hey guys....have read way too many helpful tips/recommendations here so i thought i'd take a few moments to share yesterdays experience.

i recently bought used ruff racing rims. the spokes were in perfect condition (painted) but the lip (polished) had seen better days. although it was clean, there were little white dots all over them and it was not polished at all. at first i wasn't even sure if they were polishable. here is what i found for what works/ doesn't work on a polished lip to bring back a nice shine.

firstly: dont buy the original mothers powerball--too big and gets places you dont want it to go
secondly: buy the minipowerball, much easier to control and it goes where you want it.

i had first started out by trying my zaino claybar and then Mr. Clean magic eraser to try and get rid of those white speckles (not sure what it is). this did NOTHING. in my experience both of these products do wonders, but not in this instance.

next i tried my powerball with Mothers Chrome polish i had laying around. also, did NOTHING!!! at this point i was a little upset thinking i couldnt do any better.

i had read great reviews on Mothers Billet Metal Polish so i decided to give it a try. For $13 compared to their Mothers Metal polish for $4 i wasn't sure if it was worth it but it was. Immediately the white marks started to fade and a nice polish took over the lip.
The billet comes in a jar so i just smeared it around part of the lip then went to work with my drill and powerball.
the process was very easy and really took no time to polish those bad boys right up....only problem (and a big one), the process leaves a black oxidation which is easy to clean off the lip but VERY difficult to clean off the spokes that are painted and didnt want to accept the polish. my recommendation, tape off part of the spoke so you dont have to clean it off. you also have to work pretty fast and get that black residue off or the harder it is.
so all in all it took around 2 hours, but 75% of that time was the cleanup.

hope that helped some of you looking for ideas for poishing that lip, or any metal surface.

here is a quick before and after shot of the lip.

 

nice, I am sure it will help some members who's rims aren't cleared or anodized
Rims looks 100% better

 

I was on the same condition here, and I got me the Powerball and Powerball mini with the PowerMetal and all I gotta say is WHOA what a difference. I love the way my rims came out, and now the dirt wipes right off. Highly recomended!!!

 

Yo man, love the lip on the rims. I was in Manayunk just on Friday night at the Flat Rock Saloon to watch my friend perform. Was your car parked around there at all?

 

^^^^yeah of course! i live a block away down main st. --inbetween the bayou and thomas' restaurant.
i LOVE flat rock, i'm a regular--sucker for good Belgian beer
let me know next time he plays

 

I don't know if he is going to play over at the Flat Rock again anytime soon. He has a bunch of dates coming up at a place in Malvern. I'll let you know when he plays there again, and maybe I'll be able to check out you ride. Saw your ad for your rims on craigslist btw. Couldn't convince my sister to buy ur rims, sorry She is cheapo!

 

Nice write up. I can really used that.

 

^^^great, glad to help.

 

does it work on volk rims?

 

NO WAY!!!! Volks are annodized! Annodized are great for keeping the shine and being pretty much maintanence free HOWEVER, they are very very finicky when it comes to cleaning.

Use only soap and water! To seal, I would reco a sythetic sealer or wheel wax applied regularly. Do not use anything abrasive, acidic or basic.

The only wheel cleaner I have used on my annodized wheels has been Detailing Dynamics WHEEL SHAMPOO which is PH balanced. I keep my wheels clean so I rarely need to use it, but it is safe for annodized wheels!

 

ohh..ic thanks drew~~

 

I use my motherball on my GTC's.. I use mother's polish.. Makes a hell of a difference in shine.
10 minutes and my wheels/exhaust look new.

 

^ Do the GTC's have a clearcoated lip? My Jline's do, and I have been afraid to touch them with anything other than a light mixture of soap/water.

 

hey guys....thanks for bringing my old thread back to life!!!
i'm hopefully going to do a second run on the lips tomorrow actually.
and this time maybe use some painters tape to cover what i dont want to buff...getting the black crap off all the rivets is a pita.

 

The polish shouldn't do anything to the clearcoat.
Try it on a small discreet area to check.

I've been polishing my volks for months now with the powerball.. it's perfectly fine.. and they shine like crazy