Max's 911

Hoping for some help!
A while back I (regrettably) took my 89/911 to a brushless/hand car wash. They pretreated the wheels with a soap. The rims (the brushed alum portion) now has white streaks.
Does anyone have suggestions for cleaner/polisher or other products/approaches to remove these marks. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
T

Todsimpson

If the wheels are stock, the brushed aluminum section is really anodized-a thin coating that protects the raw aluminum.

It sounds like the cleaner has damaged the anodizing. The only real fix is to refinish the wheels. That means removing the tires, stripping off the anodizing, then reanodizing. Expensive.

That being said, you can minimize those streaks. Wash them with car wash soap, maybe use a real mild polish on the streaks then wax them. I bet they'll look a lot better.

michael lang

Todd's correct, the wheels maybe FUBAR. Worth taking some polish and some elbow grease to the wheels just in case the chemical is only on the surface. Hopefully that will pull off the discoloration. If you've already done that and you are looking for the next step, try your repair shop. They probably will not be able to help in terms of doing it for you but should be able to point you in the right direction. Most shops will be able to give you a good referral to a sublet guy who can help you.

ivangene

I used some wheel cleaner and had some streaks... they came right out (in my case)

I just used some REJEX on a soft cloth and rubbed it in - done..... looks like nothing ever happened

GL and post some pics

and stop taking it to a carwash

Max's 911

Yeah, yeah, I know! The first time ever sinking that low and taking it through a carwash in my 15 years of ownership! And this happens

I made a few tests this AM. Swirl remover helped. Claying seemed to work better. I may try a combo of the two - or perhaps a slightly more agressive polish over the weekend.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'll post a follow-up once done.

ivangene

I would not use anything aggressive - try some wax (something like REJEX)

dont apply. let dry and rub off.... just rub it till it dries and is gone, use a good microfiber and rub it out with the wax

CT Mike

I had some whitish blotches on the black parts of my wheels last season. I used Mothers polish on them and also on the non-painted surface. That cleaned the white blotches and they looked much more presentable.

irobertson

My Fuchs had gone milky on the silver anodized areas, and black centres had gone very chalky.
I worked the aluminum anodization with Mothers polish with a felt wheel on my dremel tool. I did 5 inch sections at a time, which took about 2 hours per wheel.
I started each section with some wet polish, and stopped when the polish dried out, then buffed with a soft cloth.
I worked the black over with a clay bar.

Before and after shots

WPOZZZ

The factory trick is to treat the wheels with petroleum jelly. Let it sit in the sun for an afternoon, then wipe off and buff.

CT Mike

Irobertson: As to your post above about claying the black part of your wheels. I have mine off and am about to paint them. Like yours, the black part of my wheels were chalky, Mothers cleaned them up OK but with winter here I figured I'd paint them to get them looking fresher. I can't quite tell from the picture how your outcome was. How close to original did you get them with the clay? I'd sure prefer not to paint them but while they are off its time to decide.
I read a trick in anther post that might be helpful about using a permanent magic marker on the lug nuts instead of paint. Not sure how they will hold up but they look good sitting on the shelf. If it doesn't work I'll end up replacing them but for now why spend an extra 200.

Max's 911

Interesting - is this the trick to preserve rims or is it the trick to help remove the white streaks? (I need to post some pics but what I see is very similar to what irobertson posted - the white is a bit more streaky and in a radial direction, as if some liquid spun off while driving).

Also, does this work for both black and alum surfaces?

Thanks for the dialog on this topic!

Andy Kay

Before a Concours, I've used petroleum jelly to treat the black area but not the rims. A little goes a long way.

ivangene

I would not be in a hurry to piant - I think there are namy options to explore before going there - paint (IMO) can look worse if not done right (and rattle can aint right)

WPOZZZ

I used them on both surfaces and it masks imperfections. I bought a set of 7s off eBay and they too had some white spots and the petroleum jelly made it disappear. You just have to treat it every so often to keep up the appearance.

It is cheap, so give it a try.

CT Mike

I clayed the black part of one wheel and it looked noticably better than the other wheels. I wasn't sure if the clay may have an oily component to it and in effect only be doing a temporary fix, like petroleum jelly. So I then took some pre-cleano on a rag and wiped down one section of the wheel. I figure that this pre paint cleaner would clean off any oil on the surface. I'm happy to say that the wheel still looks good and maintains the luster from the clay stage. I'm thinking that I will try some black wax next on the painted surface and call this winter project complete.