Managed to make my nice Volk GT-C's look rather borked - need help re: clear anodisin

[-Totenkopf-]

Well guys, other night I was relocating some wheels to free up a room for my sister to move into.

I managed to put a small scratch in one of them (barely noticable, I regret trying to remove it) and decided, in my wisdom, that I'd attempt to buff it out. So I gave it a light sand with 1500grit wet and dry and went at it with some metal polish, not realising that the rim has an anodized coating on the polished lip.

Suffice to say, I wore through this anodised coating and the rim now looks, well, shithouse.

Im trying to chase down some options here. Does anyone know anyone who would be able to refinish the rim with clear anodised coating?

I know that I could just polish all the anodised clear off, but this means that the rims would then require regular polishing, which, I couldn't really be bothered doing.

Any help or assistance on this topic would be much appreciated. I'm located in the Brisbane area.

Cheers,

James.

[-Totenkopf-]

Pictures:

[w810sc]

try some autosol metal polish, works good on my SSR MKI
fonz

[-Totenkopf-]

try some autosol metal polish, works good on my SSR MKI
fonz

Thats what got me into the current situation.

The rims are not bare alloy, they have a clear anodised coating. I managed to buff this off with autosol (and the use of some 1500 grit wet and dry ) and now the region where the bare aluminium meets the anodised section looks rather shagged, as you can see. The more I polish the larger the bare alloy area gets. I've only been making the situation worse

[roadsailing]

there is no such thing as clear anodising, aluminium anodises itself, its most likely laquer they put on after they buffed them up the first time.

you could try to laquer it to match, or buff the whole rim back then put a layer of clear stuff over the top, lot of work though i guess.

EDIT:

i stand corrected

Clear/Color Anodize
Applicable specifications

MIL A 8625 Type II, Class I or II
What is it?

Clear anodizing or color anodizing (also known as sulfuric acid anodizing) produces a nearly clear oxide coating which is usually less than 0.0010" thick. The coating is normally sealed to improve corrosion protection or color-fastness when dyed. Clear anodize (or color anodize) also provide good corrosion protection in mild environments and minimum wear protection.
What does it do?

Sulfuric acid anodizing can provide comparable corrosion resistance and better wear characteristics than chromic acid anodizing. This type of anodizing is used in many architectural applications including windows and door frames, siding, decorative panels, railings, light poles and automotive trim. The coating is frequently colored for decorative purposes using organic dyes or metallic salts. Because of its low cost, this coating is commonly specified on many engineered aluminum components requiring protection from minimum wear and corrosion.

uh, strip it all and get the rim re clear anodized? otherwise polish it occasionally, you only have to do one rim at least!

[-Totenkopf-]

There is a such thing as clear anodizing and its used ALOT in industry. Google is yuor friend.

[w810sc]

D'oh, I forgot,
i reckon re-lacquer it and some wet and dry to smooth it out..
fonz

[-Totenkopf-]

I could try putting some laquer over the area, however, I wont be able to blend it. I'm stating a fact here, Volk GT series rims with a polished lip are clear anodized. I never knew this before or I never would have tried to polish out a very light scratch. The anodized coating is only like 0.005mm thick, thus the reason I got through it relatively quickly. If I were to put laquer over that area, then try to blend it with some wet and dry, I'd just have this same thing happening where I was trying to blend it in.

I need to know of a decent wheel refinisher with access or who can send wheels away to be anodized.

Everything I do lately seems to fuck up

[richzx]

James it can be done just look up some chrome platers etc in the yellow pages and they should be able to do it for you. I had the same problem with a fantatsic set of AME's and had them all stripped in caustic soda and then I could get them re-anodised ot polished. I had mine polished because it is shinier. It wasn't expensive but I did split the rims myself. Hope this helps.
Rich

[-Totenkopf-]

Cheers mate + rep for you. I tried to call some wheel refinishers saturday but of course they were shut. I'll call some mobs during the week and see if they can help me out. I know polished comes up nicer but it also marks easier and must be repolished every now and again to keep the shine. With the anodised lip you can just wash it with soap and water to bring it up shiny again.

I know your in tasmania, but do you by any chance remember the mob that did the job for you, so I can look for a similar mob up here?

Cheers,

James.

[oldcorollas]

how do you know it is not lacquer? it would be a similar thickness.

"clear" anodising is just "thin" anodising.... so that it looks more clear...
anodised oxide is hard. lacquer is soft. one will scrape off easily with razor blade, the other won't.

with clear anodising, the polished area should look no different from the anodised area...
but the areas you haven't touched look.. from the pic.. lacquered..
got any links to anything saying volk rims are clear anodised (with the resulting minimal wear protection) instead of lacquered (with better wear protection)?

[The Real Roadrunner]

the "majority" of jap rims are laquered not anodised.

my VOLKs were definately laquered and the reason i know this for certain is that they started to oxidise from under the laquer which caused it to lift on the outer edges of the rim.

a little bit of wet and dry and some buffing later had the as good as new.

id probly take it to some sort of coating/anodising mob and get them to verify it first though.

just get the tyre removed and take it down to them to check, that way they can "scratch" the inside of the wheel that the tyre covers, then if they say its just laquer you dont have to worry about fixing another scratch.

cheers
linden

[richzx]

The bloke I spoke to was at a place called 'Tasmanian Plating'and they advertise anodising in colours and natuarl along with cadmium, zinc, chrome, copper nickel and brass plating. Give them a call if you to ask questions they were good to talk too. 03 6334 4688.
Cheers
Rich

[feral4mr2]

i had all 4 of my rims damaged while getting a wheel alignment years ago. the doobies that they put on scored the laquer in 4 places around the inner lip. nearly went to court to get my rims re-laquerd, but it never got done.

so as the laquer does it starts to split and peel and look shocking!

i ended up sanding the whole lot of laquer off all the rims getting to a 1200 grit wet n dry. then spent hours with autosol and polished them up sweet. looked much better than originaly, but the upkeep takes time.

[-Totenkopf-]

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4135164

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?t=293892

Discussions on the topic in both They aren't laquered, trust me. .The polished and anodized areas dont look any different, just the transition where the anodisation is worn away slightly appears cloudy. If it were laquer this would not be so. Initially I tried to use a paint cutting compound (stuff I've been using to buff after denibbing my car). That did nothing, tried a finer cut compound, nothing. If it were laquer it'd have shined up again. The surface is just too hard for any paint polish to touch. I only think the metal polish got to it because I'd I'd probably sanded through the 'sealed' layer with the 1500 grit, leaving the oxidisation, thus the reason the polish appears to have only removed the coating in the area I had sanded.