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#1
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Polishing Wheels?
Has anyone removed the clearcoat and polished their wheels?
If so what did you use and how did it come out? |
#2
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Didn't do it myself, and they weren't MB wheels, but I purchased a used Chrysler Conquest to tool around in while completing a contract in CO.
The wheels were dull and pitted, so I took the opportunity to have a local shop polish them out. They charged me $50 per wheel. The results were fantastic and the wheels looked better than new! So I had the car repainted, put new tires on it, and wound up keeping it! Had the same shop polish the valve cover too! What you do have to watch out for is that the lack of clearcoat exposes the rims to all sorts of unfriendly environmental conditions, which means you need to polish them often (especially during the winter). They will slowly turn dull with rain, snow, and even car wash detergents. You can use a wheel cleaner like Mother's mag wheel polish to keep 'em looking good. I would do this about once a month during the warm months, more frequently during the winter.
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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle 2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car 2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver 2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car |
#3
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How about clearcoating the wheels after you get them polished?
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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K 07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K 02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K 05 F150 Silver 44K |
#4
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Not a Mercedes...
Haven't done this on my Mercedes (yet!), but have removed clear coat and polished aluminum alloys on a set of Jeep wheels and Lincoln LS wheels.
I found you need really heavy duty paint remover to get the factory clear coat off... used remover made for aircraft and expoy finishes. Don't get this stuff on your skin or in your eyes. Make sure you use outside; bad to breathe this stuff. Anyway, once the clear coat is off, you'll have dull, bare aluminum. Both sets of wheels had deep scratches. Sanded these out with 400 grit wet/dry paper and then moved up thru 600 and 1000 grit. Found that wheels sand pretty easily, so don't get carried away. Once the whole wheel was smooth with 1000, they look really nice. In the case of the Jeep, I left them that way and clear coated them. On the wife's Lincoln, I polished them like a mirror with a 7" low speed buffer and two grades of 3M body/paint polish. Then, I clear coated. On both set of wheels, I used an aerosol product called WHEEL-KOTE. Its made by plasti-kote and sold at PEP Boys and other auto places. I put several coats on. I've noted that folks are concerned about whether or not the clear coat will stick... not sure of other products, but both sets of wheels are past a year now, and there is no sign of peeling or cracking. The 8-hole wheels on my S500 have some curb rash and chipping, so I'm going to do them this spring. Hope this helps. KenP |
#5
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KenP
Ken
Would be a great idea if you could post some before and after pics when you do your wheels. |
#6
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OK, good idea!
Yep, I'll do that... but, it won't be anytime soon! Going to be in the low teens here in VA tonight. Brrrrr.
Probably won't get around to the wheels for a few months yet... other priorities in the way of all this car fun. KenP |
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