how to "unpolish" fuchs for that raw look?

[bob tilton]

how to "unpolish" fuchs for that raw look?

first off - thanks nick for the pic.

how would i achieve this "raw" look with my current polished wheels? sandblast: what medium?
handsanding: what grit?
chemical: what chemical could be applied?

thanks in advance.

[ttweed]

how would i achieve this "raw" look with my current polished wheels? sandblast: what medium?

Bob- I would media blast them for an even texture. Call Diane at Al Reed's, she does this for the "RSR" frosted look, but I don't know what media she uses.

TT

[mattmcginn]

Bob-

Just to add a little to ttweed's post I will add the following:

For the raw look (i.e. no surface sheen at all and a slight roughness) you could have them blasted with a media made by dupont known as Starblast. Its finer than sand but not by a lot. The only problem is that the wheels will be slightly etched and will attract a lot of dust, so you'll spend a lot of time cleaning them.

For the low-sheen raw aluminum look you could have them blasted with glass bead. This will give a very slight sheen in the right light. The color will be a tick lighter than starblast will give. The glass bead will peen the surface slightly and will attract less dust than a star-blasted finish but will fingerprint easily...

We do both types of blasting at my shop for the vintage BMW crowd-a lot of guys with vintage minilites or other aluminum wheels like the glass bead look. Either way you do it, it will look good. Clearcoating the wheels afterward will help seal the surface, but the longterm adhesion of clearcoat to bare metal is not that great to be honest, and it will slightly darken the raw finish versus its "straight from the blaster" look.

Hope this helps.

[JCR]

Lordy - that is just about the perfect wheel to body relationship - AND period sidewall section... JUICY!

My understanding is the regular anodized finish is anodizing over a polished surface. The "raw" finish is anodizing over a sandblased surface. This was done because the factory polishing equipment wouldn't fit down into the deep RSR wheels.

Hard to tell, but the wheels in the photo look sandblasted and clearcoated (with no anodizing). Sort of a raw - RAW look!

[andrew15]

I glass bead blasted mine and then painted them with a clear - it gives a nice low sheen, but would be difficult to polish out later if I wanted to. I'll look to see if I have a pic.

Regards,
Andrew M

[flat6s]

Check with Al Reed. He is my wheel man. No complaints! Has a lengthy wait time now. Don't rush him, you will not be disappointed.

Mike

[kenikh]

You can also clear anodize them versus clear coating, using a process just like Al Reed would use. You can even do it at home:

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/aluminum.htm


There are also a lot of enthusiast forums online that are all about home anodizing. It is pretty cheap if you DIY.

This should solve the fingerprints problem and be more durable than clear lacquer. It is quite a bit more expensive, but most likely cheaper than paying someone to do it. Plus you'd have the tools to do it again.

[bob tilton]

thanks for all the great info guys. i'm thinking i should find a set of deeps 6s and have this treatment done as everyone describes above. jay sycip called after reading the post and said it would be a very simple process to media blast and "soft" clear powdercoat the wheels. in the end i want the raw look with black.
now i gotta figure out how i can write a ck for a set of deep 6s after that engine transplant.

[jtkkz]

Bob
A fellow rgruppe member (Ian) from Pleasanton was selling a few deep sixes.
He has 9 of them.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...hreadid=211100

check with him if he can give you a deal on a set.

or

just have my brother blast it and have him do the same he did with my wheels.

[TerryM]

So, does anyone know the wheel and tire sizes in that photo? I was shooting for that on my car with deep 6s and 195/65s front, 215/60s rear but didn't quite hit it. Think I'll do up a spare set of flat 6s in the raw and try to get closer with to this look.

Terry