Aluminium protection

[steve j]

Hi folks, a few of us have shiney bits on our cars, has anyone tried this http://www.acf-50.co.uk/motorcycle/touring.htm I`m wondering if it will be good for protecting the wheels, mine are polished as I`d had enough of the laquer peeling.

[mk1fan]

I use it. Haven't used it on highly polished surfaces. The coating may dull it's appearance.

I have used it throught out the car though. Works very well. Has kept my vapour blasted plenums clean.

Has a well established history in the aircraft industry and in the motorcross racing scene.

Haven't tried it on exhaust manifolds but probably fine on the tip sections of the exhaust.

[steve j]

mk1fan said:

I use it. Haven't used it on highly polished surfaces. The coating may dull it's appearance.

I have used it throught out the car though. Works very well. Has kept my vapour blasted plenums clean.

Has a well established history in the aircraft industry and in the motorcross racing scene.

Haven't tried it on exhaust manifolds but probably fine on the tip sections of the exhaust.

Mk1fan, thanks for the reply, I`m having my Oz 8 spokes refurbed on the S and want to keep them clean, think I`ll order some.

[glenrobbo]

Steve, if you're having your 8-spokes refurbished, why not have them powdercoated in one of the various 'chrome' finishes?
Flash Chrome or Shadow Chrome both look good and easy to take care of.
A lot cheaper than diamond cutting as well.

[steve j]

glenrobbo said:

Steve, if you're having your 8-spokes refurbished, why not have them powdercoated in one of the various 'chrome' finishes?
Flash Chrome or Shadow Chrome both look good and easy to take care of.
A lot cheaper than diamond cutting as well.

Hello Glen, I`ve recently picked up 2 Oz 8 spokes that needed a refurb, they should be ready in a few days. The cost of the refurb is cheaper than an indicator , I do like a bit of bling, old habits die hard

[glenrobbo]

steve j said:

Hello Glen, I`ve recently picked up 2 Oz 8 spokes that needed a refurb, they should be ready in a few days. The cost of the refurb is cheaper than an indicator , I do like a bit of bling, old habits die hard

An indicator costs about 3 weeks pension money Steve!

Old habits eh?
I bet you still enjoy polishing your brass tunic buttons using Brasso and the old button stick!
I adopted those new-fangled Stay-brite ones which allowed me to spend more time in the NAAFI Club. Cheers mate!

[steve j]

glenrobbo said:

An indicator costs about 3 weeks pension money Steve!

Old habits eh?
I bet you still enjoy polishing your brass tunic buttons using Brasso and the old button stick!
I adopted those new-fangled Stay-brite ones which allowed me to spend more time in the NAAFI Club. Cheers mate!

Yeah, stay-brite here too, Hmm, stay-brite wheels, that would be something I do remember the overalls with rubber buttons, made me chuckle, thank god for velcro.

[Kitchski]

glenrobbo said:

Steve, if you're having your 8-spokes refurbished, why not have them powdercoated in one of the various 'chrome' finishes?
Flash Chrome or Shadow Chrome both look good and easy to take care of.
A lot cheaper than diamond cutting as well.

Because diamond cutting looks SOOOOOOOOOO much better?

The place up the road from us diamond cuts them, then powdercoats them with a clear finish over the top. Jobbed!

[phillpot]

Another for ACF50, my alloy Protech shocks and a few other bits get doused in it every Autumn. Not cheap but a can goes quite a long way.


For doing wheels it may be easier to spray some into the cap and brush on (you really don't want any on the brake disc's)?

Tried some cheaper "copy stuff", nowhere near as thick and resilient, was more like WD40.

[upperthong]

Kitchski said:

glenrobbo said:

Steve, if you're having your 8-spokes refurbished, why not have them powdercoated in one of the various 'chrome' finishes?
Flash Chrome or Shadow Chrome both look good and easy to take care of.
A lot cheaper than diamond cutting as well.

Because diamond cutting looks SOOOOOOOOOO much better?

The place up the road from us diamond cuts them, then powdercoats them with a clear finish over the top. Jobbed!

Agree 100%. We powder coat and there is no powder available that gets anywhere near the diamond cut finish and clear powdered gloss lacquer.

[greymrj]

Mine were diamond cut and lacquered, after a year outside one side was distinctly different to the other and peeling. To be honest I keep the car tidy enough but it was taking just too much time to clean the wheels and I only had to leave them once and I had hours of work to do. I had mine powder coated a few years ago and I just wash them now. It gets nice comments when it is at shows (Holland! Burleigh time line 2016)but I do not try to claim it is concourse by any means.

[upperthong]

greymrj said:

Mine were diamond cut and lacquered, after a year outside one side was distinctly different to the other and peeling. To be honest I keep the car tidy enough but it was taking just too much time to clean the wheels and I only had to leave them once and I had hours of work to do. I had mine powder coated a few years ago and I just wash them now. It gets nice comments when it is at shows (Holland! Burleigh time line 2016)but I do not try to claim it is concourse by any means.

That's disappointing. I would check to see if they were epoxy or polyester powder coated. Epoxy is for indoor use only and will not cope with harsh weathering. If the powder coater used polyester powder, pretreated the aluminium correctly and then applied the powder correctly, then without any scrapes against the kerb, they should remain good for a minimum of 10 years. I would have taken them back to those that did them if you are experiencing issues after 12 months.