BC

Hey guys and gals,

I do mechanical things. I to Timing belt changes, brake jobs, head gaskets.
I Don't do body work, polishing, making things look pretty. It takes me a full 12 hour work day to wash, buff, and wax my car. Its black, so it stays that way for about 2.5 seconds.

I am, however, interested in trying to make the alertnate design phone dials on my wife's car look much better than they currently are. First, I was going to try polishing them to a shine, and if that did not work, I was going to paint them.

So how do you polish? I have a dremel-like tool, and can buy any attachment needed. I also have power drills, and may even have an old polishing wheel. I have Ps21 multi finish restorer polish that I use on my chrome wheels on my S4, and was thinking of mixing that with some machine power to clean these wheels up.



Any help on this forum would be appreciated.
By the way, I am selling this car - so I have to be conservative and not make mistakes.

BC

Jeez that picture looks big. Well, as you can see, the wheels need some attantion.

chris928

DO NOT POLISH!!! I've done this before and it is hell. If the wheels are mag then you can't polish them anyways. If they are aluminum, pay a professional polishing house to do it. They will do a much better job, faster, and can clear coat it afterwards.

It would take 14 years with a dremel tool.

I used a 4 1/2" hand grinder and it took weeks...

Dave H.

why put that much effort into it if it's for sale?

Randy V

Those original phonedials can't be polished. They can be chrome plated, as they were on my car when I bought it. However the chrome was flaking off and looked pretty bad at that point so I refinished them using the Wurth paint system in the OEM Porsche silver.

After three years they still look great:

Ed Ruiz

For really good car care and cleaning tips, go to: <a href="http://www.carcareonline.com" target="_blank">www.carcareonline.com</a>

from there go to the 'advice' section. YMMV

~ Merry motoring ~

DG84S

All kinds of polishing and finishing supplies are available through <a href="http://www.eastwoodco.com" target="_blank">www.eastwoodco.com</a>

Dennis Wilson

Randy and Brendan,

I noticed that both of your phone dials are a flater style than my 16" phone dials. Are yours 15" or are there two styles (flat and rounded) for both the 15 and 16"? BTW the phone dials on my silber 78 were polished by a PO. They clean off well with normal washing. Dave Shaeffer on the e mail list did this type of polishing professionaly until recently. you may want to ask him for some pointers.

Dennis

jim morehouse

Brendan,
I've read of two different places (many more obviously) who will polish the wheels..one on the west coast and one in Las Vegas that Tony H used..I recall about $100 to $150 per wheel.

I did a little touch-up on my polished flats and have a write-up on the full process somewhere if you still want to do it. Everything I've read says it's a mess and takes a long time to do. Let me know if you want to dig it out.

Jim

show'n'go

[quote]Originally posted by Dennis Wilson:
<strong>Randy and Brendan,
I noticed that both of your phone dials are a flatter style than my 16" phone dials. Are yours 15" or are there two styles (flat and rounded) for both the 15 and 16"?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Dennis,
The "flat face" phone dials are the 15" standard equipment wheel
on AUTOMATIC trans early 928's.
The "raised hole" phone dials are the 16" standard equipment wheel
on manual 5 speed trans pre-"S" 928's.
The 16" phone dials could be ordered as optional equipment for the
early automatic cars.
And then there is the 16" x 8" wide phone dial which came on the rear
of 944 turbo cars (951's), which look slightly different from the
16" x 7" 928 as well!

Brad
'78 <a href="http://www.p-caronline.com/directory/showngo/" target="_blank">928 euro</a> 5 speed
928 Owners Club

Dennis Wilson

Thanks Brad. Both of my 78's have 16" so I've never noticed the difference before.

Dennis

dr bob

Brendan, before you go off the deep end on a project that won't have a big payoff, consider an intensive cleaning of the wheels. From the picture, it looks like the innards are full of brake dust, etc, and the faces are in not-too-bad shape. Pull the wheels and give them the once-over with detergent and a stiff brush. Use one of those nylon-faced sponges if you need to, like the grout or painter's sponges that Home Depot sells. Last weapon is a scotch-brite pad for any chunks that might remain. I've used paint thinner to get chunky road tar off the insides too.

After all that, a good paint cleaner/polish and some wax will do wonders for the appearance of the wheels. Getting some light through the back makes a huge difference in the first impression of the wheels.

Note that this is all stuff you would probably have to do before painting or buffing anyway, so no significant extra cost or labor is involved.

One of my neighbors has a midi merc, and e-class I think, with aluminum wheels that may never have been washed or cleaned. A session with the wheel cleaner spray, a soft brush, and the garden hose made the car look like new again. I demo'd the first wheel for her, and she called me names while she did the rest, but the results were worth her work in my opinion. <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

Something to consider.

<img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

BC

Thanks everybody, for you help(hope?)full responses. I think I will start with an intensive cleaning of the wheels, and maybe some heavy duty elbo-grease may do it to my requirements.

On the subject of repainting them, I think that may be a serious option, as I just want them to look like they did 20 years ago...

On Bob's subject of the inner parts and the brake dust evident - in the pictyre you see the beveled edges of the holes are dark. That, in close up, is black, bubbling paint. Thats the part I really hate, and wanted to remove somehow...

Well, thanks again guys.
I have two big bottles of the PS21 total auto wash (that citrus stuff) and may try that...first.