Wheels

[holland_patrick]

My nephew has a set of alum. wheel for his T/a and has to polish them every week because they are not clear coated is there any thing you can think of to make this job easyer??? type of cleaner and stuff like that

[stilez]

Every week?



He`s not doing something right...Is he using a harsh cleaner on them to clean?



What I would do is wash them like you wash the car each week, just an older mitt and soapy water. He should polish and protect them (with a sealant) to lock in that shine. Make sure he only does the regular wash on the rims...Many wheel cleaners will easily dull uncoated metal.

[vdog0531]

yeah, i would top with a sealent and then cleaning should be easier.



Vernon

[audipower]

I clean them with Klasse AIO, then put SG. All I have to do now is use soap and water. If you want put two coats of SG if there not clear coated or protected. Do that every 3 months and your fine. Or if you want to use something cheaper use MG`s NXT.

[holland_patrick]

Well he doesn`t use anything harsh on them but i know he doesn`t seal them.He has used (don`t kill me) a Car wash and he asked them not to spray anything on them but.. he thinks they did I know an acid cleaner would eat them up... So I`m going to try and help him out.. he is really Anal about his car but he bought it used and it had some scratches on it then he paid 160 to have it dealtail and the guy did a sh*ty job on it buffer marks and everything he was really bummed about it I`m going to try and cleaner up I`m a little worried about doing black but he is ready to say scr*w it and re paint the car.







patrick

[Eliot Ness]

If I had uncoated aluminum wheels Iâ€â„¢d want to seal them after getting them polished. Iâ€â„¢ve read good reviews on Zoop Seal, but itâ€â„¢s not cheap. At the very least keep them sealed with a good sealant like SG. Uncoated aluminum is a bear to maintain if not kept sealed.



http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp



http://performanceunlimited.com/cobravalley_chemicals/zoopseal.html

[Craigmri]

Uncoated aluminum will always be a nightmare because aluminum by nature is pourous at microscopic levels. Best advice you could give him is to have them professionally polished to a chrome like finish then have a knowledgable body shop seal them with an appropriate clearcoat. Then he`ll be good for a long time.



Craig

`04 Sedona EX

[JasonD]

I have uncoated aluminum wheels on my race car and they are an absolute NIGHTMARE to keep nice. I, too, used to have to polish them on a weekly basis but that was before I realized I could seal them. My suggestion is to polish them to perfection with Wenol in the blue tube, then wash and dry them to get the residue off. After that apply a coat of AIO, then seal them with at least one coat of SG and they will look good for quite a while. Getting them clearcoated is the absolute best thing he can do, I actually plan on doing the same.

[Sputter Man]

I have polished aluminum wheels on my daily driver and I don`t seem to ever have problems with keeping them looking nice. I polish them about once a month (I have gone two or more months before they start to look slightly dull) and it only takes about 20 minutes to polish them using Adam`s Aluminum Polish. They just don`t seem to get dull easily.:nixweiss



I always wash them with whatever car wash I`m using at the moment, and clean the tires with Eagle One A2Z, and I usually wash my truck at least once a week.



By no means would I go through the hassle of clear coating my wheels just to avoid polishing them ever again. Polished aluminum isn`t hard to maintain, even on a daily driver. :xyxthumbs

[JasonD]

Originally posted by Sputter Man

Polished aluminum isn`t hard to maintain, even on a dailly driver. :xyxthumbs



You can come polish mine anytime! ;)

[Eliot Ness]

Originally posted by Sputter Man

.......Polished aluminum isn`t hard to maintain, even on a dailly driver.....

I`ve replaced most all of the billet aluminum in the engine compartment of my street rod because it was such a pain to keep polished. I went with chrome plated aluminum valve covers and air cleaner and they are soooo much easier to clean and maintain. A damp MF or a touch of glass cleaner and they look great.



You must be living right Sputter Man, either that or Adam`s Aluminum Polish is some awesome stuff (it must be the ONLY aluminum polish I don`t have on a shelf in my garage ;) ).

[EnduroExpertFSR]

JDookie where can i buy this Wenol?

[Eliot Ness]

Originally posted by EnduroExpertFSR

JDookie where can i buy this Wenol?

If you can`t find it locally, here are some on-line vendors that carry it:



http://www.pakshak.com/



http://www.premiumautocare.com/wemepo.html



http://www.autogeek.net/wenol.html



http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=classic-motoring&query=wenol&.autodone=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.properautocare.com%2Fns earch.html