Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Lets Talk Refinishing/Polishing Lips

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 2
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 template Next
    #1

    Lets Talk Refinishing/Polishing Lips

    First off, if this has already been a thread then I apologize I did use the forum search.

    I know that you can find DIY's all over the internet but there's no advice like the advice from R3v:p I bought some RC090 wheels and I am going about having the faces and bolts powder coated, but now it's time for the lips to be done. I am looking for that #Stanceworks #JDM #UltimateKlasse #Slammed #BBS #LoweredLifestyle kind of mirror polished look on these wheels.

    What kind of processes have you used? What came out the best? Tips to leaving no "swirls" left over from sand paper? How high of a grit have you gone? Denim or Wool polishing wheel? What kind of rouge if you use rouge?

    Here's my first time doing this process on some ESM wheels...


    As you can see in this pic I didn't get them to that mirror finish I'm looking to get out of the 090's. Maybe it's the fact they were made by ESM.



    I did aircraft stripper
    400 grit
    800 grit
    1000 grit
    1500 grit
    Polishing rouge with cotton wheel
    Mother mag & aluminum polish

    Lets add this in too:
    Originally posted by trippmann View Post
    Can we change the thread to how can i maintain this finish?


    Flame suit on, now go R3vlings and discuss how to make a better finish.
    Last edited by Zreberlcoe; 02-22-2016, 10:06 PM.
    1991 325i Calypso Coupe

    Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
    BMW
    Tags: None
    #2
    Lets Talk Refinishing/Polishing Lips

    Looks pretty good to me. I went to 2500 and used mother's mag. The lips I've done so far on my bbs's came out similar to yours, it's hard to tell if they are better or worse though because there is not such a big flat part of the lip for mine to test the mirror aspect very well.

    I did
    1. aircraft stripper
    2. 400
    3. 800
    4. 1200
    5. 2000
    6.2500
    7. a few mothers mag "layers" if you will

    If the lip was pretty nice already I would start later in the sand paper order



    What mine look like for reference. We may or may not have different standards, mine look good to me haha I'm a noob at polishing though XD. Definitely need to do another layer of polish, and the lips are a bit blemished cosmetically clearly, but can't do much about that
    Last edited by e30onBBSs; 02-22-2016, 10:03 PM.
    BMW tech
    Umass Amherst
    05 wrx sti

    Comment

      #3
      I finished my wheels off with 3000 grit meguires paper for probably 2 hours each to make sure everything was gone. i hand polished with mothers billet aluminum and they came out spotless, mirrorlike, and with nearly no scratches.

      Can we change the thread to how can i maintain this finish?
      Originally posted by unloadedak
      It's brand new. I've gripped the shaft a couple times and that's about it.

      Comment

        #4
        here they were after the first polish.

        Originally posted by unloadedak
        It's brand new. I've gripped the shaft a couple times and that's about it.

        Comment

          #5
          These are for sale if anyone is intersted. 17", 8.5", in nj,
          Originally posted by unloadedak
          It's brand new. I've gripped the shaft a couple times and that's about it.

          Comment

            #6
            Those are hawt!! ^^
            BMW tech
            Umass Amherst
            05 wrx sti

            Comment

              #7
              Originally posted by e30onBBSs View Post
              Those are hawt!! ^^
              They really are.

              Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk
              1991 325i Calypso Coupe

              Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
              BMW

              Comment

                #8
                How does one achieve this? AND maintain it.
                1991 325i Calypso Coupe

                Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
                BMW

                Comment

                  #9
                  I've restored a good amount of sets of style 5's in the past few years, for people in the Bay Area and even forum members on here. Here's a few pics of past sets I've done, basically everything people have mentioned is what you have to do. Removing curb rash can be tricky, you can see in the first photo where curb rash once was still on the polished wheel, it was just as bad as the wheel on the left, both wheels from the same set. Not a very fun job, but I feel the finished results make it worth it in the end. Air tools really help to get things dis assembled quickly!

