Cleaning the Superleggera's

[Big_Lad]

To all those running Superleggera's:

How do you go about cleaning you alloys. I've noticed over the last few weeks that dust / grime / tar etc etc is embedding itself in my lovely wheels and want to know how you guys go about making them look like new?

I've recently bought some Meguiars Wheel Brightener along with some Poorboy's Wheel Sealant and so far the wheel brightener has done well. Just need to get the sealant on now.

Any other tips, products that you guys can recommend?

 

[LEON_FR]

i had them on the 206 and they a pain in the arse to clean!!! toothbrush and lots of patience

 

[Big_Lad]

i had them on the 206 and they a pain in the arse to clean!!! toothbrush and lots of patience

...and some elbow grease too?

 

[LEON_FR]

...and some elbow grease too?

lol lots if like me you lazy on wash it once a month!
cool wheels tho you get the normal one or the gts?

 

[Big_Lad]

lol lots if like me you lazy on wash it once a month!
cool wheels tho you get the normal one or the gts?

Normal ones.

I do try and wash my car once a week, time permitting. But the amount of crap that get caught in the corners of each "segment" on the alloy is incredible.

The wheel looks clean in general if you're not looking but the tinest speck drives me crazy. I think i might have OCD

 

[Reg]

A decent soft wheel brush will be your friend here. As will a day out of your life to get them properly clean, then 2 or 3 coats of wheel sealant (leave to cure for as long as possible, buff off then repeat). After that you should find it a lot easier. Its just a pain loosing a day out of your life getting it done the first time! I had to because the BBS cross spokes on my Beemer are hideous to keep clean otherwise.

 

[Big_Lad]

A decent soft wheel brush will be your friend here. As will a day out of your life to get them properly clean, then 2 or 3 coats of wheel sealant (leave to cure for as long as possible, buff off then repeat). After that you should find it a lot easier. Its just a pain loosing a day out of your life getting it done the first time! I had to because the BBS cross spokes on my Beemer are hideous to keep clean otherwise.

Well they are off the car at the moment as i'm running around on my factory alloys, was hoping to put them back on, on Wednesday before the Bucks meet, so that should give me enough time to apply the sealant and leave to "cure"

 

[Reg]

Ideally, get a decent coat on there, leave it for a few hours, buff it off then repeat. Should be great after that. Wheels being off are a big help!

 

[Jace]

A long term test on Poor boys wheel sealant I did for Detailing World

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I've read a few questions & posts about "Wheel wax / sealants", & always laughed & thought "whats wrong with normal wax"

So, I bought some Poor Boys Wheels Sealant to try out & see if its really any better than just a coat of NXT.

I started off by cleaning the wheels with shampoo, at the same time as the rest of the car I may add.

The after I'd gone for a blast around the block I took them off, each corner at a time (fitting the spare as security), I also changed the front > back & vise versa.

Upon removing the wheels I cleaned all the bits of Tar, Grease & any other crud still on them up with some brake cleaner, good stuff for disolving tar BTW.

Next I gave them a quick wipe over with NXT quick detailer, just to remove any brake cleaner left over.

The wheel sealant instruction say apply a coat of your favourite Polish/Wax, so I applied a coat of Klasse Sealant Glaze, with this being Acrylic I thought it would be the best for the extreme conditions the wheels have to endure.

Finaly, the Wheel Sealant, I applied 1 coat to the rear wheels & 2 coats to the fronts, as they always get very dirty, compaired to the rears.

I guess the key to stopping anything stick is a smooth surface, & the finsh left was ultra slick

Klasse SG

Klasse SG + Wheel Sealant

Not bad for 87,000 miles are they

Before & After

I also took the chance to dress the inside face of the tyres too, just to add a little extra protection to the rubber.

A worm's eye view

I've wiped my finger on the rim @ 6 o'clock position to give you an idea on how the crud & brake dust are sticking, or not as it should be.

125 Miles

275 Miles

695 Miles

860 Miles (Note the earlier marking at 9 o'clock from 695mile)

 

[Jace]

1,000 Miles

The pictures show 1200 miles worth of road crud & brake dust

The 1st set show the wheels cleaned with nothing more than a high pressure jet of water,
Before:

After:

The 2nd set of pictures show the wheel with Megs Wheel Brighten mixed 1-4 & a high pressure jet of water was used to remove the crud.
Before;

After:

........................................................................................................

The wheels have now covered 116k & still look no different than they did almost 30k ago.

 

[Big_Lad]

The wheels have now covered 116k & still look no different than they did almost 30k ago.

They've come out pretty damn good, thats how i want mine to look, i've used some of the Meguiars Wheel Brightener, but there are a few awkward spots of tar on the alloys still. going to finish removing them and then apply the sealant

 

[DPJ]

I spent 3 hours claybarring 2 of my Superleggeras (off the car). It works....

(Not looking forward to doing the other two next week)

 

[Big_Lad]

I spent 3 hours claybarring 2 of my Superleggeras (off the car). It works....

(Not looking forward to doing the other two next week)

Did it remove the tar spots?

 

[DPJ]

Did it remove the tar spots?

Yes. Made my hand hurt a lot though!

 

[Big_Lad]

Yes. Made my hand hurt a lot though!

Looks like that could be my next investment

 

[Jace]

Looks like that could be my next investment

Try Brake Cleaner on the really stubborn bits, really disolves tar like a hot knife through butter

 

[DPJ]

Tried brake (before I set to with the clay bar) it didn't budge a thing on mine...

 

[Big_Lad]

I'll give anything a go to make the look shiney

 

[C11PRA DC]

Though not recomended for repeated use try a couple of applications of Wonder Wheels! I was just careful not to leave it on to long before rinsing thoroughly with water!

I used it to get rid of the Tar and brake crud spots off the inside of my alloys with great results! especially in the awkward corners and recesses! I followed this with a wash with Megs NXT shampoo, clay (not aggressively!), AG Tar remover (On stuborn spots!), AG SRP applied with foam applicator and finished with three cured coats of Poorboys Wheel Sealant.

 

[Big_Lad]

Well i've given them another quick wash after i used the Meguiars wheel brightener that other day and have dried them and applied the first coating of poorboys wheel sealant.

Will buff it off this afternoon and apply a second coat, hopefully it will give the shiney wheel look that i had when i first bought them