Best coating for Bronze Anodized Volk TE37 wheels?

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Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.

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Best coating for Bronze Anodized Volk TE37 wheels?



Anytime I get questions via e-mail, a PM or a FB message I prefer to invest my typing time where

A: It's easier for me to share links, pictures and videos.

B: More people can read and thus benefit from the information. (no just one set of eyeballs)


The reality is, most people that contact me found me via an article I've written or a reply I've written on this forum. The thing is, instead of figuring out that the whole reason they are contacting me is because they found me via an article or answer I wrote on the forum that they to should bring their question to the forum because not only will that help them.... but it will help a future "them". If I answer everything in a private e-mail or other touch point, no one would find and contact me. It's a cycle or pattern that repeats as long as everything is shared in the public domain.

The above is kind of wordy but re-read it slowly and it will make sense.


So I get an e-mail asking,




Hi Mike,

I have an 99 Acura Integra with a set of Bronze Anodized Volk TE37 wheels. I’d like to put a coating on them but I want to be sure it doesn’t damage the finish. What coating would you recommend that would be safe for them?

Also, what would be a good series of products to use to prep them i.e. iron remover, cleaners etc. I have a couple of the black baked on brake dust spots that i’d like to safely remove.

Also, as a non professional hobbiest detailer, What ceramic coating would you recommend for paint? Thanks in advance for the help and thank you for doing what you do for the auto community.

How do I get in on the news letter as well?

Thanks for everything

Chad
​



Great questions Chad,

Let's see if I can answer them in order.



:)
 
Chad said:
Hi Mike,

I have an 99 Acura Integra with a set of Bronze Anodized Volk TE37 wheels. I’d like to put a coating on them but I want to be sure it doesn’t damage the finish. What coating would you recommend that would be safe for them?
Click to expand...


Until a few minutes ago I didn't know if these wheels are in fact fully anodized or painted or a combination of both, which is common. So I typed the below into Skynet



And found this thread on a Honda S2ki forum

Volk ce28n refinishing - S2KI Honda S2000 Forums

Here's a quote from forum member .eric. post #6


.eric. said:
Good luck with trying to match the original Volk Racing bronze since the lips are anodized and the faces are painted.

I've tried to replicate the color on several sets of TE37s. BMW Bronze Sepang A32 and Toyota Avensis Brown Mica 4Q9 were close but not exact matches. I have a set of 19s getting powdercoated Highland Bronze - I'll post pictures of them when I pick them up at the end of the week.
Click to expand...


So according to .eric. the LIPS of the rims are anodized and the rest of the wheel is painted.


That all said, anodizing is TOUGH! I doubt any coating would ever harm anodizing.

The toughest wheel coating I've used is the GTechniq C5 Wheel Armor. You can get it here,


GTechniq C5 Wheel Armor 15 ml.





Chad said:
Also, what would be a good series of products to use to prep them i.e. iron remover, cleaners etc.
Click to expand...

My experience, or nitemare, was that iron removers can and will stain anodizing. You won't know until you try but the deal is, if you use an iron remover and it DOES stain the anodized portions of the rim, I've only seen one person fix anodizing before and that was me.

Stick with a safe, non-acid wheel cleaner like the SONAX Wheel Cleaner Full Effect


Chad said:
I have a couple of the black baked on brake dust spots that i’d like to safely remove.
Click to expand...




The SONAX wheel cleaner should tackle these. If you don't have a Wheel Woolie brush I'd highly recommend getting these brushes. I wash a LOT of wheels and tires and my favorite are the Wheel Woolies and the Speedmaster Wheel Brushes.

Here's just ONE article I've written where I share the wheel cleaning tools I use.

Review: Speed Master Wheel Cleaning Brushes by Mike Phillips




Chad said:
Also, as a non professional hobbiest detailer, What ceramic coating would you recommend for paint?
Click to expand...

I get asked this question a LOT. My normal answer is

Choose a brand you ALREADY know and trust and go with it.


In my classes I show,

BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating
Pinnacle Black Label Paint Coating
GYEON Mohs Q2
CarPro UK Edition 3.0
GTechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer


The above are all established brand names with great reputations. All of the above coatings apply the same way. As long as you do the PREP WORK correctly you will get professional results.

I also teach how to do coating installations at all my classes. 60% of the people that attend my classes are ENTHUSIASTS, not pro detailers. Here's an example,

Rick shares his experience at the recent Texas Roadshow Class


I'm 58 and Rick is at least as old as I am.


