Polished Wheels

proggod

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I have a 2005 copperhead edition with polished wheels. No matter what I do i can't get them to shine up and not look dull. Anyone have any good solutions for shining up these wheels?
 

CarDude

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I have a 2005 copperhead edition with polished wheels. No matter what I do i can't get them to shine up and not look dull. Anyone have any good solutions for shining up these wheels?

They are polished and then clear coated...I always wax mine. You can polish them like paint and then wax them. Be careful not to scratch/polish the crap out of them. Mine still shine like new, if not better than new.
 

Viper X

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Polish them gently as you would your paint.
 

Dave Moore

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My understanding is that you should never use wheel polish on a clear coated wheel. They contain abrasives that scratch the clear coat.
For clear coated wheels I use Zymole products.
I know some folks put wax on then after they get them clean to keep the brake dust from sticking.
Dave
 
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proggod

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I have waxed them, however they just seem to have a haze on them. Is there no way to remove that haze, or should I high speed polish them or something?
 

plumcrazy

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sounds like the clearcoat is messed up then. the only way to fix that is strip the clearcoat and polish
 

wallbanger

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the polished 10 spoke, h rims look like crap no matter what u do to em... Get em chromed.. the srt 8 gc rims in 20 look pretty badass tho....
 
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proggod

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the polished 10 spoke, h rims look like crap no matter what u do to em... Get em chromed.. the srt 8 gc rims in 20 look pretty badass tho....

Who would chrome them, and is it very expensive?
 
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proggod

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the polished 10 spoke, h rims look like crap no matter what u do to em... Get em chromed.. the srt 8 gc rims in 20 look pretty badass tho....

How hard is it to strip the clear coat, what would i use to do that?
 

Hiss

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I have the factory 5 spokes on my 2006 coupe with 10000 miles. I have curb rash on two of them.

Called California Chrome Wheel inc and this was the price for all 4 rims . They do suggest to send rims with tires on them for more protection to rims and install and balance without scratching up the rims. They say it could save you in the long run.

Chrome all 4 rims-- 750.00
Caps 100.00
Mounting&balance 100.00
(Moderate curb rash will be no cost-big gouges may cost to repair. Their site will explain this.)

Depending on location but shipping from Ky-the tire and wheel would be around 300.00. about 220.00 shipping for just rims

Takes 8-10 days to chrome rims plus the shipping time. My turn around would be near 3 weeks. Now 2 day ground would save time but of course will cost more.

This will probably be a winter project for me.
 
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proggod

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This sounds great although the downtime is going to kill me. Winter is the driving season for me, I'm in az :)
 

Hiss

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Check with them-certain cities in AZ they have regular pic ups and I would think they also deliver to those cities.

Even if you have to ship the down time would not be as long as Ky.
 

Viper X

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The clear coat does tend to turn yellow in the sun. I'd try and polish them first. Try Meguiars Scratch X, it works pretty well. You can do this by hand or with a small random orbital. Just don't over do it, as you can burn through the clear coat with too much pressure.

If this doesn't work, you will likely want to strip them and then polish them. You can do this yourself too.

Chrome looks good and cleans up easily, but ..... if you ding one, you'll have to send it out and get it re-chromed, which can be expensive and time consuming.

Most of my wheels are "non clear coated" polished aluminum as they polish up very nicely and you can remove minor curb rash yourself.

Good luck,

Dan:usa:
 

Hiss

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This will be a big decision for me.

I want to keep the 5 spokes-they are great looking wheels. Even though I wax them on a regular basis they are getting a little pale looking.

The curb rash really bugs me. Got to do something.

I have seen some of their work-Very very nice.
 
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