What to use to polish aluminun wheels?

[HellrotCi]

I have a set of polished aluminum, 2 piece, wheels that I use in the summer. I have been polishing them by hand but the results aren`t as good as I would like. I`ve used my Dremel tool but it`s really too small for the majority of the work. It works okay for the area between the rim bolts but that`s it. I thought about getting the lambswool leveling pad from CMA for my PC, but I wanted to see what everyone else would suggest.

[JasonC8301]

For metal polishing with PC go with foam. I like a foam polishing pad with the PC and Blue Magic metal polish. To make the surface even finer finish up with a finishing pad and metal polish. If the wheel is in bad shape then the lambswool pad may be needed.



Expect the pads to get dirty. The one I used turned all black. A lot of dawn made it look somewhat decent.



Then finish up with the dremel for the smaller parts.



Jason

[BradE]

Agressive pads and polishes can easily marr aluminum, go with Jason`s advise for pad selection. A good "finishing" polish for aluminum is SimiChrome. :xyxthumbs

[shirtman]

These suggestions assume that the wheel is not clearcoated....correct? If they are, wouldn`t a decent cleaner -wax work without messing up the finish? Just a thought...



Jeff

[2wheelsx2]

Yup. If the wheels are clearcoated, you can treat them the same as any other painted surfaces, so yeah, wax, sealants and polishes can all be applied.

[HellrotCi]

Originally posted by Black99miata

These suggestions assume that the wheel is not clearcoated....correct?

Correct, they`re polished, not clearcoated. They`re also in really good shape. I`d just like for them to have a mirror polish.

[shirtman]

Oops... you did say "polished aluminum".... sorry, I missed that first time around :o