Another RSR Fuchs thread, Got them stripped...kind of like them without the black Options

[Mark Henry]

So I'm doing the RSR treatment to my straight but cosmetically challenged Fuchs.

First I stripped the anodising from one wheel using a caustic soda (also known as lye or Sodium hydroxide) solution, it takes off the anodizing like a champ, but hardly touches the old paint. Bottom left rim first pic has been in the caustic soda . So it was off to the hardware store for some stripper.

The stripper worked, but I had to take off the paint leftovers with the bead blaster (last pic).
They are going back into the caustic soda solution again tonight to get rid of the rest of the anodizing.

I love the finish, it has me debating whether to leave them like this or to paint the usual black background. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[JRust]

I like the black centers with the polished lips. Wasn't a huge fan of the RSR look. Then I bought a set of the 17" Rota's Fuchs replica's. They look sweet in the RSR finish so my mind has been changed. I am still a fan of the Black centers with Polished lips on the right car. I think you can't really go wrong either way. I am not a huge fan of straight polished fuchs though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[carr914]

I used to be a Fan of Polished Paddles, but the RSR look is so much cooler without the Bling Factor

[Randal]

So I'm doing the RSR treatment to my straight but cosmetically challenged Fuchs.

First I stripped the anodising from one wheel using a caustic soda (lye) solution, it takes off the anodizing like a champ, but hardly touches the old paint. Bottom left rim first pic has been in the caustic soda . So it was off to the hardware store for some stripper.

The stripper worked, but I had to take off the paint leftovers with the bead blaster (last pic).
They are going back into the caustic soda solution again tonight to get rid of the rest of the anodizing.

I love the finish, it has me debating whether to leave them like this or to paint the usual black background. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

+ 1 on the stripped look.

I was screwing around with my Gotti's and bead blasted the aluminum barrel to get some (remaining) chrome off. Actually looks OK, especially for a race car.

But not suggesting you bead blast your Fuchs!

[Mark Henry]

But not suggesting you bead blast your Fuchs!

Too late (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

One out of the tank and drying, another in the tank.
Watching the alunimum slowly bubble.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[steuspeed]

I just got these Fuch wheels today. What are you using for a tank and where did you buy the Lye Crystals? I already stripped the paint off the the two black wheels with Jasco.

[mepstein]

I used a heavy duty scotch brite pad on mine. Looks like brushed stainless. Cost less than $5 and I can always polish or paint in the future. Future touch up should be easy. Have to dig up a pic.

[Mark Henry]

I just got these Fuch wheels today. What are you using for a tank and where did you buy the Lye Crystals? I already stripped the paint off the the two black wheels with Jasco.

My "tank" is a plastic lid from a water softener salt tank I found that fits a 15" rim perfectly. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) Be aware that lye (caustic soda or Sodium hydroxide) will strip all anodizing off of your rim, so don't do this unless you want the anodizing removed! You will have to paint or re-anodize your rims. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Lye Crystals is a common cleaner you can get from most hardware stores and is the main ingediant in oven and toilet bowl cleaner.

[Mark Henry]

I'm using a very weak solution, 4 heaping teaspoons to about 2 gallons (10L) of water.
Takes about 30-40 minutes to strip the anodizing. I could add more and speed up the process but this is working for me.

BTW if you did forget about your rim, say overnight, you most likely would find a puddle of goo the next morning. Even this weak you can see the aluminium coming off.

This stuff is caustic so use proper safety gear and have a good supply of water on hand.
Of course I have my safety flip-flops and shorts on (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[Mark Henry]

Here you can see the smut rising (that's aluminium) and a bit of bubbling action.

[Mark Henry]

This is my stir stick/test strip, a scrap piece of stair bullnose.
You can see the anodizing is gone.

[Mark Henry]

Fuchs rims are not just aluminium they are an alloy and must have copper in them, so when you do this they come out stained darker than normal. A few minutes with a scotchbrite pad will fix this.
Hard to see, but I did a quickie scotchbrite job on the bottom petal.

[Mark Henry]

This picture the rim on the right you can see how dirty it looks straight out of the solution. The one on the left was just as bad, I only spent about 5 minutes with a scothbrite pad under running water scrubbing it.

At this point you could polish it if you want or bead blast it for the RSR frosted finish.
For the frosted you want very fine bead or since I'm a CSOB I have old beads that I'll be using.

[Mark Henry]

Just a few notes, I changed my solution after 2 rims. Since this is such a weak solution I saw no issue just dumping it on the grass, it wont hurt it, just dilute it with lots of water. I use more than this when I clean out the chicken shed, but you might want to keep pets away from your work area till it dries.


steuspeed PM'ed me about this and I thought I'd share my opinion with everyone.

Will the Lye strip give me the stock gray finish on the lug section? Should I polish the rim and the petals then have it re-anodized? Just found a shop about 40 blocks from my house. APEX Anodizing.

I have a cracked 4-bolt Fuchs here so I scratched the finish to check it out. IMO the gray part of this rim is just the raw unpolished forging, in fact I can clearly see grinder marks. It's just clear anodized.
You would have to clean it before anodizing it and thus run the risk of polishing it too much, if you clean it with a soft cloth you may be OK. You could replicate this finish to a certain extent by bead blasting with a very fine grit.
This finish on the Fuchs are factory grade, they are known to be far from perfect. I know exactly how they polished the petals, you just have to look at it. They spun the rim and hit it with a polisher. Most likely you will end up with better finish than the factory which some CW's might not like.

You must protect the finish when done by paint, clear coat or anodizing, some peeps will even coat it lightly with vaseline (yuck). The issue with clear coat is it will end up slightly darker than stock.
Anodizing would be my choice, it's what the factory did.


That's it for now, I'll update this thread when I finish them. Unfortunately due to other commitments I won't be able to get back to these for a couple of weeks.
Below is a pic of the now raw aluminium rims, cleaned and ready for finishing.

Cheers

[bulitt]

They look great! Your process works really well and would make it so much easier to polish the entire face.

[mepstein]

Easy off oven cleaner (name brand bottle) also works well.

[Mike Bellis]

Easy off oven cleaner (name brand bottle) also works well.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
Used it many time to remove anodizing... Removes color too...

[Randal]

I used a heavy duty scotch brite pad on mine. Looks like brushed stainless. Cost less than $5 and I can always polish or paint in the future. Future touch up should be easy. Have to dig up a pic.

Nice! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Randal]

This picture the rim on the right you can see how dirty it looks straight out of the solution. The one on the left was just as bad, I only spent about 5 minutes with a scothbrite pad under running water scrubbing it.

At this point you could polish it if you want or bead blast it for the RSR frosted finish.
For the frosted you want very fine bead or since I'm a CSOB I have old beads that I'll be using.

Looking good so far.

So have you decided to polish and paint them or scotchbrite them or what? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[scotty b]

I used a heavy duty scotch brite pad on mine. Looks like brushed stainless. Cost less than $5 and I can always polish or paint in the future. Future touch up should be easy. Have to dig up a pic.

Nice! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Marks wheels look really good. good enough I think I'm going to copy him on my 911 when/if the time comes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I'll try to get a better shot of them sometime today with the tires mounted (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)