Machined aluminum vs. polished aluminum?

**cthomas** · 06-04-2005, 11:09 AM

I have some Sportmax 962 wheels on order, that will hopefully be here this next week. They are a "Deep Dish" style wheel and from what I have found out they call the lip "machined" not "Polished" i`m not sure what the difference is, but they don`t look quite as shiney as polished in the pics. I`m wondering if aluminum polish would be ok to use on these (like Mother`s Mag and Aluminum Polish)? Would it make them look like polished? If not, what would be the best way to get and keep these wheels looking great? Thanks for any help.

Here`s a pic of the wheel.......

**imported_themightytimmah** · 06-04-2005, 02:16 PM

Aluminum polish will clean them and get them back to that "semi-shine" when they`re dirty, but its not really strong enough to polish it to a real mirror shine. Very few of the polishes today contain any major abrasives, most of them are just chemical cleaners + protectants. If you want them to become polished, itll take a LOT of work.

If they were my rims, I`d clean them with 4*, P21S or another mild rim cleaner only, and then AIO them, followed by 3 coats of Poorboy`s Wheel sealant, Klasse SG, or DP wheel glaze. After that, only clean them with water and soap.

**LouisanaJeeper** · 06-04-2005, 02:21 PM

make sure they are not clearcoated before polishing....

**imported_animes2k** · 06-04-2005, 02:47 PM

Polished = mirror shine

Machined = probably looking like brushed metal from the machine that cut or finished them

As soon as you get them, definitely clean them up - even if they don`t look like they need it and are brand spanking new, some AIO is a good idea to prep the surface. Then throw a few coats of protectant on them.

I`d say do it before mounting the tires so you can make sure to get all the surfaces that may ever be exposed.

Look around on tirerack.com`s wheel rack - they have rather large images in which you can sort of tell the difference.

**cthomas** · 06-04-2005, 03:50 PM

Yea that`s what i`m told they are, a brushed looking finish. They are shiney, I just want to get them and keep them looking as shiney as possable. I don`t mind "hard work" at all when it comes to my car and detailing it. I have polished several items under the hood to a pretty nice shine, using various grades of sandpaper, steel wool, scotch bright pads and polish. I just don`t wanna take a chance on the wheels with anything very abrasive unless advised how to do so by some you guys that are much more knowledgable about it. This car is`nt a daily driver either, if that matters any.

**imported_animes2k** · 06-04-2005, 05:04 PM

So you`re looking to take them from machined to polished or just to keep them looking good? Did they not offer a polished version?

I would think that polishing a machined wheel would be one hell of a task to do right, especially if it`s got a clearcoat on it (stripping clearcoat = not fun, rather toxic chemicals involved, then ideal to recoat).

If you just want to keep them looking good, do the clean/sealant as suggested above.