Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

[khaltire]

Hey guys new to this forum, its really great. I have a question (did a search as well)... I bought a set of 4 used wheels. Anyways, 3 of them the clear is mint condition and still clear. The 4th wheel still has a nice thick layer of clear, but for some reason its very dull. I was reading around and I read that this means the clear is missing its natural oils and thats how it becomes dulled (and oxidized?)

Anyways, what I wanted to know is there any hope of fixing it? The clear seems to be in good shape thats why I thought something would take it off and show fresh clear coat under neath. I tried a 'final polish' product (some white liquid) with a buffer at my friends house (he paints and finishes cars in his garage) but that didn't work. He said he can't think of anything thatll work on it, other than refinishing the wheel. Im guessing its just been exposed to too much salt and road grime and wasn't washed or something...

Thats where you guys come in, since most ppl on here are experts, is there anything that can fix it?

Shiny wheels example (3/4)



Dull wheel (1/4). Basically it doesn't look polished like the other 3, but rather a unpolished metal finished. But I know they came polished so it must be in the clear


Heres a pic of what I mean, its hard to tell but keep in mind the clear isn't cracking or peeling or anything.

[Nappers]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

I actually clay and use Deep Crystal #1 and/or ScratchX on my wheels and they look as good as when I bought them, with exception to the clear coat flaking off of the wheels on our Yukon.

Use a lot of passion if you try it. It will take more than 1 application of product, so don't get discouraged. I have done up to three on our Yukon, the Neon wheels are only a year old so they aren't too bad yet.

I had thought of trying the Mothers ball (the small one) and put some Meg's 80 or 83 and give that a whirl.

First clean them with Meg's Hot Rims all wheel cleaner and give them a good scrub.

Aaron

[khaltire]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

I wonder if it maybe it is just the wheel, and it just didnt come polished... that wouldnt make sense though, cause they were all made to the same spec.. weird

Would PlastX work, or just ScratchX? I just dont want to go out and buy a couple things to find out none of them work.

Also, I dont have access to a powerball or buffer or anything anytime soon. Anything that would work with some elbow grease?

Ive also been told that if the clear looks like this that it needs to be 'polished' to get some of its moisture back. Ive also been told to try a swirl remover. Since Meguiar's has all this stuff and different types of each, I wonder what the best ones to try will be

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

Looks like two different types of finishing under the clear to me, a quick test using a cleaner/wax or a paint cleaner will verify, that is if you rub a little cleaner/wax or a paint cleaner onto the dull wheel and after a little bit of rubbing wipe off the residue and inspect.

What you'll have done is clear up the clear coat to reveal accurately what's under it, if it looks like the other 3 wheels then you can continue working over the rest of the wheel, if there's no difference then you have a different wheel.

The shape is the same as the other 3 wheels, but it underwent some other option for finishing.

My guess is that's what's going on here.

[Vormund]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

It does look like a different finish as Mike said.

Here in Australia Mazda 3 SP23's have two different wheel finishes for the same design. The regular silver painted finish, and a high gloss dark silver paint finish for the luxury pack option. I'm just thinking it could be something similar here....although you could've got one you shouldn't have. Probably need some more pics to verify though.

[khaltire]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

Alrght Ill try the wheel cleaning option.. Just try ScratchX as a cleaner?

Oh, thought I should mention that they did only come in one finish, high polish. I confirmed with an entire Integra forum (what the wheels are from). They are almost mirror finish from the factory

[khaltire]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

Any other opinions? Thanks

[cnfowler]

Re: Polishing dulled clearcoat on wheel? Pics

Where did you purchase the used rims from? I'd bet 100% they are different wheels.