aluminum wheel polishing
05-29-2008, 02:46 PM
#16
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05-29-2008, 04:06 PM
#17
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Yes that is what I am telling you, $400 for a set of wheels (even more), some times more. I turn away work ALL the time, as I am swamped and I am extremely picky about the finish and the final look, so I take my time, I even work out curb rash on the lip and can tig weld if there is a serious gouge in the wheel and re-finish and re-balance, you would never know it has been repaired. I wish I had a small shop and some help, it would be a great little business to have.
Be mu guest, you can go ahead and buy a new set of wheels for say $800, but when you have cars with weird offsets like older Porsches and Datsun Z and owners have or come across some classic old school (read "period correct") wheels they are happy to pay $400+ to restore them rather than buy a modern style wheel more suited to a new BMW or Honda or even mitigate having them to pay $4000 - $5000 for a new set of HREs.
Regards - Yasin
Be mu guest, you can go ahead and buy a new set of wheels for say $800, but when you have cars with weird offsets like older Porsches and Datsun Z and owners have or come across some classic old school (read "period correct") wheels they are happy to pay $400+ to restore them rather than buy a modern style wheel more suited to a new BMW or Honda or even mitigate having them to pay $4000 - $5000 for a new set of HREs.
Regards - Yasin
05-29-2008, 04:37 PM
#18
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Hope that helps.
Yasin
05-29-2008, 10:42 PM
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Yasin we were talking polishing not restoring. I would expect(and have paid more) for rim restoration. The price would be a good deal then.
05-29-2008, 10:48 PM
#21
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I wondered where Russ developed the touch to attack his 928 paint with an angle grinder a few months back.
And why our annodized 16 inch rims seem resistant to accepting a shine from a little polishing compound on an old T-shirt.
And why our annodized 16 inch rims seem resistant to accepting a shine from a little polishing compound on an old T-shirt.
05-30-2008, 01:01 AM
#22
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05-30-2008, 02:28 AM
#23
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Thanks for all of the comments/info---
I was only referring to wheels that do not have an anodized coating on them......taking the anodized coating off would be a big mistake, unless the coating is in bad condition (then the wheel would need to be stripped and re-done).
as for condition of the aluminum you are starting with, yes, my alloy was factory polished when new. But after 9 years and over 830,000 miles in all conditions, both on road and off, the pieces get to be in horrible shape. The last time I had things polished up was a year and half ago, nearly 175,000 miles.....
the pictures illustrate what can be done if you take the time to do it right.
There are still imperfections in some places, but to remove them would require sanding the surfaces with various grades of paper, then doing the process I described at the front of this thread.
If you are looking for concours quality, then yes, there is more work required.
at any rate, if you are near a truck stop where someone is polishing.....it's worth $5-10 bucks a wheel to get them back looking new.
I hope you enjoy the shine anyway!!!!
--Russ
I was only referring to wheels that do not have an anodized coating on them......taking the anodized coating off would be a big mistake, unless the coating is in bad condition (then the wheel would need to be stripped and re-done).
as for condition of the aluminum you are starting with, yes, my alloy was factory polished when new. But after 9 years and over 830,000 miles in all conditions, both on road and off, the pieces get to be in horrible shape. The last time I had things polished up was a year and half ago, nearly 175,000 miles.....
the pictures illustrate what can be done if you take the time to do it right.
There are still imperfections in some places, but to remove them would require sanding the surfaces with various grades of paper, then doing the process I described at the front of this thread.
If you are looking for concours quality, then yes, there is more work required.
at any rate, if you are near a truck stop where someone is polishing.....it's worth $5-10 bucks a wheel to get them back looking new.
I hope you enjoy the shine anyway!!!!
--Russ
05-30-2008, 02:56 AM
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05-30-2008, 11:55 PM
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Jason--
closest I can imagine is probably DFW or OK City, but really putting a nail on it is difficult....
However....I am going to go to Las Vegas for the International Trucking Show, the last week of June.
If you are looking to get those phone dials mirrored, maybe we can get together before then and I'll have them done while I'm at the show....?
Just a thought---
--Russ
closest I can imagine is probably DFW or OK City, but really putting a nail on it is difficult....
However....I am going to go to Las Vegas for the International Trucking Show, the last week of June.
If you are looking to get those phone dials mirrored, maybe we can get together before then and I'll have them done while I'm at the show....?
Just a thought---
--Russ
05-31-2008, 01:08 AM
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05-31-2008, 01:25 AM
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will do---
are you thinking of dismounting the tires or having me get them done as is?
I can do it either way, but with tires takes up more room in the chain rack....
--Russ
are you thinking of dismounting the tires or having me get them done as is?
I can do it either way, but with tires takes up more room in the chain rack....
--Russ