Need Some Serious Help - Polished Aluminum Wheels + Track Day Brake Dust!

F

flash_e_gt

New member
Hey guys I've got CCW 505A Polished Aluminum Wheels which I stupidly took to the Racetrack. After two days of racing I returned to wash the car and the wheels and found that the brake dust is practically fused to the front wheels! The rears cleaned quite well, and look great, but the heavy braking on my phat *** car (Supra) must have been too much for the front brakes.



I tried just using normal automotive Soap and then went out and purchased wheel cleaner for Polished Aluminum Wheels (Meguires AND Eagle 1). While both did help a little bit, they neither really cut the base of the dust. I am at my witts end here folks, these were some expensive rims that look like crap at the moment, can you guys help me out?



For those that don't know about CCW's they are un-coated polished aluminum wheels.



UPDATE: Check out the end result on Page 2! :woot2:
 
clay will take forever get some p21 it s safe and strong, you ll have to do several application,

and let the prod stand for 10min before brushing
 
Use P21s and/or clay to get it as clean as possible, then clean up the remnants with aluminum polish on #0000 steel wool. Buff back to a shine with Mother's Billet.
 
hey guys,

I've tried everything above.... wheels are still stained by the brake dust. Any other suggestions or steps?
 
use a 3" buff pad to polish the rims.. or you can try polishing by hand but i think that'd be really tiring n slow..



I usually use steel wool for chrome rims.. but i'm not 100% sure if it'd scratch your polished surface..



steel wool is really strong and can take out anything.. maybe try a small area first and see if it's leaving scratches behind..



good luck..!
 
By the looks of those very bad pictures, you need a complete polish. If you don't have experience polishing aluminum you may want to take them somewhere and have it done professionally. I have True Forged polished billet rims and I've never had anything on them that P21S wheel cleaner, a good soft wheel brush and a wash mit couldn't get off. The best finishing aluminum polish that I've used to date is Adams #2. You might be able to get some of that off with Adams #1, but its going to be a long and tedious process.

If it were me doing it, I'd start with P21S and a wheel brush. Anything that didn't come off, I'd re polish with polishing rouge and a buffer. I'd Follow that up with Gliptone wadded "Heavey" metal polish followed by Adams #1 followed by Adams #2.

Either way it will all come off, your just going to need to spend some time and energy on them.
 
Were the pads Hawk Blue? The damage is likely hot sintered metal bits that have embedded themselves into the aluminum. This happens a lot with Hawk Blue pads but it can happen with other pads as well. I would never use polished aluminum wheels for track duty.



I disagree with one previous post, P21s is not particularly strong, it is pretty mild and safe, I use it all the time for basic brake dust.



For that kind of damage and the fact you have tried a number of things, I would try Megs Wheel Brightener (possibly full strength) and if that didn't work, I would use some oven cleaner. You might want to use various Scotchbrite pads.



You will likely need a full repolish either way.



Regards,



Rich
 
I had this issue with my Polished Aluminum rims. The only thing that was able to even touch the stains was an acid cleaner. I washed well with that, and then polished with Zoop Seal Aluminum Polish followed with Zoop Seal sealer. They have been holding up very well. I used, as stated above #000 steel wool in conjunction with the polish and then went to a #0000 steel wool with the polish to bring back the shine....and finished up with the sealant. (of course alot of elbow grease)



These are my winter wheels, so when I switch over to my chrome summer wheels, I am going to acid clean them once again and get all polished up. There is a place near where I live that does clear powdercoating for chrome/polished wheels. I have seen their work, and it is abosolutely amazing. The owner also said that there will be no discoloration "yellowish" tinting with the powdercoating as I have heard of in the past. Total cost per wheel for clear powdercoating....$25.00. Maybe something to consider when you get yours all cleaned up.
 
UPDATE!!!



After reading some amazing reviews on this and other sites I gave AdamsPolish a call and talked to adam. He recommended the following steps.



1500grit wetsand

2000grit wetsand

3000grit wetsand

Try Mothers... (I used a Powerball...it didn't work..)

Then Adams Metal Polish

At this point I went out and bought an el-cheapo metal polish kit from Harbour freight and used the pads that came with it (None of the compounds)

http://www.ohlakerentals.com/supra/Products.jpg



Add 6 Hours and a tired drill later...



You can see for yourself in the photos, but they really turned out excellent!!!

Great learning experience, and great product!

BEFORE

http://www.ohlakerentals.com/supra/WD3.jpg

http://www.ohlakerentals.com/supra/WD4.jpg



AFTER

http://www.ohlakerentals.com/supra/inside.jpg

www.ohlakerentals.com/supra/End.jpg
 
Lake Country Wool-Ball (3"& 5" at AutoGeek) and Flitz Metal Polish

autogeek_2048_86255860




Works great on my billet wheels



22151950052_large.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top