How to get a Polished Lip

**cheechthechi** · 08-02-2007, 01:10 AM

How to Polish Lips on Rims.

I just finished doing this to my set of rims a couple days ago, so here’s a writeup on how to do it.

Materials needed:

400 grit sandpaper
800 grit sandpaper
Black Emery Buffing Compound ( Available at Home Depot or Sears)
Brown Tripoli Buffing Compound (Available at Home Depot or Sears)
White Diamond/Rouge Buffing Compound (Available at Home Depot or Sears)
3 Spiral Sewn Buffing Wheels (Available at Home Depot or Sears)
1 Adaptor to put Buffing Wheels on Drill
Aluminum/Mag wheel polish
Corded Drill

Prep is the key to getting a nice shine. Overall I spent most of my time Sanding the wheels down in comparison to the actual time I spent buffing the wheels. When I first bought my rims, they looked like this:

1.
In order to get a polished lip, I had to remove all the paint off the rim. Because I was lazy I use aircraft paint stripper, but I HIGHLY DON’T recommend this. The paint stripped left some unusual marks on the rear ends of my rims and hurts like a mofo if gets onto your skin. I would recommend using some low grit sand paper ( possibly 100-200 grit?). Sand the lip till all the paint is gone from the surface.

2.
From here I wet-sanded with 400 grit sandpaper. There are two main purposes to wet sanding the rim. When aluminum is exposed to oxygen, it forms a thin dull layer that protects it form oxidation called Aluminum Oxide. I sanded is layer off, because otherwise I would not be able to get a high polish shine to the lip. The second reason has to do with the surface of the lip. As you wetsand the lip, you remove slight imperfections and grooves at the surface of the lip. As more sanding is done, these imperfections and grooves become more uniform and minute, creating a smooth surface to reflect light off of.
Wetsanding is done by literally dipping the sandpaper into water and sanding. As you sand, sand in the opposite direction to the rotation of the tire on the rim. I cut each sheet into about 10-12 small squares and used them for sanding the lip. In all I probably used one complete sheet of sandpaper per rim. When sanding, a black residue forms on the surface. You don’t want this to dry on the rim, because it will make the lip appear very dull. I usually wiped this residue off every time I change a square of sandpaper.

3.
From here, wetsand with 800 grit, using the same procedure as for the 400 grit sand paper.

4.
After wetsanding is complete, the lip should feel very smooth. At this point take the rim outside and wash it with soap and water. Dry the rim.

5.
Let the polishing begin! I started polishing with black emery compound. I did this by holding the compound to the edge of the spinning buffing wheel. Don’t apply too much compound to the wheel, otherwise it will all smear on the lip and you’ll have to sand it off and start over. You could probably hold the compound under the wheel for 5-8 seconds and have enough compound to use. Start on the edge of the lip and move in the same direction as u sanded. Work your way slowly and you will start to see the shine appear on the rim. Once you have finished the entire rim it will shine brightly, but will not be that clear. Once you are here take the rim out and wash and dry it again. Here is my rim after polishing with black emery:

6.
I Repeated step five using Brown Tripoli and then White Diamond. After each buffing compound the shine on the lip became finer and finer. By the end of it, I could clearly see my reflection in the lip.

7. After the wheel was dry, I went through and applied Mothers aluminum/mag wheel polish. (Note you don’t have to do this, but it makes the lip really nice). After that I was done !

8. From here I painted the centers of the rim. I applied a lot of masking tape to prevent bleed from the spray paint. I used Duplicolor sandable primer and then Gunmetal Duplicolor wheel paint followed by clear coat. Some people say to clear coat the polished lip as well, but I chose not to because the clear coat really dulls the finish.

Take your time with the refinishing process and the results will come out great. As with auto body painting, prep is the main deciding factor as to how well the rims come out.

Good Luck!

**bensmall** · 08-02-2007, 01:17 AM

Dang!! They look goooood!!!!

**Madhatter** · 08-02-2007, 01:43 AM

how long would you say it took you to do the wheels?

i did one of mine and gave up and got some quotes. Its about $100 each to have them fully restored, so new painted centres, polished lip and the whole lot clear coat sealed and baked.

I only get 1 day off a week and i value sunday too much

Looks good though

**cheechthechi** · 08-02-2007, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by Madhatter

how long would you say it took you to do the wheels?

i did one of mine and gave up and got some quotes. Its about $100 each to have them fully restored, so new painted centres, polished lip and the whole lot clear coat sealed and baked.

