Bowtie-Bri

I have some FM-5's and would like to know if anyone has ever had their "centers" refinished? Mine have the Technipolished centers.
I'll probably be calling Fikse sometime this week.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Brian

BOBS99SS

iTrader: (2)

not sure what it would take to redo those, im looking for a set so if your looking to sell at all hit me up

Spd-Kilz

iTrader: (35)

Yes, to some extent. I just had my FM10s powdercoated gunmetal:

NBM99SS

iTrader: (33)

I had a set of FM5's that were powder coated white completely stripped and fully polished. In the process or redoing a set of FM10's now. The clear coat was starting to oxidize so had it stripped off and either powder coating the centers a light gray or gonna see if they can just be re-cleared and look ok. Save yourself the hassle of boxing up and shipping them to Fikse and do it locally if that is a option. They are really easy to take apart and put back together.

pir7tr

iTrader: (23)

Just finished removing my centers.
Holding a pickle jar full degreaser and the washers/bolts that held the centers on the barrels.
I am cleaning them as we speak. shake shake shake.

Plan on having the hoops polished.
I'm going back and forth on refinishing the centers with clear coat and powder coating light silver.

Look for the latest post related to Fikse. Many customers are not content with Fikse as of late.
Not saying that your experience will be the same, just "heads up."

pir7tr

iTrader: (23)

Wish I would have taken before pics to show how much grime was removed from the bolts.

Bowtie-Bri

How hard is it to remove the centers and reinstall them?

pir7tr

iTrader: (23)

Turn the wheel so that the centers face down to the floor. Remove the bolts from the center. Cover the centers with a few micro fibers and knock them out with a rubber mallet.

I am in the middle of this so I have not installed them.

Bowtie-Bri

Those wheels look sweet!
Were your centers scratched and nicked up as well?

69TA

iTrader: (263)

SPD-KLZ

your wheels came out nice

camaroboy14

iTrader: (8)

Wow those wheels look great :0

CamaroSS27

iTrader: (6)

BOBS99SS

iTrader: (2)

Op call Shawn and powder pros they do work like that

pir7tr

iTrader: (23)

I purchased them used and so they were never brand new looking by any means. I feel like I made improvements on them with elbow grease and a few curse words. They do have some imperfections mostly in just the clear coat of the faces. Nothing major like curb rash or large dents in the aluminum.

I was told you can treat the clear coat much like cars clear coat when cleaning and maintaining the wheels. After discovering that I took some M105 and M250 to the centers using a Flex Rotary and really made them shine.

For the hoops I usually take a polishing wheel with a drill attachment and go to town with some tripoli polishing compound in different grades working it out to the finest and finally wiping down with a soft microfiber.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmsmitty16/5952377025/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmsmitty16/5952377025/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/jmsmitty16/, on Flickr

Spd-Kilz

iTrader: (35)

Thanks for the comments! They really do look killer in person too. It's not too often you see a set of Fikses with centres anything other than tecni-polished, so I figured that I would go that route. I'm really happy I did.

A little more eye candy never hurt:

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

Who powder coated them for you? Fikse?

pir7tr, what torque specs are you using to rebuild your wheels?

pir7tr

iTrader: (23)

I have only completed the disassembly of the center at this point.
I believe the torque specs for the bolts are 15 foot pounds. I have not confirmed this yet.
It will be a while before I reinstall the centers.

Bowtie-Bri

Hey Smitty,
I think I might try buffing them out first before resorting to stripping the clear off and having them fully polished. If I can get them to look acceptable in my eyes, then I will leave them with the clearcoat on them. Otherwise, I'll look into having them polished and put up with the increased maintenance of polishing the whole wheel. What is M105 and M250 and where can I buy it? What is a flex rotary? Is this a buffing wheel for a drill?

Thanks!
Brian

pir7tr

iTrader: (23)

M105 and M205 are polishing compounds from meguiars. Flex rotary is a rotary polishing machine from a German company called Flex. Autogeek.net carries these products.