once they are polished?
I had the front 5 1/2" x 1" slot mags polished at a chrome plating shop. This pic about five years after the polishing and they usually just get washed. I think I've only hit them with mag cleaner polish maybe three times in the last ten years. They still look good. This pic about a week old. The rear wheels are the factory machined finish and still look like they did when I bought the wheels new in 1985. A ways away, but they're still pretty shiny.
I like how you fitted the hub cap in the center, C9 how did you pull that off? Got me rethinking using mine on my A..Im currently using them to mock with but they are off my Charger
How I did it, this works wet sand- 400 grit 800 grit 1200 grit 15-1800 grit polish with BRASSO 2-3 times polish with Boyds or Eagle One-2-3 times Finish off with Mothers-2-3 times. always finish with MOTHERS What you're doing is working your way out of the lathe(scratches) marks, and replacing them with lighter ones until you start to see a semi-professional finish:just off chrome, looks like aluminum still. same finish in 5-6 hours per wheel
i've polished wheels, intakes, altenators fuel tanks......the work involved depends on what the wheels are made of and how made....it's not uncommon to polish a set of RI's and then some Ansens and have one be easier to bring to "THE POINT......."and also how fine turned would you like your new "MIRRORS".... I have slots for the rear of Lil Beast and still am undecided about to polish or not??????????? Randy, get ahold of me over your wheels....
Hello Topolino Kid I have some old wheels on a 37 that looks like the old anson but not sure. They are aluminum I think. Where are you located or send me your no. and I will call you. I am in Clio,MI thats just 5 miles from Frankenmuth MI Art
it's been my experience that other than the rough prep (smooth /blend knicks and casting flash or sharp edges) the rest should be left to someone with a HEAVY DUTY buffer do the final polish. Yeah, you can do it yourself, but how much is your time worth? you need to get some serious heat/friction going to put a nice finish on most wheels. all that being said, i live in a state where we don't use salt on the roads. been running some slots i had polished 15 years ago on my daily driver tow truck. normal care, wash 'em and don't let a bunch of brake dust build up on 'em. every 5 years or so i take them off and give them a light going over with simichrome polish.
About the hand polishing, set up your stuff so it's easy to get to and work on it a little bit every day. I have one 4 1/2" x 15" slot mag done and the other's about half way there. They came out a little shinier than the quickly done one in the after and before pic below, but not quite up to the quality of the chrome shops polishing job on the front wheel shown above. A pair of 7" x 15" backspaced 4" fwiw.
I did an article on it some time back. Here's the recently reprised article. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377970
You are not alone. I have seen many customers bring us parts that they were trying to repolish themselves, and after enough frustration, brought it to the pros. The biggest problem I see do-it-yourself polishers have is not getting aggresive enough with the abrasives, or simply going straight to a buff and doing nothing more than shining up the imperfections. With enough research and patience and time, you CAN do it on your own. For a typical 14-15" aluminum wheel, I charge roughly 100 each for a repolish. That means I can spend about 1.5 hours tops on each wheel and do OK. This is just a generalization for an idea of what to expect for pricing. I use a number of different tools for the sanding that needs to be done prior to buffing. The sanding process is the all-important process before buffing, and anything missed in this step will be immedietly obvious once buffing has started. I use a 3-phase 7-ish horse buffing jack to make the buffing go quickly, For buffing I use solid bar compounds, starting with an aggresive buff that leaves a semi-bright finish, then move on to the "color" buff with a fine compound to give it that deep shine. One thing to remember: polishing/buffing aluminum is dirty work. Wear some form of lung protection (for all metals, really.) I just use a dust mask and get black stuff all over me except where the mask and ear muffs are. If I spend just a few breaths' time without a mask while working on aluminum, I get black boogers. That can't be good. The noise of buffing jack makes the ear muffs mandatory.
Unless you are some kind of mascochist lhat likes noise ,filth ,burnt fingers and a grubby greasy workspace ,take it to the PROS .
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