Best way to polish aluminum wheels?

[fomocoguy]

Ok guys, I'm looking for the easy way here I've got a set of aluminum slots for the crew that I want to shine up real nice. The surface is real smooth but they are pretty old and quite aged. I used some mothers on one spot, and it looks pretty good, but my poor hands will fall off if I have to rub that much on all 4 wheels. I may just pay to have them refinished, but times are tight and I'd rather do it myself for less $$$ if possible. Any hints/suggestions? Has anyone tried that powerball thing? There is some oxidation, so I'm not sure that thing will do the trick, but I could be wrong I suppose...

[BobbyFord]

If they're oxidated, try some of the spray-on products that eliminate oxidation or use some zero, zero grade steel wool and water then use the Mother's and the powerball.

[CO684X4]

I have something similar to this that I use. Works great. Way easier on the hands. They also have the compounds you need to get them nice and shinney

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=95030

[72stepside]

I've polished up some pretty nasty motorcycle forks with the following wet sanding steps...

240 grit
400 grit
600 grit
1000 grit
scotch green pad
mothers aluminum polish
plain turtle wax chrome polish
plain turtle wax


They come out looking good and stay that way for quite a while. It does take a while, but worth it.

[1971ford]

I've polished up some pretty nasty motorcycle forks with the following wet sanding steps...

240 grit
400 grit
600 grit
1000 grit
scotch green pad
mothers aluminum polish
plain turtle wax chrome polish
plain turtle wax


They come out looking good and stay that way for quite a while. It does take a while, but worth it.

would that work on aluminum trim? like a grill?
on a auto body forum a guy polished aluminum to where it was just ubelievably niceness, then he wanted to scuff it since it was too nice for what he was going for. i asked how he did it and he said he used greater and greater grit sandpaper and then some wax like you said. hmmm

[mljjones67]

Do you have a good air compressor?
If so what i do is use several different
buffing wheels on my die grinder.
Start with the most aggressive and work
your way up to the finest. The only problem
is this will be an ongoing dilemma. They
will oxidize real fast. I have heard of guys
spraying wd on after and rubbing it in to
give it some protection. But if you keep
up on it they should stay nice. If i can find
my pics of before and after pics I will post them.

[Thunderfoot]

I second the steel wool method to get the oxidation off and start on the polish...
Start with around #00 steel wool and use some WD40 with it.
You can work up to the #0000 steel wool and use the Mothers along with WD40. or go to the power ball with the mothers + WD40

If you have any deep scratches that you want to get out use some 600 or 400 grid wet/dry sand paper. (Yes with WD40) and then go back to the steel wool.

The WD40 keeps the aluminum residue from polishing, from gumming up and sticking to the surface, this also makes it polish faster and better.

My

[fomocoguy]

Thanks for the responses everyone! All of these would work I think; I just need to decide which will be easiest for me I may try the steel wool and wd40, then mothers powerball and see how that goes. They don't have to be mirror finish, although if I have them professionally done I suppose they would be...

[fomocoguy]

Ok, so this morning I decided to give it a try on a wheel. I used 0000 steel wool to clean the wheel first, then used a buffing wheel on my Makita direct drive sander (4500rpm), which made quick work of it.

The only problem I had was that when I got done and wanted to clean the buffing compound off, I used wheel cleaner, which promptly stained the aluminum. I had to scrub it with a brillo pad to get the stains off, which ruined my previuos work . The second time around I cleaned it off with WD40, which worked quite nicely.
BEFORE:

AFTER:
SIDE BY SIDE:


Not mirror like by any means, but considering these are spun aluminum they probably look almost as good as they did when new. Just for kicks, here's the new tires (33's). They have less than 100 miles on them and I picked them up for $400; less then half price of new!

[mljjones67]

Dish soap also works real well.