And the car hasn't been washed in about a week. So yes there is a lot of accumulated brake dust on the wheels. I have a jar of PB Wheel Sealant, I just need to pull all 4 wheels and do a thorough cleaning. What do you use on your painted wheels?
Lincoln LS Detail
- Thread starter KD00LS
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I use a schmitt, it's a black coarse foam mitt. If you have a lot of streaks and stuff stuck on your wheels, I'm gonna have you use a Heavy Duty Mr. Clean Magic Eraser like a claybar.
1.Heavily concentrate a soap, like CWG, about 2oz. You'll actually only need about a half gallon of water at most, and your rinse bucket of course. Dip the magic eraser in the soap mixture and use it as a lube as you would QD for claybarring. The eraser has an abrasive nature to it, so it will take scuffs and minor stains off just like a polish would on regular paint. Don't use these on regular paint, they will harm it. You should notice a lot of the scuffs and stuff on there being removed. Bend the eraser like a piece of pizza into the lug nut holes as well, they'll become very clean. Try to develop a pattern with each wheel as to not forget a spot.
2.Next you'll want to claybar the wheels, preferably with a piece of clay you already used on the paint for monetary saving purposes. Claybars should be used at follows... Paint --> Glass --> Wheels. This prevents brake dust from going on to paint and as you use it throughout the steps the clearcoat or surface is a lot harder so the contaminants in the bar will affect the surface less.
3.Use an applicator pad to use your Poorboy's SSR (2.5 if you have it) to polish out any imperfections left by the eraser. Even if the hairlines are too deep, the polish will round the edges off and they'll become a lot less noticeable due to the newly reflected angle of light. Use a 50/50 Isopropyl/Water mixture to remove the oils and fillers from the polish after a microfiber wipedown. This will also provide a clean base to prep the surface for a sealant.
4.For maximum protection, use KSG and allow to cure overnight. 12 hours I believe is what Jason said. After the sealant has cured, apply your PBW Wheel Sealant. You'll find your wheels ALOT easier to clean than before, If you buy a pressure washer you'll actually be able to clean them without soap and water.
Should take about an hour or so but it'll be worth it. Definitely will be the cleanest your wheels have ever been.
1.Heavily concentrate a soap, like CWG, about 2oz. You'll actually only need about a half gallon of water at most, and your rinse bucket of course. Dip the magic eraser in the soap mixture and use it as a lube as you would QD for claybarring. The eraser has an abrasive nature to it, so it will take scuffs and minor stains off just like a polish would on regular paint. Don't use these on regular paint, they will harm it. You should notice a lot of the scuffs and stuff on there being removed. Bend the eraser like a piece of pizza into the lug nut holes as well, they'll become very clean. Try to develop a pattern with each wheel as to not forget a spot.
2.Next you'll want to claybar the wheels, preferably with a piece of clay you already used on the paint for monetary saving purposes. Claybars should be used at follows... Paint --> Glass --> Wheels. This prevents brake dust from going on to paint and as you use it throughout the steps the clearcoat or surface is a lot harder so the contaminants in the bar will affect the surface less.
3.Use an applicator pad to use your Poorboy's SSR (2.5 if you have it) to polish out any imperfections left by the eraser. Even if the hairlines are too deep, the polish will round the edges off and they'll become a lot less noticeable due to the newly reflected angle of light. Use a 50/50 Isopropyl/Water mixture to remove the oils and fillers from the polish after a microfiber wipedown. This will also provide a clean base to prep the surface for a sealant.
4.For maximum protection, use KSG and allow to cure overnight. 12 hours I believe is what Jason said. After the sealant has cured, apply your PBW Wheel Sealant. You'll find your wheels ALOT easier to clean than before, If you buy a pressure washer you'll actually be able to clean them without soap and water.
Should take about an hour or so but it'll be worth it. Definitely will be the cleanest your wheels have ever been.
Thanks! Hopefully goin to do this tomorrow after work! I only have SSR3 and SSR2 though. And Menzerna PO106FF, but I think that is only for machine use. I'll try SSR2 first, and see what that does. I already have the Auto Mr. Clean magic Eraser sitting underneath my kitchen sink, so I think I'll probably just use that. It'll take me longer than an hour because I'm goin to pull the wheels 2 at a time to do this. I'd like to get the entire wheel while I'm there.
