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the original 15" alloy wheels

jpdrake

jpdrake

1/2 ton status
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mass/ cape cod
how would i polish them to make them look brand new? can anyone recomend what to use i have a high powed hand buffer.
 
Try simply green, steel wool, and elbow grease.

Once they're clean, if theyve been oxidized use the mothers powerball and a polish, cleans em up reaaal nice.
Before
100_4631.jpg

This is before the polish too...
100_4623.jpg
 
I use mothers aluminum/mag wheel polish. I have done it by hand many times, a mothers powerball would work wonders.
 
Bid rig truck places carry a polish named Busch(sp). That stuff really brings aluminum back. I made a buffer for a cordless drill with a long bolt, a few washers, and a polishing pad for a 4 inch grinder. Works good to get the tough stuff off. Then I polish again with the Mothers wheel.

Mark
 
Ditto on the mothers, but I would use a real fine scotch brite instead of steel wool, since they are aluminum, IMO. Steel wool is great if they are magnesium.
 
I think the best thing is either red body rubbing compound or white body polishing compound, depending on the degree of oxidation; I always use DuPont products, available at just about any auto parts store. the value in these products is that they will leave a coating on the metal that will inhibit oxidation until you wash it off with detergent. Use some 0000 steel wool if necessary, or a pot-scrubber pad otherwise. AFter you're done doing that, use some dishwashing detergent liberally, and a good stiff brush, to wash them suckers squeaky clean. dry 'em off really well, some alcohol will help (put some on the wheels too, as a drying agent, eh?) and let 'em sit for a while in a warm dry place to make sure they're really dry. Then take some spray-on clear lacquer (some folks use clear enamel, which will actually work just as well - just remember you can put lacquer over enamel, but not vice-versa) and do a nice job of applying a fairly thin coat. Do that several times, according to the directions on the can, and you'll have the most beautiful wheels on the block.
 
i'd say any decent polish will get them where you want them with enough effort. if they have machining marks, be sure to rub along them, not across them or in circles, or you'll get a weird pattern.
 
hey might have sanded them first to polish them. I don't believe the factory alloy wheels are polished alloy wheels. I have some on my suburban and they are not a polished finish like the aftermarket ultra polished alloys 15x10s I have on my truck.
 
with some polish and enough elbow grease, you can make a burrito shiny enough to damage your retinas. actually, i haven't tested that theory...but effort is the real key. my friend spends a lot of $$$ on car detailing probucts, and his stuff looks great, but i spend maybe 25% as much and it looks just as good.
 
well i tried the rubbing compound and the mothers mag/alum compound with a 3hp buffer and it just cleaned them they still dont look good. i think the enamel <clear coat / laquer> is whats coming off. should i bead blast them w/ bakeing soda? then polish then spray?
 
I had those alloys stock on my'87. You need to get the clear coat off first, then polish like any other polished alloy wheel. I used paint stripper from the parts store to remove the clear. After I finished they look almost as good as the ones above. If I would have had a power tool to do it, it would have look as good.

I had the same look alloys on an '89 and they were not a smooth polished wheel surface. More of a machined surface. Those will never polish out to mirror finish. So sometime in '88 or '89 the wheel changed.
 
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