I only get 1 day off a week and i value sunday too much

Looks good though

It felt like 20-30 hrs for the entire 3 month period. 100 dollars sounds like a good price. I mainly did it by myself because I didn't have the money to spend and I wanted the experience.

**Madhatter** · 08-02-2007, 05:00 AM

Yeah, im all for diy stuff, especially when you get good results like that.

I just need to spend less time working on customers cars and more time on mine

**FranzE21** · 08-02-2007, 05:35 AM

those are sick. :0

**jjgbmw323** · 08-02-2007, 06:16 AM

Looks great. Question: Do you need to take the tires off the rims? I would have thought so..but you did not do this. How come?

**MAD LIL E21** · 08-02-2007, 06:51 AM

very nice, best MSW's i have seen. i never got mine that nice

**Madhatter** · 08-02-2007, 08:37 AM

look like BBS to me.

**typhoon320i** · 08-02-2007, 09:06 AM

Since you didn't clear coat the lip, you'll want to keep the lip heavily waxed to prevent aluminum oxidation. Looks real good.

**cheechthechi** · 08-02-2007, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by jjgbmw323

Looks great. Question: Do you need to take the tires off the rims? I would have thought so..but you did not do this. How come?

Probably better to take the tires off. The valvestem kept coming in the way When I did the polishing. The tires currently on the rims are really worn so they will be taken off when i put these on my car next summer. I only kept the tires on because I was afraid of bending the rims moving them around so much.

Originally Posted by Madhatter

look like BBS to me.

Correct, I think its a bbs ra?

Originally Posted by typhoon320i

Since you didn't clear coat the lip, you'll want to keep the lip heavily waxed to prevent aluminum oxidation. Looks real good.

You are right. Its going to stuck opening these up next May/June and finding the lips oxidized. I put a clear coat on a valve cover I polished and it came out really dull. Is there a clearcoat that actually keeps most of the shine on the lips?

**blitzed310** · 08-02-2007, 10:23 AM

Polishing sucks. Those look great.

**paule21coupe** · 08-02-2007, 10:25 AM

worth the effort, do you just stand there and look at them - feels good hey!!

**blitzed310** · 08-02-2007, 10:27 AM

The worst part is that it will be covered in brake dust. So the first time you go to clean the wheels they are going to be marred. Wont take long for them to be dull, welcome to the world of buffing.

**OLD MAN** · 08-02-2007, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by blitzed310

The worst part is that it will be covered in brake dust. So the first time you go to clean the wheels they are going to be marred. Wont take long for them to be dull, welcome to the world of buffing.

So true!

But they do look great - I'm glad I did mine. Or should I say paid $$$ to have mine done, the pleasures of being older and having a few extra pennies = paying someone else to cramp up their fingers, hands and get covered in the black mess buffing makes.

**fullswing** · 08-02-2007, 11:40 AM

Excellent results! Thanks as well for the write-up.

**Broly238** · 08-02-2007, 12:56 PM

Very nicely done.

EDIT: I added the link to the bottom of Barry's FAQ thread, so people can find it easier down the road.

**TheNeek** · 08-02-2007, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by blitzed310

The worst part is that it will be covered in brake dust. So the first time you go to clean the wheels they are going to be marred. Wont take long for them to be dull, welcome to the world of buffing.

No clear coat options?

[Edit] just found this stuff... it's a clear coat for polished brass
http://www.everbrite.net/index.html
[/Edit]

**blitzed310** · 08-02-2007, 08:37 PM

IMO I would never clear anything that is polished. Id rather take the time to buff, then to stare at paint chipping clear coat that turns yellow after awhile.

**JTFormula** · 08-02-2007, 09:34 PM

All I have to say is HOTNESS! Those looks awesome. I have been thinking about polishing the lips on my BBS's and powdercoating the centers. My lip on my wheels are very dull. I have to remove the clear on the wheels first but after seeing the results, its worth it.

**cheechthechi** · 08-02-2007, 11:29 PM

DO IT!! haha

**Madhatter** · 08-03-2007, 03:55 AM

clear coat if done properly is real hard and very tough to the elements. Ive got wheels that are 15 years old and still nice and clear. Problem is though, it doesnt shine as well as an uncovered metal, so if you want the really buff shine you are simply going to have to keep waxing them and hitting them with alloy polish to bring out the tarnish and oxidation.