Billet polish or is there something better?

[Preachers Sheets]

Here it goes.



I have a customer, he has some really nice and large (17x9 and 17x11) raw aluminum rims. He let them get dirty through some rain storms.



The Mothers polish works but man is it time consuming, does the Mothers Billet stuff work any quicker?



Is there ANYTHING in stores that works quicker than Mother metal polish?

[forrest@mothers]

Quick and aluminum (or even billet) don`t go together. You`re not wiping an imperfection off the surface, you`re polishing it.



The more often you polish, the less work is involved.



I`d suggest trying a blue rubber nitrile glove - dip a few fingers worth of Billet Polish onto the rim, and use the glove to do the polishing. Then, wipe the residue off with a MF towel.



Billet is a very fine polish, so it actually takes more work than regular Mag & Aluminum Polish. But, the results are spectacular.



I`ve seen folks use a 4" cotton buffing wheel on a drill to speed it up (particularly on the barrel of the wheel), but you need to keep the drill moving, and not apply any pressure.

[Bill D]

I really like the Mothers and Megs metal polishes. I`ve used a PC and a 4" wool pad to polish my mufflers with excellent results. I follow with SG.Now I`m also interested in getting some Heavy Metal Polish http:www.heavymetalpolish.com Seems like a different kind of metal polish, comes in 3 grades. maybe this polish can suit your needs better :nixweiss

[Deep_Freeze]

Well, I have used Billet polish on my clearcoated, forged aluminum wheels and it made almost no difference, lol. Maybe cause the wheels were relatively new, but the billet polish is real fine so it would have less effect on the wheel cause its abrasives are milder.



Like Bill said, something more abrasive would be quicker, but of course, you have to be careful. I really only trust the billet polish to clean mine cause mine are delicate, but those raw wheels could probably take the more aggressive abrasives.

[stevet]

Deep Freeze, I don`t think Billet polish or any metal polish for that matter should be used on clear coated rims. You treat clear coat rims the same as the paint on your car. I wonder if you have any clear coat left after using metal polish on it?

[forrest@mothers]

I agree with stevet - Billet Metal Polish should not be used on clear coated wheels like Deep_Freeze has. A more appropriate product would be Clear Coat Wheel Polish or a paint sealant of some sort,

[Deep_Freeze]

Haven`t been here in a while to respond to this, I ONLY use it on the lips of the wheels. The inside of the wheel is what is clearcoated and I don`t use it there, although I am not real sure about the lips, but they seem pretty raw.



Where can I pick up some of that clearcoat wheel polish?? Haven`t seen it, just use soap and water on the wheels most of the time. Might keep that billet polish in the corner now, lol, used it like twice, but that maybe 2 to many times for the lips on my wheels. Lips don`t look affected though, probably won`t take that chance again.

[forrest@mothers]

Did the billet turn black when you stasrted using it? If it didn`t, the lips are clear coated.



You can find Clear Coat Wheel Polish easiest on line - try the on-line e-tailers at:



http://www.mothers.com/retailers/



and click on the internet section in the lower LH corner.

[Deep_Freeze]

OK, I will try the clearcoat wheel polish, and you are right, the polish didn`t turn black. I was wondering about this, thanks for the assistance. Glad I didn`t do it too many times, lol. You are making me check my rims like mad though to see how much of the clearcoat I actually took off, it appears to still have plenty of clear still on them.



I will be looking for that polish, does it have any abrasives in it at all?? Looking to see if it could actually fill in or improve any scratch marks.

[forrest@mothers]

CCWP will not do any damage to the clear coat on the rim lip.

[kompressornsc]

I have uncoated billet rims (stripped and polished them myself...well...two are done now). I`ve tried a ton of different things on them, and so far, the best I`ve found for a good combination of polishing, durability and cost is 3M`s Marine Aluminum Restorer and Polish ($13 for 18 oz.). I picked it up @ West Marine. It says it`s for pontoons & aluminum boats. It`s polishing properties are equal to the others I`ve tried (Mother`s & Never Dull to name a couple), but it seems to have better protective properties. The brake dust would stick & stain after using the other polishes-after the 3M, it rinses right off.



BTW-Never try to polish out a set of wheels yourself! It`s a huge PITA...