After fixing a curb rash on one of my wheels i discovered that after sanding, and sanding and sanding and then metal polish,, the part i fixed was shinier than the rest of the lip haha. Soooooo i decided that i wanted something different and figured ide kill myself with doing the entire lip as a high polish instead of the machine finish. Here is what i have so far. Dont mind the outer lip as its not finished because i didnt start till 7 pm tonight and it started getting dark and i was hungry haha. But heres the progression so far.

 

ouch!

 

haha doing it by hand...yes...ouch haha.

 

looks good so far. does anyone know if there is a way to chrome your lips?? i have axis shines with a machine lip and i need some curb rash fixed and i was wondering if i could chrome the lips in the process.
sorry didn't mean to thread jack

 

More fine sanding and more polishing!!! Until it out shines the chrome finish!

 

I used my dremel on medium speed with a fine sanding wheel to knock down the curb rash. Then hit it with 1000,1500,2000 wet sands then followed with a metal polish and wax and you thats what gave me the idea to to do the whole wheel because the part i fixed looked better than the rest of the machined lip haha

 

UPDATE

Before and after




UP close




Yes.....i know....im a beast lol

 

WOW!! So VERY nice!

 

Thank you very much! It took me about 2 hours for that one wheel alone. My arms need a break so i can do the other one later on lol.

 

do you think you can post a DIY of this... i need to repair my lips as well

 

For the curb rash, i used a fine sanding wheel to knock down the spots that were messed up and used it to feather it into the rest of the wheel. Once that was done, i used a 3:1 mixture of water and dish soap for wet sanding. I was told to use the soap from a friend who does body work as it helps lubricate and it causes the metal to clump and fall away from the area being worked on. I first started with a 320 wet sand. Crossblocking the area with the 320. Crossblocking refers to sanding in a perpindicular fashion. Right to left, then top to bottom, then right to left again. This gave the feathering a much smoother flow and pretty much made the area affected unnoticeable as to where the rash was. Then 800 wet sand, 1000 wet sand, 1500 wet sand, and finally a 2000 wet sand. Followed by a heavy duty rubbing compound then metal polish and wax. I used this same procedure for the face of the lip minus the dremel. Also for the face of the lip i went twice around with each different grit sandpaper. Soooo 2x320, 2x800, 2x1000, 2x1500, 2x2000, then followed by the same compound and polish procedure.

Once the final 2000 sanding is done you should be free of any sanding lines or swirls and should be pretty shiny. Once you hit it with that compound and metal polish, the depth and chrome like appearance will increase 10 fold. I think that should about cover it. I can do a more step by step process another time if more people would like a write up. But right now i just got off work and im worn out haha.

 

WoW loooks amazingg gj

 

as far as keeping them like that, do you have to keep a good thick coat of wax on them or do you have to lightly polish every so often?

 

Well it helps that im in the south where these wheels will never see salt or anything harsh like that on the roads. I had a set of high polished wheels on a previous car for 3 years. I sold the wheels for $100 less than what i payed cause i religiously keep my car clean. I wash the G every week and always throw a light coat of wax on the wheels anyway. It takes literally 15 seconds i wipe a thin coat of wax on the lips. Its stupid not to take the time to do it and keep them looking like that. I also noticed when i started waxing the lips they stayed clean a lot longer and brake dust wouldnt adhere to the lip.

 

Looking good. I know sanding by hand was a pita. The only thing that is a mjor thing is the upkeep since there is no clear on the wheel.