Wheel polish and ceramic prep

[vcordaro]

Some of you may have seen I have been posting a lot of questions about ceramic coats as I want to get this right.  I just ordered

the tire kit.   I have a 2016 Camaro SS with black rims.  The dealer just replaced three of them with brand new ones because

they had small peel marks.  The other rim is in fantastic condition and the car has only 10k miles on it.  So my question is

in the video where Adam ceramic coats the black tires.  I see he uses the mini swirl killer and mentions some polishes. 

Is there a special polish for painted tires or would I just use the finishing polish.  If the rim has really  no scratches is

it worth still using the finishing polish?  Anything I can do to make the rims shine even more

prior to coating would be awesome.  I will definitely clay bar all the tires and clean them prior to the

prep and coat.  I am also considering taping off my tire.  Is that overkill?

 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer my questions.  I will be posting before and after pictures.

Edited February 19, 2019 by vcordaro

[shane@detailedreflections]

Most wheels are clear coated and polish just like paint. 

 

As far as how many steps of polish you need, it depends on the existing damage and the finish you desire. If they’re black, I wouldn’t skip the finishing step but that’s just us and the way we do things.

 

So the work flow for wheels...

 

- Wheel cleaner

- Tire & Rubber Cleaner

- Clay (maybe?  It’s a challenge to clay most surfaces of wheels).

- Polish (as many steps as you need/want).

- Coating Prep. 

- Coat (spray or hand apply)

- Buff.

[Dan@Adams]

As Shane mentions, if you're looking for the wheels to shine even more before coating, the Finishing Polish with a 4" White Foam Pad on the Swirl Killer Mini as your last polishing step would bring out the most gloss and depth. If there are swirl marks in the black wheel finish though, you will need to start with either the Heavy Correcting Compound and a 4" Microfiber Cutting Pad, or the orange Correcting Polish and a 4" Orange Foam Pad, depending on the severity of the swirl marks. Do you have any pictures showing the current condition of the wheels that you could post up here?

 

When you say you will clay bar the tires, I'm assuming you mean the wheels. You do not want to clay tires, as you're going to get lots of dirt and rubber transfer into the clay. You could tape off the tires when applying the Ceramic Wheel Coating, but it's not 100% necessary. If you get any excess ceramic coating onto the tire, just take an old towel or paper towel and quickly wipe it off of the rubber tire area.

[Inspector Gadget]

So I picked up a set of new wheels and have not had the tires put on yet. So far I have thoroughly cleaned the wheels with Eco wheel cleaner and Eco APC. After that I went at it with my clay bar and some DS. I have a new Wheel ceramic kit on the way so I won't be applying that until after the tires are mounted. Is there anything I can add while the tires get mounted for added protection from the tire machine and easy clean up from the tire lube. I'll also be buffing and polishing them as well, should I do this before or after the tires are installed? 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Inspector Gadget

[falcaineer]

56 minutes ago, Inspector Gadget said:

So I picked up a set of new wheels and have not had the tires put on yet. So far I have thoroughly cleaned the wheels with Eco wheel cleaner and Eco APC. After that I went at it with my clay bar and some DS. I have a new Wheel ceramic kit on the way so I won't be applying that until after the tires are mounted. Is there anything I can add while the tires get mounted for added protection from the tire machine and easy clean up from the tire lube. I'll also be buffing and polishing them as well, should I do this before or after the tires are installed? 

 

I'm about to coat a client's wheels, too. I'd wait to do anything else until the tires are mounted and balanced. The former because you can possibly fix anything that could happen during mounting (not have to do it twice), and the latter is important because wheel weights can be hard to install (read: stick) because of the coating.

 

Never tried and thinking out loud, but if you're really concerned about damage, maybe plasti-dip them? 

[GXPaycheck]

Avoid putting ceramic coating on areas where stick on weights go for obvious reasons. 

[falcaineer]

47 minutes ago, GXPaycheck said:

Avoid putting ceramic coating on areas where stick on weights go for obvious reasons. 

 

While avoiding it is advised, wouldn't not applying it cause a line, possibly visible (i.e., tape off the area)? How do you get around that?

[Inspector Gadget]

^^^Well since my wheels are pretty much new and still have the original weights from the factory, could I still coat  the whole inside of the barrel? I added pictures to my previous post to help better understand. 

[GXPaycheck]

On 3/30/2019 at 6:53 PM, falcaineer said:

 

While avoiding it is advised, wouldn't not applying it cause a line, possibly visible (i.e., tape off the area)? How do you get around that?

I doubt anyone one notice, especially if you clean the wheels on a regular basis.