Thread: Polishing aluminum wheels?

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I finally found a couple of ET slotted aluminum wheels to put on my 62 Galaxie 500 XL. They are actually in pretty good shape no curb rash like you see on a lot of them. I've never had a pair of these before and would like to know what product is the best to use to get the best shine out of them. I've heard of people polishing them up and then clear coating them, but don't know how well that would hold up.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Bobg

mothers makes a good aluminum polish,but i,m sure there,s newer stuff out there thats easier.

A Mothers PowerBall and/or PowerBall Mini will make polishing the wheels a lot easier. I've seen them locally at Wal-Mart and auto part stores like O'Reilly. Mothers makes a decent aluminum/metal polish as does Flitz, Wenol, etc.

If you don't want to clear coat them Zoop makes a sealer (expensive, but less than having them cleared) that is supposed to last longer than most products.

Have them prof. polished once. No clear...easy to keep up with your polish
then
Ron

Have always used Mothers. Lot of work, but the Mother's powerball and mini ball will help speed up the process. There are other products and polishers that work very well also.

With uncoated, polished aluminum wheels, you have to keep them clean. Salt and road slime will mess them up. Also, you can't splash white-wall cleaner on them. Tossed that in for the guys running wide whites. The old standard "Westley's Bleche-White" will spot them up big time.

MAGIC MIX METAL POLISH made by Valco Is the best I have found

In process of restoring a pair of 16x10 American Racing mags. Depending on how bad yours are, it may take a little more than some polish. If they don't come up in a small area with some rubbing with mothers you are looking at some elbow grease or a pro job. I started out with 150 grit Wetordry to get the pits and pimples followed by 180 220,320,360,400,600,800,1000, a light hit with tripoli on a flannel loose buff then some mothers also on a loose buff. Takes about 4 hours a wheel. Have fun

On old wheels it's usually easier to start with the sandpaper. Wet sanding them will get a lot of the dirt out that is in the aluminum... Just "found" another pair of 14 X 7 Ford aluminum wheels in the storage shed the other day.....Looks like I have a start for the "polishing pile" this winter!!!!

Orange jug hand cleaner (the gritty stuff) works good and it's cheap. Also takes off brake dust stains and hard water spots on chrome. I've even used it on chrome plated plastic with excellent results.

Do a Google search for product called "Gords". Outstanding and very easy to use.

I like scotch brite pads in diffrent grades with any cream polish then steal wool in different grades with any aluminum polish. you can cut the pieces to chuck up in a drill. cast will polish like this.

We use oven cleaner on our wheels to remove the dirt out of the rough cast surfaces and smooth surfaces, really cleans the deep fine dirt/dust out of the micro pits.
We use it to clean our R/C motors when they get real dark tar(cooked oil from fuel) on them, they look like new when we're done.
Don't get it on paint.
Our club gets it by 30 gal drum when the club needs more!

Pat

Check with some of the local Truck stops,some offer wheel polishing service.I recently picked up some slot mags myself and cleaned them up using Simichrome polish and very fine steel wool.

does anyone have an opinion on this stuff getting close to ordering it Ed

http://www.metalwax.com/