It's time for tires. I've been thinking of having my 2.0 Fuchs wheels fully polished. They are in overall good condition and the original anodizing seems to be intact. I love the look of the polished wheels but I also like originality. Any thoughts on polished Fuchs?
If I have them polished can I restore to the original look down the road...?

I think it comes down to personal taste. I stripped and polished a set of 911 fuchs many years ago... and then realized I didn't like it.

You can get them re-anodized, but my guess is it costs $$$. Could be wrong on the cost though.

I have fully polished Fuchs but I bought them that way. If they were original and the anodizing was in good shape I would leave them alone.

John

Talk to Harvey Weidman at Weidman's Wheels in Oroville on the costs & processes for polishing & then re-anodizing them. A bunch of pix & posts come up on a google search, & he's a member on here.

I think you'll find they'll be around $70-120/wheel to have them strip the anodized layer then polish & retreat the background area for the duller finish between the "windmill" spokes. Probably another $40-70/wheel to re-anodize them at a later date, but probably included at the $100-120/wheel if all redone.

Those were Al Reed prices a couple of years ago for a painted set I have (Al used to work for/with Harvey but is in SoCal/Anaheim closer to me - both shops do excellent work), but I've since picked up a set of 5 polished for $1000 from another member here, & will have Al re-anodize them later when it's close to time to mount them after the resto is about done.

Others on here have stripped the anodizing with EasyOff & polished them themselves, & you can find topics on here from several of those as an alternative.

But as others have said, if they're in good condition, why not just clean them up a bit as is?

Click to view attachment

it's your choice if you want shiny wheels now do it

yoiu can always sale them and get a set of original look later if thats what you want.

i wouldn't recommend it - i did my 2.0 fuchs in a polished/painted matte silver look, about ten years ago, which was great, but over time (about 5 years), the wheels oxidized both on the polished parts and from under the paint - harvey does great work (he has done my 911 wheels to 7R specs), but you can have a local polisher do a great job polishing if you decide to go that route - i disagree with the price of polishing by harvey, and re-anodizing, which i did, and which costs much more per wheel than listed above (shop around) - also, if you decide to re-anodize, you can still see the flaws/oxidizing underneath - these 2.0 fuchs are getting pricier each year, and if the stock ones aren't too trashed, i would leave them alone - also, fully polished fuchs, on any model, reek of the '80's, but that's just my subjective opinion - good luck!

No.

Tom,
Al Reed worked for a medical company and came to Al Wiedman to have stainless steel heart valves polished. Ultimately, he bought the company from Al. Al is also a member here...

Weidman does great work - perfect really but he's at about $250/wheel, not including shipping. That's for factory look anodizing. Polishing may be cheaper but not cheap. Al might be a bit cheaper but neither is even close to what Tom T is imagining,

Personally, I do not like them polished. I like the factory look of the anodizing. Harvey Weidman is themas when it comes to restoring these or doing anything you want to these wheels. But is is your car so make it look the way you like it.

It's what you like, but I too prefer the stock look- polished or chrome is too bling for me...
+100 on Harvey- he redid both sets of my 5 spoke Fuchs- beautiful!

(His car and name was mentioned on an episode of Chasing Classic Cars I watched earlier today)

+1 stock

I agree that it is personal choice, I have mine polished and I really like them, but they were not in perfect original condition so they look way better now.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

Keep them stock

No. Keep them stock

I couldn't decide so I purchased a second set to have polished.

If they are in Nice Shape, don't do it.

If you want Polished, see if someone is local to you that has some. Go over with some brews, jack the cars up, swap wheels on one side to see if you like it. If you do, buy a set (preferably that Harvey has done)

I have polished just the petals before and know I don't like the look. I never liked the full polish

I think it also depends on the color of your car. There are some colors that just need a little Pop!

I like both stock and polished. The polished takes me back to the 80's which I happen to like a lot. That said, if you are interested in a polished set, let me know. Dads car will be returning to the original stock wheels this weekend. I'm in Pleasanton.

BTW Wiedman is 275 / wheel and rising, and he will charge more for pitting. 18 mos backlog.

The stock look is classy and subtle. Here's what original, low mileage survivors look like:

Click to view attachment

Both...

RobW,
I really like the look of those wheels.

If you want polished wheels, get a set of Mahles. They look much better than polished Fuchs IMO.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. I have decided to have the old tires dismounted, take the wheels home and clean them up, get new alloy center caps and have the new tires mounted. No polish at all. They are in pretty good shape with no curb rash. Once I remove the old weights from the lips....they will look good.
I'm not trying to do a show quality restoration. I want it to look like a clean, unmolested example and enjoy driving it.
Thanks again,
Jack

Good choice.....sometimes less is more.