How To: Repair Curb Rashes and Restore Shine to Forged Rims (Volks GT-F)

[Zelfiris]

Hello, I have recently picked up an used set of volks from a good friend of mine and the condition they are in is not the best. A local shop quoted me $180 per rim to refinish so I figure why not try it myself. Last year I did something similar on a set of Forgestars and it was not too bad of an experience.
I love doing paint polishing but with the weather outside is not getting warmer any time soon, I decided to get a head start so the rims would be ready for summer and I would have one less thing to worry about.

Below are the steps by steps I had taken for my process. I’m also trying to learn to take better photos so I’m really practicing two hobbies at the same time. Anyways, on with the photos!

Day 1

The current conditions of the wheels:

Face

Evaluation: Cake brake dust, dirt and grime, curb rashes. The lip looks to be in very poor condition. Three of the four lips need to be sanded down. The brake dust barely came off when I wiped it with my finger. The gunmetal spokes look to be in good condition at least.

Barrel

Evaluation: The barrels look like it’s been many years since it was washed. The stickers were also peeling a little.

The Wash

Well, I couldn't bust out the frozen hose and bring the wheels onto my driveway and do a good wash. So I snuck the wheels into the tub in my basement (very quietly of course). I did the same thing last year with my Forgestars

And of course, things could have been easier if I had a detachable shower head..

The brushes I used. Two for the lip/face and two for the barrel

Other products:
- Optimum No Rinse in a pressurized sprayer
- Chemical Guy's Diablo Gel
- Optimum Power Clean

During

 

[Zelfiris]

All Dry

As you can see, after a good wash the barrels were still very dirty. It had a lot of tar and grime that did not came off. At this point I decided to hold off polishing the barrels until summer came. I need to hit it with Iron remover and tar remover (CarPro Tar-X) but I ran out of this product. In any case, the smell from Tar-X is very strong so I wouldn't use it indoor.

Further Inspection: Water spots, swirls, curb rashes, and chips on the lip can be seen now that the caked layer is removed

Next I proceeded to clay bar. The wash did not remove some contaminates stuck on.

 

[Zelfiris]

Wetsanding
This part I knew I hate most. Wetsanding. I spend a lot of time sanding to level the curb rashes. The goal was not to completely eliminate the rashes but sand down smooth enough so I can run my polisher without destroying my pads.

I used 320 grit, 600 grit, 1500 grit and 2000 grit. Other combinations are doable but this was what I had on hand. The 320 grit and 600 grit were purchased from Home depot, and other two from Canadian Tire.

Smoothing it down

Much better

Another rash

Time spend on Day 1: 6.5 hours

 

[Zelfiris]

Day 2
Got sick of wetsanding from day 1 so I decided to try something else. I remember the stickers were peeling so I tried Krazy glue.

Nope, didn't work. At all. Wouldn't stick lol. So I went back to wetsanding.

All the lips were finally leveled and smoothed out. (FYI - My thumb is still numb)

Next was to remove all the dirt and oil
- IPA 50/50 solution
- Optimum No Rinse Wipe down

Lip inspection with LED light - You can see the condition the lip is in. Fine and medium scratches everywhere. The water spots were still on the lip after the wash.

Can see the lip has slight discolour from sanding

Centre Cap was faded too

Polishing

I opt'ed to use a Cyan foam pad + Optimum Hypercompound

My handy polisher

After 3-4 passes

Other side not yet polished

Lip polished (not the disk)

My pads after the first rim

Time spend on Day 2: 4 hours

This is where I gave up. Yeah. Gave up. My two pads turn completely black from removing all the contaminates and it was not coming off after scrubbing them 4-5 times with all purpose cleaner. I left them soaking for the night because of it. If I want to work on the three other rims, I have to repeat the same process.

Some lesson learned for me:
- For rims in this bad condition, I should have chemically stripped the contaminates first. Use iron remover, tar remover and a stronger brake dust cleaner
- My forgestars were a breeze because I washed them frequently and I underestimated these volks
- Continue outdoor as the polish smell is quite strong. I knew that but still tried anyways
- Be patient and wait for summer to come (first thought after Day 1 and Day 2)

 

[Zelfiris]

2 weeks later in warm weather.. Enjoy!

Day 3

Setting up the work space

More products to be used to ensure surgically clean surface

The barrels were not tackle in part 1 since I washed them indoors

Setting up the wash

Oxidation still remain on the disk

First up - Sonax Wheel Cleaner

Nice even spray - waited 3-5 minutes for reaction

Results: Nothing happened. It stayed green. Kind of disappointed.

Next up: CarPro Trix

Liquid reacting and turning purple. Much better results

Now that the barrels were done, back to work on the oxidation

Tried to fit my Rupes Mini polisher on it

Did not fit.

Tried Mothers' Powercone with a power drill

Did not fit. FML

Only option left... polish by hand. Elbow grease all the way!

Polished the centre cap too

Time Spend Day 3 to Day 8: 15 hours
Basically I would come home and spend 3 hours each day in the garage polishing by hand with P21 metal polish. Very labour intensive

Results:

A remainder of the condition before when I was not able to wipe off the brake dust by hand

Note: I did not take any photos but after the wheels were done I sealed with each one with Optimum Opti-coat. The surface were prep'ed with IPA wipedown then CarPro Eraser wipedown and left to dry for 2 weeks.

A photo with them installed:

Total Restoration Hours: 28.5

Thanks for viewing!

 

[tropicsteve]

wow, a lot of patience and dedication for all that work, but if you can't afford to have it done , do it yourself! :bigups

p.s. the wheels in the bath tub is hardcore.

 

[jtford95]

Really a great job! A lot of work but well worth it.

 

[Pats300zx]

Holy cow...thats some serious time, effort, and work. Great job !!!!

 

[Zelfiris]

thank guys!

when you can't detail your car because of the weather.. you get detailing drawbacks and need find other ways to pass time LOL

as for the bath tub.. I hope this will be the last time I have to carry a set of wheel into there

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Massive props, just for using your bathtub! The results look great as well. Thank you very much for sharing!

 

[RaysWay]

Awesome write up! Thanks for documenting the entire process and those Volks looks great now.

 

[JSFM35X]

I have a great wife, she is very understanding about the time I spend playing around with the cars. If I ever brought a wheel into the bathtub or shower I believe I would get my butt kicked.

 

[dc52nv]

Those Volks are definitely worth the effort. Great job.

 

[chet31]

Wow, what an effort.

 

[EVOlved]

Better shots of them on the car?? Great work though looks like you had your work cut out for you!!

 

[TacoHerder]

Very impressive. Looks like that took some dedication!

 

[Zelfiris]

Massive props, just for using your bathtub! The results look great as well. Thank you very much for sharing!

Awesome write up! Thanks for documenting the entire process and those Volks looks great now.

Those Volks are definitely worth the effort. Great job.

Wow, what an effort.

Very impressive. Looks like that took some dedication!

Thanks for the compliment everyone!

Better shots of them on the car?? Great work though looks like you had your work cut out for you!!

Definitely! I'll take new ones after a good wash this weekend

I have a great wife, she is very understanding about the time I spend playing around with the cars. If I ever brought a wheel into the bathtub or shower I believe I would get my butt kicked.

I snuck the wheels into the washroom initially and kept it low key as much as I could LOL

 

[Trouble]

:wow:

 

[mnehls86]

I would like to see more pics of them on the car too. Very good job though. That was a ton of work.

 

[Klock]

That is a lot of work! Well done sir! Thanks for sharing!