jeeper07 5,000+ posts
Rebuilding&Reconstruc ting
I came across a set of polished aluminum wheels for a pretty good price, but someone had been neglecting them for the last couple years. So i decided id find out what worked best to clean these wheels up and make them look like new. Should be easy right, WRONG takes some time and sweat. So here is a write up from my own personal experience on how to clean rims and what works best. Like it, love it, use it, or hate it heres my .02.
The rims i started with
Some Close ups
As you can see a lot of staining and dirt build up. Just all around very dull, dirty, stained, and grimey.
Here is with mothers metal polish by hand. On the spoke in the center right side was polished with cleaner then buffed off.
Here is the first set of products i used.
And here is how it looks after going over one time took about 6 hours.
Next i used 800 grit sand paper and wet sanded and redid all the polishing again with the speed ball on the bigger parts and on the lip and all crevices where the spokes meet the lip i did by hand.
Hard to see.
The rims i started with
Some Close ups
As you can see a lot of staining and dirt build up. Just all around very dull, dirty, stained, and grimey.
Here is with mothers metal polish by hand. On the spoke in the center right side was polished with cleaner then buffed off.
Here is the first set of products i used.
And here is how it looks after going over one time took about 6 hours.
Next i used 800 grit sand paper and wet sanded and redid all the polishing again with the speed ball on the bigger parts and on the lip and all crevices where the spokes meet the lip i did by hand.
Hard to see.
