#157218 - 12/19/05 09:39 AM
How to Polish your Rims
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teal_dx
Post Master
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 2492
Loc: Ohio
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Polishing Rims
This is a project that takes time and patience. You will be wet sanding and it makes a mess and your finger nails will be black for a while, the ladies will be impressed. The important thing is to sand long enough with each grit to remove the scratches from the previous grit. If you rush through the grits, you will end up sanding much longer with a finer grit to remove scratches from early grits.
Here's what you need:
-A variety of sand paper, I had
180 grit
240 grit
320 grit
400 grit
600 grit
1000 grit
1200 grit
1500 grit
2000 grit
- Mother's Wheel polish
- Blue Magic Wheel Polish
- any automotive carnuba type paste wax in a can
Here is of lightweight rims from a civic hx. As you can see they are badly corroded. They are painted silver from the factory, but had already had most of the paint stripped before I bought the car.
I began with 180 grit on these because there was so much corrosion to sand through. I sanded so much that I probably made them even lighter lol, yet still could not get through all the corrosion on the lips. You could start with 240 on a cleaner set of rims. You want to sand all the lines out of the factory machined surface.
Some pics after sanding with 400 grit
After 600 grit
After 1000 grit
Be sure to clean the inside of the rims as well so you can have the stick on weights put there rather than on the outside of the rim you just polished. I just used 180 grit to get the dirt off.
On the first wheel, between 1000 and 1200 grit, I masked off all the inset areas between the spokes to be painted. I did this before the 1200, 1500 and 2000 so that the rough edges from the masking tape would be sanded smooth as I finished the surface.
I sprayed them with Duplicolor Wheel Coating, Graphite
These are after sanding with 1500 grit. The rim in the background is 180 grit to show how far it has progressed.
after 2000 grit... almost done!!
Mothers wheel polish is good stuff, I have been using it for almost 10 yrs.
Just dab some on a terry cloth you dont use for anything nice (it turns black) and rub it on a section of the rim for about 30 seconds. Let it haze over for a minute after wiping and wipe the haze off with a clean cloth.
Done! (with that little area)
Spoke before Mothers
Spoke after Mothers
Half polished
Complete!
Compared to the 180 grit rim
Now I have 3 more to do 
Also not yet pictured, I find that waxing them with a wheel polish called Blue Magic will make them a little bit brighter. Mothers is an abrasive, but the Blue Magic is much finer. It removes what is left of the black oxidation from the Mothers.
Finally wax them with a coat of regular carnuba paste wax. This will act like a seal on the surface and keep them looking good after a rainstorm. On the inside, wax but do not wipe it off after it hazes. This will make it much easier to keep the insides of the rims clean in the future. They aren't clear coated, but I hope you wouldn't even think about using them in the winter anyways!
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#157221 - 12/19/05 11:09 AM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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Civic4drNWV
Sr Member
Registered: 04/02/03
Posts: 1179
Loc: WV and Daytona Beach, FL
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Sweet write-up! Those look really, really good. I'm sure it took a lot of hard work to get them look so good.  Now take 20 minutes and clean your freakin' shower. 
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#157222 - 12/19/05 11:15 AM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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teal_dx
Post Master
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 2492
Loc: Ohio
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yeah you dont want to do this in your bathroom like I did, the wet sanding makes a huge mess. gonna have to scrub the hell out of the shower lol
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#157224 - 12/19/05 10:32 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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teal_dx
Post Master
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 2492
Loc: Ohio
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Quote:
thanks for the write up i am going to have to do this to my stock si wheels
 
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#157225 - 12/19/05 10:59 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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bleh¤
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 23812
Loc: Canadia
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Nice! I'm debating if I should do my Si rims this spring. Does anyone have a pic of them on a car? Preferably a 96-00 Civic?
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#157231 - 01/20/06 06:02 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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teal_dx
Post Master
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 2492
Loc: Ohio
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im gonna guess about 8 hrs, I did the worst rim first so there was lots of extra sanding needed, I just started on the second one this week and took a break...
I gotta get the car finished before I worry about bling!
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#157232 - 01/20/06 06:12 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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teal_dx
Post Master
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 2492
Loc: Ohio
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Quote:
Brian, you frequently give me a boner. true story.
wait till you see what is going in... viagra for you 
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#157236 - 02/10/06 04:56 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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Trixiem
Post Master Sr
Registered: 03/10/03
Posts: 3031
Loc: Las Vegas, Nv
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sweet write up.
i did mine in white after i polished them, cause the idiot put a weight on the lip when i specifically told him to put it inside.
-kenny
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#157237 - 02/11/06 12:39 AM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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RyCeRoCkEtZ
Post Master Sr
Registered: 10/26/03
Posts: 5553
Loc: NorCal, FrisCo, Bay Area!
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looks like i'mma get another set of R wheels and polish them
_________________________
'00 EBP EM1 Si (K inspired) - Present, soon to be gone... '05 TYB YZF R6 - sold 09-19-2007, you will be missed.. '08 TYB YZF R6 - 02-12-08 fAsT cAr aRe fOr dRaG rAcInG fAsT dRiVeR aRe foR aUtOcRoSs 
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#157239 - 02/16/06 11:33 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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EkVtec
Jr Poster
Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 103
Loc: California
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good write up seen this on h-t
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#157240 - 02/22/06 12:36 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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btune eddie
Newbie
Registered: 02/21/06
Posts: 13
Loc: CA, USA
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CLEEAAAAAAAAAAAN JOB
CLEAN JOB
OMG
CLEAN JOB
_________________________
Eddie
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#157241 - 02/23/06 08:50 AM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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tmitbyh
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 03/11/02
Posts: 23511
Loc: Bauxite, AR
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That is dedication. 
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#157243 - 03/02/06 04:09 PM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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RyCeRoCkEtZ
Post Master Sr
Registered: 10/26/03
Posts: 5553
Loc: NorCal, FrisCo, Bay Area!
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Quote:
Quote:
That is dedication.
agree.
this ish takes forever.
ditto
_________________________
'00 EBP EM1 Si (K inspired) - Present, soon to be gone... '05 TYB YZF R6 - sold 09-19-2007, you will be missed.. '08 TYB YZF R6 - 02-12-08 fAsT cAr aRe fOr dRaG rAcInG fAsT dRiVeR aRe foR aUtOcRoSs
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#157251 - 03/29/06 11:36 AM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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209_dup2
Poster
Registered: 10/04/05
Posts: 340
Loc: Tracy, CA
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#157252 - 04/18/06 08:49 AM
Re: How to Polish your Rims
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teal_dx
Post Master
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 2492
Loc: Ohio
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I didn't clear coat because I'm not sure how well the aerosol would bite on the polished surface. I think that when you go from the 2000 grit to the mothers, you're really smoothing the surface that the paint has to stick to. Maybe powdercoating them in clear would adhere better, but for the $$ I'll just not use these in winter and shine them up by hand once in a while. 3 are complete so far, the 4th one just finished the 2000 grit stage. I will never polish another set of HX rims 
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