I need help with my HRE wheels(pics)

I have a set of HRE's on my Z06 that I bought used. I tried an OTC wheel cleaner that happened to be too acidic. I didnt know that the lips on my wheels were bare aluminum. you can guess what happened as a result. The lips were etched. I tried a few things with no luck until I used Mothers wheel polish. They cleaned up pretty good but there is still some etched in dirt underneath the fasteners. What do you guys recommend? I'd like to restore the lips but have a hard time removing that dirt due to where it is and how stubborn it is. Here are some pics.
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This is what they looked like after some work on them with Mothers polish.
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I dont have any recent upclose photos, but this past summer I used steel wool to clean them up even more. It worked pretty good. I then polished them up again to restore the shine but I still can get to that dirt underneath the fasteners. I'm looking to order something soon from Phil and would like to know which polish to go with?

 

I think those wheels are two piece, so you can loosen those bolts, remove the center part and clean the barrel by itself.

 

They are 3 piece wheels. Will removing the bolts to access the lips effect the wheels in any way? I dont want an imbalance when reinstalling.

 

ONLY have a professional wheel company that is familar with multi-piece wheels take them apart, they sometimes may have torque specs. I made the mistake of having a wheel shop disassemble a set of Rays wheels and I ended them re built because they did not know how to do it correctly, and I had a huge balance issue.

The best thing about multi piece wheels is you can have them disassembled and the barrels re-done, as well as the face, even get new fasteners. I would call HRE and ask for a reco, they may even be able to re-finnish the wheels for you. or atleast tell you what the torque specs are..


Good luck. HRE are awesome wheels.

 

It's been awhile since I've ran a set of HRE's.....looks great but the wheels are soft as sh1.......

AFAIK, the fasteners are a 1 timer, not the bolt but the nut as the nut is a 1 time locking nut.
You WOULD NEED to get replacement nuts of appropiate Grade....

Good luck. They are a bear to keep mint. The more polished aluminum is, the more porous it gets.
I have not had any great luck with a sealant I liked as I felt it left a film on it, and I have tried plenty of sealants but non was truely transparent enough for me....

 

Thanks. Is there anything or any tool I can use to clean that remaining dirt hiding underneath? How about polishing soap?

 

eventually I'm gonna have them sent out to HRE to refinish them, but right now I'd like to get them as clean and polished as I possibly can come spring time.

 

Oh yeah, forgot. and this may only come into play if you do have the wheels broken down. I had the barrels of the Rays clear coated per recomendation from DPE, just so I would not have to deal with the issue of bare alluminum.

As for the fasteners, not much you can do if its under the fasteners, but are you talking about the gap between the disk and the rim?

 

If you look at the 3rd pic you'll see that cloudy looking stuff underneath the fasteners. thats what i'm talking about. And believe me, I WILL have these wheels clearcoated when HRE re-does them

 

I think i see what you mean, yeah thats gonna be tough. My Rays wheels had the exact same fasteners....... I would just wait to have them refinnished. Not much I can think of to get that out..

 

I guess. In the meantime, I took advantage of the 20% discount from Phil and ordered P21S polishing soap and Optimum metal polish. I'll give it a shot when the spring comes. Thanks for your help.

 

If the issue is not being able to get your fingers/rag/polish in that tight space with any useable torque, then what about applying your new polishes from Phil to a dremel tool with appropriate attachment?

 

:thumb:

I have one of those Mothers PowerCone Polishing Tools. Havent gotten around to using it yet. will give it a try.

 

cool, let us know how it goes. In my mind, a dremel bit would be able to really get in there more than a power cone (those are pretty big, right?) but might as well use what you already have first. GL

 

I have the smaller sized one. As soon as spring comes, i'll be detailing the car and the first thing on my list are those wheels

 

If you have any questions about our refinishing/repair services, shot me an email at lonm@hrewheels.com

Looks like you have a polished lip, we normally do polished with clearcoat nowadays to make it easier for our customers to keep them shiny. Often times there are acidic wheel cleaning products that can stain the polished material.

Let me know if there's anything I can help with.

 

this is the reason i was so hesitant buying US made wheel - luckily ADV.1 do clear their lips, how durable it is i will know in time

non-cleared lips is just rediculous

you may be able to spend some time improving the finish, but they are going to marr so easily when washing, not to mention constantly going dull and needing re-polishing

id have a wheel shop pull them apart, polish/re-chrome the lips, clear coat and put back together. It's a PITA, but well worth it in the long run

welcome to 1980

 

Powerball/Powercone/Powerwhatever is a nice line of products, but do not provide the pressure/polishing power as working by hand. Try the P21S Polishing Soap, it may help, but I have a feeling it will be too gentle to fix your riiiaaams. You may need a stronger metal polish as well.

Your best bet is to get them refurbished and have the shop/place clearcoat the lip so it's easier to maintain in the future.

Please keep us posted on this issue.

 

We have done polished with clear, however some customers want polished without clear. Thats the customers choice.

 

Well, my car has been out of storage for about a month now and have yet to detail it and work on my wheels. I have since picked up Optimum metal polish and P21S polishing soap. I'm gonna give those a try soon and will post back some results. Eventually I'd like to have these wheels sent back to HRE to have redone. I just dont know how much that would cost. Hopefully not a lot.