Need help on: foggy headlight/95 gst painted rims

[Race94]

Hey guys,
well my driver side headlight is all foggy and i've seen a lot of eclipses this way, how can i remove this? i've been told to buff them out, but with what? how?

Also i am interested in painting my stock 2g gst swirlies in gunmetal and leave the lip chrome since i am low on cash and i want a good look, has anyone done this before?
Any pics??

Thanks

 

[Melio]

If it's the exteriour surface of the headlight - grab some white baking soda "whiting" type toothpaste and a soft sponge and scrub it for about 3-4 minutes - wipe it off with a damp rag, repeat until clear again -

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[Melio]

Originally posted by Race94

Also i am interested in painting my stock 2g gst swirlies in gunmetal and leave the lip chrome since i am low on cash and i want a good look, has anyone done this before?
Any pics??

Thanks [/B]

I'v repainted my 92 tsi swirly rims white - I used a white 1 part epoxy paint that's designed for use on stovetops and appliances - this paint lasted approx 2 years before it chipped, flaked and pretty much disentigrated -

If you can obtain a better quality paint that will hold up longer - here's the process I did. doesnt take that long, just a lot of prepreation.

if you can remove the tires and have the alumium rims bead blasted (plastic media blasting, doesnt cut into the metal just removes surface paint) - DO this if you can..

If not - use a whole bunch of sand paper - not too heavy of a grit because you don't want to scratch up the surface of the aluminum - if you do - you'll have to bring the grit level up to smooth it back to a paintable surface - I suggest using Mechanical methods - such as a flap disk sanding wheel or a small mouse orbital sander that can get into the gaps of the rim itself.

make sure you sand the hub of the wheel that touches the disc brake -- here's some information for ya .

Aluminum + Steel = super high speed corrosion (rust)

Ever notice how your brake disc is like the first thing to rust completly - it's cause of all the minerals in rain water and road dirt that stick to the hot metal and speed corrision. add aluminum rims to the mix and you got differnt types of metals touching - it instantly becomes a low voltage battery. - which in turn speeds up corrosion.

the deep pitting on the aluminum back of your wheel can actually cause a type of problem called Hydrogen imbritilment - where moleques of hydrogen dig deep into the aluminum of your rim and cause microfractures in the Aluminum that leads to even more corrosion and possibly even breakage under HIGH stress - stress levels most cars can't build in wheels - so don't worry too much - aircraft have these issues more often then cars do.

If you plan on painting your rims - a high temp primer would work well - but the best way to manage aluminum is chemical dipping the aluminum in an acid type etching solution (not sure of the name), washing it, then dipping it in a chemical called Alodine - this puts a thin layer of bonded corrosion on the surface of the aluminum to keep it from corroding - it's pretty cheap to do . obtaining the chemicals might not be easy.

But for Average Joe -

Sand em to bare metal - wash em and dry them to remove paint dust and to clean the surface for the primer/paint.

your "beauty ring" is that crome ring that rolls around the outer edge of the rim - it's physically part of the actual hub that the wheel mounts to.. it's just the outer visable surface of it - generally polished.

get something that can remove all the cuts and gouges out of this thing - I use a dremel tool with a stone bit to smooth out the cuts and gashes the best that I can without leaving big gouge marks in it - then I sand it, sand it and polish it the best I can.. clean it up ..

Then I mask it with tape and paper .. 8.5x11 writing paper seems to shove into the void between the rim and the spokes of the wheel. I shove the paper edge into that and tape everything together so that only the rim itself is visable and paintable - if you can't remove the tire of course - make sure you mask that off fairly well - I would use a big garbage bag, roll the tire in and cut a hole for the wheel to be exposed - then use the sheets of paper and make a cone, fold the cone back and tape it all down so only the front is exposed.

Then spray away with your paint .. primer or paint, or whatever method you feel fit to make your wheels look Sick.

painting isnt scary - if you get a run or a drip or something just use a bounty paper towel on the edge and lightly soak it up. you can also keep a sprayable can of brake fluid -(maby 2-3 cans) around JUST incase you totally screw it up before it drys - just spray the rim down and wash all the paint off the surface and dry it with paper towels and wipe up any excess paint - I suggest you paint outdoors, on newspaper surface - in a clean enviroment like your garage where wind and dust won't settle into the paint.

Assuming your paint is applied let it dry for a few hours - generally read the paint can before you paint - it'll tell you how long it takes for the paint to "tack" or Completly dry -

If your going for very thick coats for longevity - you have to paint lightly - finly dust the suface to get a slight tack of paint - let that cure a little - about 15 minutes - then hit it again with a light coat - a LOT of light coats makes a very very very smooth glossy surface with very little chance of mistakes --

If your REALLY good at this - you probably inspect the suface for lumpy paint or hairs or dust that may have settled into the paint - which can be removed while the paint is still wet and unsettled.

Is painting difficult - it really depends on how much patience you have and how much you care about what your painting.. obviously your not painting a picnic table - so use real light loving coats of paint and let the paint evenly coat each layer of paint until you have a desired paint coating.

with primer - your doing 1-2 layers of primer and following the timing directions - you can't paint dry primer and get a good paint coat that will stick - I don't care what the primer directions say - you have to paint primer when it's Tacky - so the paint will bond to the primer properly

some primers are quick dry - this means they dry almost immediatly - that means they contain a chemical called MEK - or Achol or something that air drys from the outside in while it bonds - I suggest you find a good Polymer Primer - one that cures like an EPOXY RESIN, or in short it cures completly without air - In otherwords, the stuff hardens compeltly it's never soft in the lower levels after it cures.

with epoxy type paints you pay more - because they are a bit more durable. they're also chemical resistant - so like salt water (winter slush) and fules and things won't eat the paint up -- that's especially good for when you plan on cleaning the painted surface - cleaning chemicals might interact with OTHER kinds of paint (cough like the crap I used) and it will cause it to become brittle and crack and flake .. or simply melt and become part of the road when you whip around a corner somewhere leaving bare aluminum exposed to the elements.

Yeah, I Practice what I preach about painting - but sometimes you just gotta do it quick and dirty to get it done ... I suggest taking your time - do it right, make em look awesome .. we only rely on our rims to maintain our wheels to keep our cars on the road - might as well baby them.

 

[Race94]

thanks!!!