Hi Guys,

 

Took my car through ARC carwash a while back and it seems to have affected my alloys which had been powdercoated. First port of call was to tee cut them, which did help to a degree, but they are still quite pasty and dull. (Photo was before I tee cutted).

 

Does anyone know what I can do to make them look shiny again please?

 

I really don't want to have to get them powdercoated again. Are there any options like scotchbriting them and lacquering them? I know powdercoat is a funny substance, so i'd have to be careful what I use on them. 

 

Any help would be brilliant please,

 

Cheers,

 

Ollie

Did you seal them?

Try some polish and sealer on them..If that doednt work, take them back and ask them to have a look or even do them again

have you used an acidic wheel cleaner? .... a local hand car wash near us uses a acidic alloy wheel cleaner and it looks great for the first few days until wheel nuts etc start to corrode as its eaten the coating off .... possibley something similar happened to yours??

 

might take a good t cut , polish , wax , seal etc to get them something like they were 

Machine polish.

Will tee cut start to take the colour away though?

Yeah most probably acid has done it or something they've used at arc.

Does anyone know if lacquering them would do it? Or would it give a poor finish and not take to the powdercoat?

Edited 8 November, 201312 yr by Metty92

Will give another tee cut and good polish and see what they look like, failing that I will look at other options, either taking them back to powdercoaters or lacquering ?

Aghhh!!!.........Ditch the T Cut idea..its deadfully harsh stuff and not recommended !!!

Just a light polish (AGSRP if youve nothing else), then sealer will do

When you say sealer, what do you mean?

Paint sealant ....Look in here:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/cat_3.html

Thanks Chris, do you recommend any?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poorboys-World-PB-WS-Wheel-Sealant/dp/B002OHOK0I

This stuff gets my vote although never seen powder coated wheels do that before?

Were the wheels in perfect condition before the car wash? Or were they not as bad? depending on how long they were coated, it could be that the powder coating company in question used polyester instead of epoxy poly. Epoxy polyester coatings are for internal and polyester are used for external use. You may get away with applying a lacquer, after using T cut lightly on them.

 Some sealers may react so try a bit on the inner section first

Were the wheels in perfect condition before the car wash? Or were they not as bad? depending on how long they were coated, it could be that the powder coating company in question used polyester instead of epoxy poly. Epoxy polyester coatings are for internal and polyester are used for external use. You may get away with applying a lacquer, after using T cut lightly on them.

Some sealers may react so try a bit on the inner section first

As I recall yes, I wash the car mainly every week, only using turtle wax nano tech wash and a week before they were fine.

When I wipe the alloy over with a wet cloth the colour goes back to the original anthricite look, then when it drys it goes back to a light grey' pasty look.

So do you think normal auto lacquer would stick to the powdercoat ok?

Rattle can lacquer from an auto factor will work fine only if the wheels are one uniform colour. If they are blotchy, they will gloss up just the same.... blotchy.

Going by the picture, if that`s them dry then lacquer will not work. It looks like sections have been gone over with a scotch pad or something abrasive dulling sections, in which case they will need re coating

1500 wet and dry complete alloy

Then 2/3 coats of laquer

Mine went a bit like that after using Turtle Wax alloy wheel cleaner.After a few weeks and few jet wash wash cleans it went away.Never used the stuff again. 

As I recall yes, I wash the car mainly every week, only using turtle wax nano tech wash and a week before they were fine.

When I wipe the alloy over with a wet cloth the colour goes back to the original anthricite look, then when it drys it goes back to a light grey' pasty look.

So do you think normal auto lacquer would stick to the powdercoat ok?

You need to take it to the powder coaters for them to have a look before you touch them.

Rattle can lacquer from an auto factor will work fine only if the wheels are one uniform colour. If they are blotchy, they will gloss up just the same.... blotchy.

Going by the picture, if that`s them dry then lacquer will not work. It looks like sections have been gone over with a scotch pad or something abrasive dulling sections, in which case they will need re coating

Now they just look completely dull, not really any shiney bits so may be ok to try

I will take them to a powdercoaters to get their opinion before I go ahead and do anything Chris.

I appreciate all the help and info everyone has given me, gives me good backup for when I do see the powdercoaters and what I do decide to do with them.

Will keep this updated aswell

A friend of mine went to the arc... and a similar thing happened to his car but on his bonnet!

 

He had a red corsa (new shape at the time) and they sprayed some sort of cleaner/acid/wheel cleaner on his bonnet... 

it completely took off the top coat and it basically went white!

 

He took them to court over it and got it resprayed FOC

Before doing anything to them I would talk to the company who done them and see if they can suggest the best products to use. Talk to the professionals before asking on here.

Before doing anything to them I would talk to the company who done them and see if they can suggest the best products to use. Talk to the professionals before asking on here.

Post #17

Post #22

You need to seek out what cleaning products the car wash firm used. It would seem to me the acid used in the product hasn't been watered down correctly. Having been in the trade for 8 years to me it is the fault of the car wash firm. The only time powder coated items turn milky white and cloudy, is when they haven't used the correct poly powder, this takes weeks of exposure to sunlight.

 As above, a rattle can of lacquer and heat, will make the finish better, as long as you are confident in your own ability

Yeah, annoyingly I have left it too late to approach the car wash company :( I thought someone had splashed brake fluid on it at first not the car wash