cleaning aluminum wheels
 

How do I polish these wheels out to make them look presentable this wheel was hand washed in dawn then polished and it is still pitied

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

help please???

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

The wheel in your photo came with a clear coat on it when it was new. Does it still have the clear coat? You can usually see it peel up around the lug nut holes or where the wheel weights were.

If you have clear coat, it would be better if it was stripped off.

The pitting, will need to be sanded out. It depends on how deep the pitting is. I would start with a 150 grit and work my way up to a 1000 grit and then polish. Mothers mag and aluminum ploish is the best I have used. I am sure there is better but it works well for aluminum rims.

Be careful, if you open a can of worms here because polishing rims is a long tedious job if you want a show quality shine.

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

No they dont have it anymore sprayed some wheel acid on it and it turned white and from what i was told if it does that then there is no clear coat on it

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

Bump... Anyone?
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

what does "bump" mean

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

You can have them media blasted w/ glass beads at 30psi for a satin look.

I bought some quality duplicolor metallic rattle can paint at ollie's bargain outlet for $0.69. I would paint because easy and looks pretty good IMO.

Lot of work to sand out machine marks and polish. As mentioned start w/ about 360 grit and work up to 500 then 800 then 1200 then 2000. Start w/ cheap course polishing compound then cheap fine polishing compound then high dollar fine polishing compound.

Antifreeze dampened rag is good for temporarily restoring rubber luster.

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

"bump" meant he was bumping your thread to cause it to rise to the top of the list so someone with an answer to you original question might see it and reply.

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

Yes bump and ttt mean the same ( to the top)

If there is no clear coat then you can sand out the rough areas and polish them up. I would use a power ball on a drill with some Mothers mag and Aliminum Polish. It is a lot of work but the result is very nice.

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

i did a small spot with 180 grit and polished it to see what it would look like and looked decent

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

180 grit is just a start, you must work through the grits till all sanding scratches are gone then rubbing compound with a wool pad on your buffer before final polish. It requires a lot of patience.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...r/Feb11146.jpg

These S-10 wheels had peeling clearcoat and corrosion before getting sanded and buffed.

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=580116

there is my link to my thread on my wheels. and you can see how nasty they were, i believe they have/had a clear coat on them as weel but i only had a little time to mess with them

essentially what i did was a tub of blue magic which ive used for years and love it. and a green scrub pad. with light pressure just enuogh to get into the pitting. when i get back home i will get my wheels cleaned up some more and post pics of how they look. its a whole different look now with them cleaned up

most of all you need A LOT of elbow grease

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

IF you want to do the work to polish, then you can do it in a simple way, but it will require elbow grease (A lot of it). Start with a large batch of different grit "wet and Dry" sand paper. I would use 600, to 2500 grit in my selection. Get a can of WD-40 to use as the lubricant for the sand paper. Spray the paper and the aluminum and start sanding. work your way from the 600 to the 2500 in stages to get the aluminum smooth. Now go to Harbor Freight or go on-line to Eastwood and purchase some rubbing compounds that is used for aluminum. Start with the grey for cleaning up the aluminum and then use the green to polish. Follow up with the white to give the aluminum color or final polish. I use a cheap air die grinder in my shop that you can buy just about anywhere and then put a tapered tool in it to allow for the use of what is called "Razor buffs" (Look them up on the internet) They are small round buffing wheels and they mount on the tapered tool to allow for polishing in tight spaces. Yellow for cutting aluminum (use with the grey polish), white for the green and white polishes.

Put polish on the buff and then apply to the aluminum. Do not put a lot of pressure on the buff, the polish does the work, not the pressure. Hold the buff to your fingernail and that is about as hard as you want it to go onto your metal. Clean your work with WD-40 and finally with a paint detail spray.

Re: cleaning aluminum wheels
 

I remember that post I followed it to see how they turned out where can I get this blue magic stuff at and what kind of green scrub pad do I need