polishing alloy wheels

[bored_Welsh_lad]

by the time you have bought everything you need (which still wont really be up to the job!)
and then spent hour after hour sanding them it will have cost you more in time and effort than just sending them to a polisher!

not really true..especially as once you have all the soaps and mops you can polish so much more.. its the patience and time thats the issue..

i would say strip the wheels with a good strong paint stripper first, then look to sand through the grades working 90 degrees to the last grade.. all the way up to 2000 wet n dry then get on the mops...

[wag,en,volks]

not really true..especially as once you have all the soaps and mops you can polish so much more.. its the patience and time thats the issue..

Serious contradiction mate ?

i would say strip the wheels with a good strong paint stripper first, then look to sand through the grades working 90 degrees to the last grade.. all the way up to 2000 wet n dry then get on the mops...
[/quote]
Blimey i never realised it was so easy 
how to mirror polish in one sentence ! 

[bored_Welsh_lad]

you said it was a rip off.. i said not really, as once you have the initial products you can do pretty much anything.. the mops and polish only cost about £20 ..

as for the "polishing in one sentence" comment... its a general overview.. forking out 3-400 quid to have a set of wheels polished compared to a max of 50 quid and lots of man hrs ...

if the OP wants to do this then he can work from the guide posted in my DIY thread..

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/VW/VW_VR6_Intake_Manifold_Polishing_DIY.pdf

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82922

Theres soo many guides out there that if the OP wanted to do this all they had to do is search..

[wag,en,volks]

I never said it was a rip off ?
I said that if you added up the hours taken (put your hourly wage into it) and even the most basic equipment ,then you will end up with a ££figure far above what a polisher would charge you to do a MUCH better job,
(an average set of wheel dishes by me is about £100,and that is done with proper equipment not a drill!)
i have "finished off" enough wheels for other people too know exactly what happens when people think that its an easy process
 

[bored_Welsh_lad]

I wasnt trying to take anything away from what you do, i too have mops attached to a proper motor unit for polishing...

I dont think anyone looks at the number of hours in terms of wages, but as a love of the hobby, its like brake pads for example.. you can buy them and sometimes take 1-2hrs fitting them,the cost would probably be cheaper but people do it to learn...

I can imagine the number of dishes you see half polished with sanding marks in them haah.. i myself have been halfway through an inlet and thought f**k this haha..each to their own hey.

[weazgti]

<a href="http://s973.photobucket.com/albums/ae214/weazgti/?action=view&current=DSC00113.jpg"
What can be done with these then.sorry took so long to post pic but took ages to work ou photobucket

[bored_Welsh_lad]

What can be done with these then.sorry took so long to post pic but took ages to work ou photobucket

That looks like an issue with laquer to me... although im no wheel guru lol..

[MKIII steve]

What can be done with these then.sorry took so long to post pic but took ages to work ou photobucket

yep that's the lacquer peeling away
that yellow ish colour is where water has got underneath the lacquer

[wag,en,volks]

your options with them are either strip the wheels and have them painted/powder coated
or if you want to keep the "shiny" bit then it may be possible to carefully remove just the lacquer and then polish,
to replicate them as they came from the factory would probably not be economical! (powder coat - diamond turned - lacquered)
good luck 

[weazgti]

cheers for the advice,not really worth spendind money on getting powder coated so ill give the polish a go.Would i need to use fine sandpaper to get the lacquer back or would compound do it?Do i need to re lacquer afterwards?
p.s why when i put the link code in from photobucket just come up with a link and not my pic? how did you do that