pewter82

Anyone know the do's and don'ts of cleaning a anodized wheel? more importantly what to use or not use.

Thanks

jason

Jim bailey - 928 International

Never ever use ANY type of acid alloy wheel cleaner never. Wash with the same mild soap used to wash the paint on the body finish up by rubbing in vasoline and that is it ! Even dishwasher soap is too harsh .

pewter82

Good info! Thanks.

jason

Jim bailey - 928 International

Unfortunately all too often some well meaning detail or car wash guy sprays them with the "usual" wheel cleaner and permanently streaks stains them

dan davies

the gold rims?

pewter82

yes, the gold or platnum colored wheels......

Jim bailey - 928 International

Silver or platinum (gold/bronze tint) are both anodized and need the same careful treatment. Silver can be refinished but the platinum requires a chemical/metal I have been told is no longer legal for use in the USA. Metal plating finishing has a horrible history with the EPA

BlueMaxx

Jim....my PO used some junk on my wheels and they are streakeeeeeeed! I've been told that I can use a mild grade of compound to get the streaks out but I'm afraid this will be too harsh. Anyway to get those streaks out??????

Jim bailey - 928 International

Blue since they are stained streaked go ahead and use some wheel polish like Mothers etc and rub it all over you will not wear away the anodizing so polish it quite a bit then soap water clean rub in the vasoline. The last step does the most to make it look better.

Ben B

My rims were horrible! I tried to save the original finish, but it wasn't working. I debated plating vs. polishing vs. anodizing and finally decided the original look of the satin-gold rims was unique and complimented the car's color better than polished.

After checking out several places, I dropped my rims off to have them re-anodized and looked at their work while I was there. If mine turn out just as nice as ones they have done in the past, then I will be extremely pleased.

Total cost was less than $150 for 4 rims & centercaps. Yes, I got the price right!

I'll post photos & contact info in a few weeks after I pick them up.

BlueMaxx

Jim...thanks a lot...will do!

85fortheDrive

Jim Bailey:

Thanks for all the advice thus far on this topic. The photo below shows the status of my wheels afer years of neglect from the PO. A track driver who lives across the street has suggested that I consider painting these wheels. Would I have to remove the anodize to do so? I have access to sodium hydroxide, which I'm told can remove the anodize.

The wheels simply look DULLLLL. I've tried Goop and Vaseline, but the dullness simply returns.

Any suggestions? I'm pretty clueless about polishing/cleaning metals so I'd be most grateful for any tips.

Thanks and Peace,
Tim

G Man

The wheels on my 84 looked dull like that when I got it. I used some Brasso on them and they look much better. I can see myseslf in the reflection now. I just did a tiny area at first because the brasso says not to use on aluminum. The plating on the wheels is quite hard and I had no issues with the Brasso. Be prepared to use a lot of rags. That stuff comes off black!

Ben B

I decided to sell my '85 & concentrate on the restoration of my Healey for now (I'll get another 928 in the future!), but I did just have my rims re-anodized & they turned out very nice! You can see how they look in the ebay listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...QQcmdZViewItem

I'd be happy to pass on any information about the shop that did the work to anyone interested.

FlyingDog

Anodizing is not a plating process. It is an electrolytic oxidation process. When it first comes out of the anodizing vat, you can dye it any color you want. Home anodizers just use Rit Dye. Getting the color right doing it yourself wouldn't be easy, but a professional should know how to do it. Also, there is a big difference between hardcoat and softcoat anodizing. Hardcoat will protect the aluminum for physical (impacts and scratches) and chemical damage. Softcoat mostly just looks pretty and prevents oxidation. I would assume Porsche wheels were hardcoat.