Rick

Austin_Detail_Class_034.jpg





Chad said:
Thanks in advance for the help and thank you for doing what you do for the auto community.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the recognition, I believe I'm the only guy that teaches classes and since 2002 - regularly writes accurate, in-depth how-to articles on a forum because you can't write articles on Facebook. :laughing:



Chad said:
How do I get in on the news letter as well?
Click to expand...

I've added your name to the Mike Phillips Newsletter. I've only sent out ONE since I started it. The next one goes out this Friday.



Chad said:
Thanks for everything

Chad
Click to expand...


I hope you can appreciate it took me about an hour to do some research, find some articles I've written, located pages to more information and "coded" them into my reply. This is why I don't answer questions via e-mail but instead share them on the forum. With an e-mail, only one set of eyeballs will ever see the information.

If you were to look a the number of views my articles, reviews and even the threads I post in-depth "replies" to - they get tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of views. All this means is my work is seen by so many others when I invest the companies time on the forum not in e-mail and not on Facebook.

I'm a hard worker for Autogeek. I do my best to earn my keep.


10 Year Autogeek Anniversary



:)
 
Also - here's the link to join this forum as this is where I interact with like-minded people.


Click here to register with our forum

If you have any trouble registering with our forum, then you are encouraged to call me while you're behind your computer with the registration screen up and I will help you to successfully register so that you can actively participate

1-800-869-3011


This is all part of Autogeek's customer service.


:)
 
And also....

Thank you for sharing this in your e-mail when I asked how you found me and you said,


I haven’t been able to get an answer on any of the detailing forums so I thought I would ask directly.


I never mind when someone sends me questions via e-mail - just answer them on the forum.



And I LOVED this,

I have searched and asked on posts in different detailing forums and FB Groups. I have asked people in the import community who have said they ceramic coated a bronze anodized wheel but have received no responses.

I have read manufacturer instructions and information but haven’t found a direct answer.

I'll go try again to see if someone has an answer. I just thought maybe you could help shed some light on the subject.



I challenge anyone to ask any question on any Facebook group or other car detailing discussion forum and then post it here and then see where you get the best, most detailed, complete and accurate replies.


I love a challenge and I love competition.


:)
 
Thank you for taking the time to reply with some great information. I really appreciate it.
Chad
 
You really are the first person to provide a clear and direct answer with specific product knowledge and advice. Of course I then found the Cosmis post after I emailed you! Thank you forbeing a great source of knowledge and help for those of us still lost it he weeds trying to figure things out.
 
Chadwikky said:
You really are the first person to provide a clear and direct answer with specific product knowledge and advice. Of course I then found the Cosmis post after I emailed you! Thank you forbeing a great source of knowledge and help for those of us still lost it he weeds trying to figure things out.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the e-mail and thank you for getting why I prefer to answer e-mails on the forum where the info can help so many others.

Also - thank you for joining our forum.


Nice people here...


:)
 
Excellent answer to his question. However may I suggest Griot’s iron and fallout remover instead of sonar. It has cleaned much better for me compared to the others on the the market. It contains twice the active ingredient as the others as they were used as the base for developing the product.
 
Mike lambert said:
Excellent answer to his question.

However may I suggest Griot’s iron and fallout remover instead of SONAX. It has cleaned much better for me compared to the others on the the market. It contains twice the active ingredient as the others as they were used as the base for developing the product.
Click to expand...

Griots makes great products too. Heck I was on the phone with Jeff Brown from Griots today. I also showcase the Griots BOSS “system” at all my classes so I agree - Griots makes great products.

I tend to recommend products I have the most experience with and trust. I simply use SONAX wheel cleaners more than Griots.

In my very public position here on this forum I’m also very accountable if something goes wrong. I’d say more accountable than a forum member.

And here’s the deal, having dealt with problems that have happened when people use any brand of product - I’m very sensitive to the fact that there’s no way for any of us to know another persons skill level or experience level.

It is all these things that I take into consideration when making a public recommendation.


Make sense?


:cheers:
 
Mike lambert said:
Excellent answer to his question.
Click to expand...


Thank you.


Just to note - it took me about 45 minutes to do the research and then craft that answer. It's detailed and includes links to multiple other sources of information and also helpful products.

Most people just post an opinion or one or two sentences. That's okay, it's not their "job" to provide customer service on this forum.


The pay off for the time invested is how many people this will help over the next 10 years after they do a Google search and find this thread and thus find the information.


This is why many of you have read when I've typed the below in an article, review or reply.


I type for the future, never the moment.... -Mike Phillips



:)
 
Not 10 years later but 3 years later super happy I found this thread as I'm dealing with a similar issue of trying to restore the barrels of a set of TE37s that were manufactured in 2001. I'll be ordering the Sonax Full Wheel Cleaner. Thank you Mike!
 
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