Yeah I'd like to pull my wheels off but my lugs suck. They'll strip if I take them off, I gotta order some sooner or later. Make sure you get about a pack or two of the erasers if you're going to do the barrels of the wheels.
owlman
Dedicated LVC Member
I have a question, I often use Turtle ICE polish because it's so quick and easy. But now I feel like putting on a longer-lasting paste wax (which is what I used to use before buying the ICE). Will it apply and stick OK with the ICE underneath?
Just wait a week, or a good rain. The ICE should have worn off by then 
In reality though, I would remove the paint protection you have on there now and start from scratch. What shampoo do you use to wash your car? Have you ever used a claybar to remove embedded contaminates?
In reality though, I would remove the paint protection you have on there now and start from scratch. What shampoo do you use to wash your car? Have you ever used a claybar to remove embedded contaminates?
Use a shampoo and heavily concentrate it to strip the wax. If you want a long lasting and relatively cheap wax, look at Collinite. 845 is extremely easy to apply and lasts long($15), 476 is a paste version of 845 and is easy($16), and 915 Marque d' Elegance is a paste that competes with the top of the line wax for $30. If you have a Harbor Freight near you they usually stock it.
I didn't know if you could just concentrate any old car shampoo to remove paint protection, that's why I asked what type of shampoo he uses. And since he'll be investing more time into applying the wax, and wants better durability, I figured clay barring the car would be in order too. you can pick up a meg's kit from walmart for under 20 bucks, and has enough clay to get at least 2 uses out of.
Oh, and 3 of the wheels turned out very well. The 4th is better, but you can still see the streaking/cracks. It's been raining all day, so I'll have to re wash the wheels before I put up a few pictures. I forgot to take any "befores".
Hmm still streaking huh? Maybe invest in a wheel gel to try and break it down chemically. Try P21S Wheel Gel, it's one of the best kinds you can get. Let it dwell on there for a while and repeat the process. And yes good call with the claybar as well, forgot to mention that.
Well it's not your normal streaking. It's like someone used a cleaner that was not meant for painted wheels, sprayed it on, and where it ran down the wheel, it chemically damaged the finish. I even tried ssr3 with a mf applicator pad, and while getting it toned down, it did not completely remove it. I'm getting a set of these same wheels in chrome in the next couple weeks, and these will be retired to the garage until the winter.
Okay, Kyle. Here's a few pics. There are many defects on the wheels that can onlyl be remedied by refinishing, but apart from those they turned out pretty good! The pic with the green circles is the areas I couldn't completely remove the streaking:
Oh, and notice the new lug nuts on the first pic. I have them on just the front wheels now. The backs will be changed out when I do the caliper paint. They look SO much better than the stock ones. A few of mine were stripped when I changed them, but I used a breaker bar with impact sockets. For the ones that were stripped, I used the next size smaller (IIRC 19mm) socket, and hammered it onto the stripped lug. Didn't take long, but make sure you don't miss!
Both actually, I did a B pillar resto last year using cleaner wax. I find that a finishing polish will remove most of the water spots and such. I used a magic eraser to remove the top-most layer of the rubber and then conditioned it with Black Wow.
You use SSR3 right, Kyle? Have you noticed a really short working time? How long do you normally work that polish for? It seems like for me it only dries out. It doesn't break down to clear really. I got some nasty trails on the girlfriends car. They came out with 106FF though. That menz 106FF works like butter compared to the SSR3...
I have SSR3, and it comes in handy sometimes because of the PC not being as powerful as rotaries. You rarely need it, but I do notice the dusting happening quickly with it. You can try and formulate a new polish with some lubrication, try using like a QD or clay lube or something. Don't quote me 100%, I'm not sure if they use that. Heavier compounds will almost always leave a haze behind, so that's why people follow up with finishing polishes.
I understand about the hazing that would normally be left behind, but this was ridiculous.
Do you think maybe adding a couple drops of SSR2 to the pad when I put the SSR3 on would extend the work time? I'm thinking that may be the ticket. I just don't want to hinder the cut of the SSR3.
Do you think maybe adding a couple drops of SSR2 to the pad when I put the SSR3 on would extend the work time? I'm thinking that may be the ticket. I just don't want to hinder the cut of the SSR3.
Try working it at speed 4 for a little while and then up to speed 5 or 6. I messed around on the hood of my mom's Expedition and I left some random haze, pissed me off pretty bad. It's almost as if you need three steps of polish to remove haze from SSR3.