CorranFox

I have a big problem with my wheels... They got cleaned with a wheel cleaner or degreaser of some sort and now the metal has changed to a florecent looking color.... I have had people say that this is not fixable... Rust is starting to form and I need to know what kind of polish is safe for these wheels.

I wish I had the model number of the wheels but its the 5 spoke ones that look like the mazdaspeed wheels. they have a silver possibly alluminum outside ring and then a dark colored mag 5 spoke inside... anyway any help would be greatly appreciated...

Phantom Menace

If your rim was powder coated, a degreaser like simple-green will DESTROY the finish. My friend just had his rims powerdcoated a nice gunmetal. A week later, he used simple-green. He had to have them redone.

If I were you, I'd take them in to a powdercoater real quick-style. They can sand blast or whatever, your rims and refinish them. The rust HAS to be removed before they compromise the integrity of your rim. If the rust gets too deep, you may have to cuck your, edit: Rays!

Punksux

are these the ones

XDEEDUBBX

sorry to correct you but your rims are not VOLK, they are manufactured by RAYS..tee hee..

VarneyMazda

yea def not volks

Phantom Menace

Dub,
Bech'a his retort will be that Ray's "they are made by the SAME company..."

XDEEDUBBX

everytime i seem to correct someone about that they always say that...if he says that, that would make # 3..hahaha

lazi

yeah i have volk meisters =)

CorranFox

heh well I was always told that Volk and Ray's are the same company and that they also manufacture the mazdaspeed wheels. I know it says Ray's on the valvestem caps so whatever... anyway my concern is not with the name it is with the metal... if it is not salvageable I think I will have to chuck them or retire them to "drift" wheels. No one would buy them like this I would imagine...

Anyway that pic you put up looks similar but they are a dark brown color and the spokes are a bit thicker. Yea so... its prolly been about 90 days since I noticed it, you think these are shot?

Where would I go to get a powder coating... what really sucks is these wheels came with the car and it was used... so I don't know how to properly care for them. Is there a polish I can use to take care of them myself?

/edit as far as I can tell these are type 57 wheels... I will try to upload a pic tonight... either way I also do not know how to care for them at all... just soapy water? I mean the rust is forming and I don't want to mess anything up everyone at shops n stuff has said to use different stuff all of which I was told would "ruin" my wheels by my friends... This is not easy... ever since I got the car the wheels seemed a bit leaky too cause I have to refill the tires once every two weeks.

XDEEDUBBX

That would make it # 3!

CorranFox

heh well maybe its true? I really don't know or care I just think they are sexy or were sexy... before this happened.

It is just the outside edge the chrome looking part... not the inside spokes

Phantom Menace

Have them inspected. If they are shot, it would be very irresponsible to sell them.

Post a pic of the rust, we haven't seen them to determine if they are shot or not. Also, visual inspections are not good for determining the extent of damage rust has caused. Sometimes the surface has to be sanded down to see how deep the rust is...

Most paint/body shops have a poweder coater handy. If not, they should know someone who does powedercoating. It is not "cheap" but a helluva lot cheaper than buying new Ray's rims. Rims don't need much attention. The only real "care" is to park away from a curb and not wipe them down "dry." The brake dust will scratch the surfaces. Oh, and don't use a degreaser, of any kind, to clean them...
As for a polish, you can...but polishing a rim is not really a good idea. What polishes have are small abrasives that scuff the surface of metal, making it smooth--thus, polishing it. If you have rusting or rust prone rims, or any metal for that matter, you don't want to "expose" it by polishing it. Sure, polishing it will make it shinny...for a while. Then moisture and O2 starts to seep into the metal. Then, after 2-3 rainy or foggy days...BAM! More rust. Look at your brake rotors. If they are stock, they rust all the time even though the pads are constantly grinding on them. Actually, BECAUSE the pads are constantly grinding on them...that and they're iron.

D-Dub,

I must be psychic! It's like I have ESPN or something?!

XDEEDUBBX

Ultimately you might just have to get it polished. Beware of those wheel cleaners. Best thing to use is just cara wash sopa and water. I also wax my wheels as well to keep that smooth feel to it.

CorranFox

I didn't use the degreaser it was a place I took it to... when I pointed it out to them they denied it and said they just used soapy water... I have pretty much given up on that approch... if you say its so expensive I really feel like buying a set of OEM wheels and saying forget it... I didn't buy these wheels in the first place like I said, they came on the car... I know they are expensive but... they got F'ed so if I can buy a set of OEM wheels with TPMS for the price of the repairs on these I would take the OEM wheels any day.

XDEEDUBBX

another option is just to purchasea new face or lip of the rim..if its a 3 piece..When you buy rays wheels you have that capability.

CorranFox

Wow, that is a really good idea! I just need the outside lip so that would be perfect! how would I go about doing this? what shop would you reccomend and would it be hard to attach myself?

CorranFox

The rust isn't so bad, I mean as I said its been around 90 days and it is just little dots of rust here and there, the rust actually came off when I applied a bit of polish, but the "hase" or florecent look did not go away... I am afraidn to polish the whole rim just cause I am really afraid of messing things up

Phantom Menace

I got your solution, CorranFox! Go here:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=107747

CorranFox

Lets not end this here... I am very interested in finding out about getting just the lip... I also hit a pothole a couple weeks ago and so a new lip would be EXACTLY what I need, then I don't need to polish/bend/hammer out any of the damage... If anyone knows where I can get the lip for this wheel I would greatly appreciate it.

I love these wheels but I thought they might just be F'ed so... I figured I would give up and get OEM's so I have TPMS.. however that might not be the best route to go if I can just buy new lips... however... that is the biggest part of the wheel so it may cost me the same as brand new ones heh...

It appears the wheels are the Ro-Ja 2-5 wheels, so I need that polished lip... help me out

XDEEDUBBX

it depends on where your located. You must first find an authorized rays dealer. Start here:

http://www.mackinindustries.com/contact.html

contact them and find out..

CorranFox

I will try calling them tomorrow. I live in seattle area so... I'm not as lucky as some of the people in cali for aftermarket parts.

I did look and it looks like the lip is a seperate piece so that would be perfect, the leeking that I am experiancing may be due to the jarring hit from that pothole, luckally the lip was the only thing damaged and just on the right side.


Here is a picture of the wheels before all of this happened.
it almost makes me want to cry looking at them now...

4g63Rotary

Wow they are nice, didn't realize Rays built RO_JA wheels go fig.....

CorranFox

were nice... were nice I hope I can salvage them.

XDEEDUBBX

Crappy *** motegi used to make them but RJ de vera wised up and he got the best japanese manufacturer to make his new line of wheels. Before that they had a bad reputation.

pistolpen31

my gf has an black 03 infiniti g35 with 19's volk SF challenges and she had the same problem but with just the front polished lip. we couldnt get it off the lip so we had no choice but to get them re-machined. we took the rims to a wheel shop in Bathe, PA. if you want the name of the shop so you can contact them ill give it to you. but they did a great job on them. good luck.


BP.