I have an 82 928 that as many of you know I have been trying to bring back to life. I tried to remove a nasty scratch (deep) from one of the forged alloy wheels with some fine grit sand paper and rubbing compound. Only to find out that either these wheels have a clear coat on them or they have 20 years of haze on them. I love the look after the sanding and buffing, but that's a ton of work. I think that Tony has these seven slot wheels (nice and shiny) on one of his 928s. I'm willing to do it if it's the right thing to do? Any thoughts? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

There is some sort of coating that you sanded and polished through. Tony's wheels were polished. That's supposed to be better than getting them chrome plated. Chrome plating will weaken the wheel.

 

Mike, Have I done any damage to the wheels. Or can I continue and sand the rest of the coating off and polish them myself? Every other wheel also has the "road rash" on them. Some worse than others. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

82 - Phone dials? Seems like hand sanding and polishing would be an immensely time consuming job to get em perfect. For what its worth, PO on my 82 had the 15" phone dials painted to color match the body (chiffon white), with painted crest hubs and black lugnuts- they look so good (to me at least) I'm now hesitant to swap them for more aggressive wheels and tires. Let me know if you want I can email a photo, can't figure out how to post pics to the board.
Just a thought, good luck.
Russell

 

Hey, my car is Chiffon White also. But the wheels are not the phone dial style. I have the flat 7 slot wheels. I did think about a paint job on them, but I think that 4 or 5 hours per wheel I could sand them and polish them. I did look into the archives and found some info on wheels. Porsche recomends vasiline to bring out the luster on these wheels. But as I said... I have some bad marks in these. <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

Chucker
1982 928 White

 

Ran across these tips awhile ago, I will be polishing my wheels in a few weeks. Remeber using an electric motor and shaft with a 6" wheel is better than using a drill motor. Your pocket, your expense, your time. I recommend using a 6" wheel. It's not hard, just takes time!Try looking up the kit from Eastwood, or JCW.


Aluminum Wheel Polishing: I started with gold anodized dish wheels so you might skip this step:
A motorcycle fan tipped me off on how to strip the annodizing - EZ OFF spray. Applied a thick coat and left it on for like an hour. Then got a soft brush and started scrubbing and spraying more on.
First rinse. Hey it's actually working! Wheels begin to take on a nasty dried up cloudy finish but definitely not gold coated any longer. It was a cold night so maybe I should've left the first coat on longer? 2nd EZ OFF spray coat goes on. more waiting, brushing, spraying, rinsing, repeating, till it's all gone.
Whoa, it was like midnight. Go home and come back to fight the wheels another time. Round...Two! Polishing!
Ok pull out Dad's ole electric hand drill and chuck on one of those buffing wheels. Just like h.s. metal shop spin the wheel and apply compound stick to it. Don't load it up too much. Now for the wheel itself - pick a spot and start buffing. Not press too much let the wheel and compound do the work. Maybe 2-3 min's in one general spot (not static though). Lift drill and oh yeah baby the wheel is shiny right there! yeeha start going whole hog on rest of wheel. I forget which compound goes first, I think it's the red, then the white, then I used fine polish by hand like mother's, then regular wax as a top coat.
Dad's old drill gave up after the 2nd wheel I think so I had to buy a new one. (maybe bring it by some repair shop to see if they can rewire it back to working)
Overall took me like a week off and on to finish the job. I did extra like painted the lug holes with black paint. Was satisfied with the outcome, though I'm sure pro shop with bench mounted buffers could do much better. But that option meant $400+ and the travel time. "YMMV"

Aluminum should never be left "bare naked". The flat dish wheels come from the factory with an anodized finish to protect them. The Cup wheels are painted. Once you remove that finish and polish them up to a chrome-like shine (which I think looks really good) you have left the aluminum completely unprotected from the elements and brake dust. They will "rust" faster than bare steel. But all you have to do to protect them is cover them with paint. Simply polish them up to a perfect shine and then paint them with clear paint. They will look like they're chrome plated for a long time. Just a side not though - getting an excellent clear paint finish out of a spray-bomb is almost impossible. You really need to send them out to be "done".
Dozman
'85 928 Auto, Black

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

 

[quote]Originally posted by Chucker:
<strong>Mike, Have I done any damage to the wheels. Or can I continue and sand the rest of the coating off and polish them myself? Every other wheel also has the "road rash" on them. Some worse than others.</strong><hr></blockquote>

No, you didn't do any damage to the wheels themselves, just to that coating on them. you can remove the rest of the coating and polish the wheels, but it might be kind of time consuming. You might want to check and see what it would cost to have it done. If it isn't too much, it might be worth it instead of having to spend a lot of time on it yourself.

 

O.K. I think that I will try Dozman's plan. I want my wheels to look real shiny. Then I will clear coat them. Thanks to everyone. <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

Chucker
1982 928 White

 

Mike, as for the time on my hands. Here is my story. I am a stay at home dad to a 2 year old son. He has been very good about taking that two to three hour nap everyday. So I am able to slip out to the garage and toy with the Porsche. I think that it would be between 70 and 120 per wheel to have them done. I want to put new tires on this thing and do some other necessary repairs so I am trying to do as much myself as I can.

Thanks for the info.

Chucker
1982 928 White

 

Chucker - I polished my 'flats' about 4 years ago myself and did not spray clear on them. They are still sparkling with minimal upkeep. There are very few paints that will stick to polished aluminum for extended periods of time. Previously I polished and clear coated a set of cast aluminum wheels (different vehicle) and the first time I squirted it with a garden hose it peeled right off! You may want to talk to a professional about spraying polished aluminum. Good luck!

 

Paul, I had a gut feeling about painting something that was polished also. Not much for the product to bite to. Seems that it would just sit on top. I also thought that Mothers mag polish had "something" (silicone?) in it to protect the finish. I know that routine work on them is necessary after the initial polish. I'm going to go with the sanding/polishing and see how it works. But I have deceided to do this when I go for the new tires. Only have to pull the rubber off once that way. Thanks for the input. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Chucker
1982 928 White