I'm in a frantic rush for my son's wedding next weekend. He and his bride to be wants to leave the reception in my 88 IROC vert (I've had it since he was 6 yo). So one of my task is getting the roc pristine. I've taken care of engine work and a new stayfast top & drivers seat cover will be installed next week. Due to lack of time I took her to a detailer; which in 20 yrs, I have never done before. My wheels were near perfect and I meant to tell the guy not to use a cleaner but forgot in my rush. Well he did, despite his assurances to the contrary, and my wheels are dull, spotted and streaked. I thought I read a similar situation recently but my search yielded nothing. Any help on a fix would be greatly appreciated.

 

clean them and use some polish on them.

 

WOW: thanks for the insight camaropunk.

There is a post "I found the best wheel cleaner ever" that begins with the issue of 10 yr old break dust; thats not my problem. Does anyone know if eagleone or any other product may help - short of re-polishing?

 

It sounds like he frigged up the Clearcoat. You'll have to remove it all now.

 

post a pic up I might know something that will work but I want to see it first. too bad you weren't closer, I could buff them out for ya.

 

are they just covered in waterspots/streaks? or is it a chemical stain? I have used the eagle polish and its good stuff, Without a pic i cant tell how bad it is, but irregardless you will have to use some elbow grease. The spots/streaks may come right off with a good polish, and you may even be able to do it by hand without getting hardcore with a buffer or anything.

got a pic?
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that would be bad

 

Thanks for your replies guys - I can't post a pic until tomorrow. Frankly, I was unaware they clear coated the wheels. All I've known is that they cleaned up quite nice with soap & water; until now.

 

are they the original 88 Iroc rims?

 

Yes they are - they came with the car when I bought her 20 years ago. It really ticks me off that some nemrod would screw something up that I've taken good care of all this time. I guess I'm lucky he didn't use comet to clean bug guts off the paint.

 

try some mother's or meguiers wadding polish. might come out but like I said without seeing I can't tell ya for sure.

 

I went by the detailer again and they denied doing it; crap. Attached are a couple of pics. BTW, the detailer said that GM did not clear coat wheels until the mid 90's. Is that just more BS?

 

2nd pic

 

Hey, I was just tring to help with the lack of information you originally posted. I didnt know if you didnt know how to clean wheels or not, maybe if you would of posted more I would of been able to tell you more.

Armorall makes a wheel cleaner that works really well, I beleive its called armorall Triple action wheel cleaner. I dont care to much for some of the armorall products, but someone got me this one time so I used it and was very impressed. Basically wet the wheel down then spray it on and wait 30 seconds then wipe the rim and then rinse with water and dry. If that doesnt take care of it, I would try the Eagleone Cleaner it works well too, I only use it if I have something really stuck on, but from the pics you posted it looks like it wasnt cleaned very well and some cleaner possibly got left on and dried to it.

 

wow that definitely looks crappy. The gm wheels were all cleared if they were aluminum because of the oxidation. The only thing that might work is what I listed before, the polishing wadding. that is a big maybe though they look like they need stripped and redone now though

 

I had a set that looked just like that before. I couldn't find anything that would help even a little, so I ended up stripping the clearcoat off and hand-polishing the machined portions. I always thought that it was damage from being out in the elements, though.

 

I disagree. I think they just werent dried very well and some cleaner is still stuck on. Or they possibly cleaned them and then waxed the wheel but didnt wipe it of good. I would be surprised if what I said didnt work.

Maybe you guys are seeing something im not.


Also, what kind of detail shop was it? I would ask to speak to the owner/manager and demand they re-clean them or if it is damaged which I dont think they are, but is so have them pay to have them repaired.

 

I remember Paul (AKA-Camarosource) over at http://www.camarosource.ca/main_new_...new_layout.htm had a problem with his rims almost being ruined thanx to an automatic car wash, he ended up using a product called AUTOSOL and it removed the spots and streaks on his rims.

I don't really know if it would work on our rims but here is the link so you can investigate for yourself.

http://www.camarosource.ca/forums/vi...d=a&hilit=rims

 

IROC rims are definitly clear coated. Try a product called Flitz Polish, I have used it with great results on paint, bare aluminum, plastic, etc. It looks like the cleaner they used on the wheels has damaged the clear coat but Filtz and some elbow grease might be able to make it look a little better. The best fix would be to strip the rims down and polish them up but that takes a lot of time. Another option since you are short on time is to try and find another local 3rd genner and borrow their wheels just for the event. Good luck either way.

 

i found a link for the cleaner in that thread
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...m_Tube_Autosol

i have similar spots like in the other forum with my polished alum wheels, ive tried all the cleaners so i will definitely be trying that polish.

 

Thanks so much for all the input gents. I had remembered that post on Camarosourse but could not find it; thanks sicz28.

After another mishap Friday night I just postponed thinking about the wheels for the time being. Boy was I depressed and pissed yesterday. I'll post picks tonight.

 

Well, I ordered a tube of that stuff to try on my wheels, and I'm a little disappointed. They certainly didn't turn out as nice as Paul's did, but still much better than before. Mine must be a lot more damaged than I thought, I guess. They are a set of Boyd Coddington smoothieII's that I got from a co-worker that had them on his TA since '03 and had spent most of the time outdoors all year long. They have what looks to be hard water stains all over them and the AUTOSOL couldn't seem to get rid of it. The Mother's mag and aluminum polish actually worked about as well, it just took a lot more effort. Could it just be because I was doing it by hand?

 

definitely get a power ball and do it. you need the higher speed to accomplish it or you could send them to me and I would polish them.

 

Although I have not done it yet I have been told that Mothers polish for rims is the best for polished rims. I am waiting until a little better weather. But for rims with clear coat you should be able to buff those rims with some wax on it. The detail shop used an acid cleaner and that is why is looks like it does. Every detail shop I ever worked at used Acid on wheels unless told not to. The acid cleaner works great on rims with break dust but will leave a film if not waxed and buffed off. The clear coat is the reason the acid looks dull.

 

was it worth buying? ive tried many different things with no avail, did you order it or pick it up locally?

 

Sorry about the wheels, what a bunch of jerks! I bought a set of 91 Z28 rims that had the same "waterspots" all over them and I had to break down and strip the clearcoat. Not something you'd like to hear I'm sure, but that was my experience. Mine were in much worse shape, but after stripping the clearcoat and multiple stages of polish, they looked great. Finished up with mothers aluminum polish and they looked pretty dang good. Short of removing the clearcoat, I would try some mothers and some high speed polishing. Maybe you can polish the clearcoat to remove the marks? Either way, I'd try some high speed polishing/buffing. Elbow grease is nice, but even a drill and polishing wheel can yield more impressive results then just hand polishing. I'm not sure you can eliminate the watermarks without removing the clearcoat, or even if the clearcoat is damaged, but I'd imagine you could make the wheels shine so much it wouldn't be as noticable. Just my opinion, best of luck to you and you son!

 

Ok I was a pro detailer for 6 years and what most shops use to clean brake dust off rims is a mild acid slightly diluted with water. Any decent detailer would know not to use it on aluminum rims but some make the big mistake. The only way to fix it properly is to sand off the rest of the clear coat then wet sand to a nice polish and then clear coat. By useing that process they should look better than new .

 

I ordered it from Eastwood, after their shipping charges it was about $20. Whether or not it's worth it depends on how strong your arms are, it takes much less effort than using the Mother's to get the same, if not better effect. I haven't used any power equipment yet though.