                  Curb Rash by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr

                  IMG_2265 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr

                  Clear coat by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr

                  IMG_2266 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr

                  IMG_2485 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr
                  Last edited by KIRIEIW; 02-22-2016, 10:29 PM.


                  1992 M tech 2 Convertible - S50 Swap
                  1992 e34 Touring- S50 Swap
                  1992 325i-S50 Swap (SOLD)
                  1995 e36 M3 Mugello Red - S50 (SOLD)
                  1991 325i Convertible Laguna Green (SOLD)
                  1987 325i (SOLD);1992 M tech 2 Convertible (SOLD)
                  1988 325i Convertible Alpine White (SOLD)
                  1991                   Brilliantrot Convertible 80k Miles (SOLD)
                  1992 325i Convertible Schwarz (SOLD)
                  1992 318i Convertible Project-Finished (SOLD)

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Wow that's an impressive side by side. And I absolutely love the finish on the last one. What color is that?

                    Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk
                    1991 325i Calypso Coupe

                    Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
                    BMW

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Do you have tricks to getting the lips so perfectly polished?

                      Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk
                      1991 325i Calypso Coupe

                      Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
                      BMW

                      Comment

                        #12
                        A good magician will never reveal his secrets..





                        Just kidding I'll cut the crap. The last pic is a set of wheels I had done in Negaro Silver, they actually went on a member's e28 M5 and really completed the car. Just use a good clear coat removal chemical, like air craft stripper. Once its all removed, sand the lips down. Personally I don't go down to 400 grit, it's just going to make it that much longer to remove the deep scratch's you just created.

                        Now If your un lucky and buy a set of wheels with chunks of clear coat missing, once you strip ALL the clear coat off you'll notice the spots where there was no clear coat still show up. The oxidation set in, and the only way to remove those spot's is to sand it down. In that case I'd use a rougher sand paper, in those spots only, and then sand the rest of the lip down with something finer.

                        After doing 10+ sets of hand polishing, I decided to test out using a polishing ball with my air compressor. Not only does it speed up the process a shit ton, but the results come out far better. I'll always finish it off with a very thorough hand polish though.


                        Pics of another negaro set I did, cool color it really changes depending on the angle you look at them.

                        IMG_2587 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr

                        IMG_2540 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr


                        1992 M tech 2 Convertible - S50 Swap
                        1992 e34 Touring- S50 Swap
                        1992 325i-S50 Swap (SOLD)
                        1995 e36 M3 Mugello Red - S50 (SOLD)
                        1991 325i Convertible Laguna Green (SOLD)
                        1987 325i (SOLD);1992 M tech 2 Convertible (SOLD)
                        1988 325i Convertible Alpine White (SOLD)
                        1991                         Brilliantrot Convertible 80k Miles (SOLD)
                        1992 325i Convertible Schwarz (SOLD)
                        1992 318i Convertible Project-Finished (SOLD)

                        Comment

                          #13
                          So what grit do you usually start with when you have curb rash? In my case I have some divots in the wheels and a couple small areas that need attention. I started with 220 on the ESM's to rid their curb rash.

                          Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk
                          1991 325i Calypso Coupe

                          Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
                          BMW

                          Comment

                            #14
                            I cant wait to find a set of rims to do this to... I did my trim and metal bumpers mid last year... For some reason I really enjoy polishing aluminum. I made a DIY and it should work on rims, just dont go as low in sand paper grit as I did. The trim and bumpers look better in person because the photos were taken with a iPotato...

                            http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show....php?p=4583544


                            Feedback Thread

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Originally posted by 88BlackS-ETA View Post
                              I cant wait to find a set of rims to do this to... I did my trim and metal bumpers mid last year... For some reason I really enjoy polishing aluminum. I made a DIY and it should work on rims, just dont go as low in sand paper grit as I did. The trim and bumpers look better in person because the photos were taken with a iPotato...

                              http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show....php?p=4583544
                              Good thing I will be doing this soon when the car is being painted.
                              1991 325i Calypso Coupe

                              Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son
                              BMW

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 template Next
                              Working...
                              X