Polishing aluminum wheels (datsun 6-spoke)

[Guest Anonymous]

I know that it take a lot of elbow grease and determination, but I am looking for some opinions on diferent polishing compounds. I thought my wheels looked pretty good until I went to a club meeting and saw an '83 on which the wheels looked more chrome that alum. Suddenly mine looked like S$%t. the ones I saw weren't chromed, just shined.

 

I also plan to shine my valve cover and SU domes.

[BLKMGK]

I've spent more HOURS polishing aluminum than I'd care to count. My biggest lesson learned was that I don't want much polished bare aluminum on my cars as the upkeep is a bitch. Polished stainless isn't so bad but it's a harder metal and is harder to polih initially.

 

How "bad" are your wheels now? I'm having toruble picturing what those wheels look like but if they have any "cast" looking portions you will have to sand them SMOOTH. You'll then have a ton of fun trying to get various polishing mandrels in there to polish it. Forget the Dremal idea BTW - too small and it leaves streaks. Larger areas end up looking like crap. Drill mounted mandrels work in my experience but it's labor intensive to say the least. In the end you'll have spent TONs of time and then find out that you have to repolish it somewhat often Consider a qualiy clearcoat but even then...

 

Frankly, I'd consider a professional polishing service but expect it to be expensive.

 

Eastwood sells lot's of polishing products including videos on how it's done. Check out their supplies. You'll generally start with something like a sandingflapper wheel, move to wetdry sandpaper of various grits, then to at least one possibly two grits of polishing compound - the last usually being white. The more work you put into the sanding portion the less polishing you'll have to do. Soap in the wet sand process makes for a smoother finish BTW. I've usually used Mother's polish for the final final polish. Use something like a CLEAN diaper to apply it. Never mix compounds on the same buff.

 

Last but not least - *WEAR A DUST MASK* -. The dust generated by a buffer will tear your lungs up and I shudder to think about th ecrap I've ingested. My garage is covered in the stuff from floor to rafters. Try to never do this in the vicinity of a car you care about I think that's it. Good luck!

[Sean 83ZXT]

I found this link a long time ago.

http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=1&i=167604&t=167604

[Z-Gad]

I've been polishing my wheels a little at a time. I finished one and it took me 6 hours (excluding breaks) to get the lip looking like chrome. I used Mother's polish, a bunch of shop towels, and "a lot of elbow grease" as you said. The finished product is very nice, but it takes forever...

[Drax240z]

Fine sandpaper, SOS pads, some mothers aluminum polish on a rag. Thats the order I did mine in and they came out quite well.

[BLKMGK]

It all dpeends on the initial surface. If it's a rough cast wheel it'll take rougher methods to get it smooth. If it's mostly smooth than you can skip some of the rougher things. Powered equipment will allow you to work faster which is why I now have a real buffer instead of using a drill clamped in my vise! Little nooks and crannies are the worst and as you can see from others this is a time consuming task. I'll say it againn - consider having a pro do it if you can find one. Consider the maintenance afterwards too...

[Guest Anonymous]

As far as polishing compounds go i think AUTOSOL is the best, put a thin coat on allow to sit for a couple of hours then polish it, usualy comes up very shiney.

I've tried clearcoating alloys a few times and i find it yellows fairly quickly, half an hour of polishing every few weeks aint that big a deal.

[383 240z]

Has anybody here used simichrome? It is a powdercoat color I have a set of old school slots that I'm going to run until the brakes are upgraded. but they are in need of polishing I could convice the wife that buying an Eastwood powdercoater would be cheaper than paying to get the wheels plated!! Hey I might be on to something here. Keith

[BLKMGK]

Before powdercaoting the surface needs to be clean and smooth - might as well polish it. How bad are the slots? I once watched a guy use metal polish and a drill powered buff to REALLY clean up a set of slots. Before you go so far as to buy a powdercoating setup and stink up the kitchen try getting one of those buffs that let you press the face straight down on the wheel face. I think you'll be pleased with the results after a bit of work. The slots are easier to polish than many wheels since the face has fewer crannies (IMO).

[Guest Anonymous]

Well, I went to work on one of the wheels with only Mothers aluminum polish and it ALMOST looked good enough. Unfortunately, the work it will take to go the next step will take about 10 times as long as the "almost" step. Now I am thinking of using a DA sander on the center section of the wheel and mount the wheel on the rear of the car and use the engine as a lathe for the rim. This is just for sanding, the final buff will have to be done by hand I guess.

 

Thanks everyone, for your input.

 

Later,

[BLKMGK]

Sounds scary IF you do this start with somewhat fine sandpaper first. Best to try finer sandpaper before rougher as starting with rougher on a mostly smooth surface will create more work for you. Try like a 400 grit wetdry and then move to 600, 1200, then maybe Mothers etc. Use water with the paper and soapy water for the finest stuff. Aluminum will quickly clog th epaper otherwise as it's pretty soft. Fine steel wool suposedly works but I've not used it much.. Good luck, keep us posted, post some pics if you can!

 

Hrm, maybe try the 600 or 1200 first. Been awhile since I've done this by hand but finer is WAY beter than screwin up a surface with too rough a grit

 

[ October 16, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

[cygnusx1]

It is soooo much work to polish aluminum from a cast finish! Personally, I would pay someone to do it and spend my time working on the car in another way....like detailing the engine or interior.

 

I have seen some amazing stuff come out of Wheel Techniques in CA.

http://www.wheeltechniques.com

Their before and afters photos are NOT B.S. I have first hand experience with their work. Great stuff. I am not at all affiliated with them. I have had friends with destroyed wheels turned back into Bling-Bling.

[MikeK280z]

A long winter project for me (2 years ago) was polishing my wheels. I estimated 7 to 10 hours per wheel. Before starting, my wheels had remnants of clear coat on them as well as some pitting. I began by cleaning them as best I could, finished the cleaning with Brasso. After that I used a paint stripper to remove what was left of the clear coat. The stripper did not damage or affect the rims. Ater that cleaned them again with Brasso.

 

Next step was sanding the pitted areas, long slow job. I don't know if it mattered, but I used Brasso for the "wet" part of the sanding (once I got tho that point). Part of the problem with sanding is you really want the wheel to look uniform when you are done, so sanding a bad area clean will affect the overall look of the wheel. After the pitted areas were cleaned up I tried using Emory cloth, and very fine sand paper combined with polishing compound on the whole wheel to get it all to shine and look uniform. I used Mother's wheel polish at this point to shine it all up. Once it was all done, I again used Mother's Wheel Polish and a rage to polish everything.

 

Once it is all done, and shined, I would also recommend clear coating the wheels; otherwise you will be lightly polishing them every year. If you don't clear coat, I like Mother's polish for this purpose.

 

I remember reading the above-mentioned thread before starting. I think Zhome also has a good write-up on wheel polishing.

 

One thing I noticed about myself and other people I have talked to about wheel polishing; I am always more critical of the work I do then anyone else is. When they were first polished, people told me they looked great, all I saw were the imperfections.

 

One bit of real advice: be patient. If you really want to do it yourself, it can't be done in one day. Take your time and do it right the first time. Spend your Sundays watching football with a rim in front of you. May make the job more enjoyable if you're a football fan.

[James Hamm]

Here is a link from Pelican Parts on how to polish aluminium wheels

 

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/concours_corner/concours_corner-4.htm

 

and if you want someone to do it for you, try these guys, they are very good.

 

http://www.wheelenhancement.com

 

Hope this helps.

 

James....