Polishing wheels

[csw]

When I was down at Boynton Beach touring BDR and inspecting the car we bought, they had a few cars with polished wheels, all 18". I asked Frank about polished wheels, but he said they didn't have any 17" left. He said I could polish them myself with a polishing ball and a little elbow grease, but not sure I want to risk messing the wheels up. I was wondering if anyone has had the wheel lips polished as I like the look of the grey center vs the full polished wheel or by chance has any they would like to part with.
Thanks

[Tim7139]

Pretty simple, polishing ball or cone, electric drill, metal polish. Just use moderate speed.

[jhv48]

Call over to vintage wheels.
They can sell you a set polished any way you want them and then you can sell your old wheels for around $1200. I've done it twice. Once for rim polish. Second time for a full polish. Both times, I sold my old wheels for $1,000-$1200.
Tried to do it myself with a polish wheel. Not so easy.
Or, take all four to a wheel shop and have them professionally polished.

[madmaxx]

I call bull sheet. I polished number of wheels some very oxidized. Worst case scenario you need a little 2" orbital sander. Start at 180 grit, than 300, 600, 1000, 1500. Then I bought a polishing wheel not readily available, it has some ass/stiffness to it. That eliminates all the scratches from the sanding and you could easily stop at that point. If you want a mirror you than use a cotton wheel with rouge. Never sand with your hand, you make straight scratches no matter how often you twist. An orbital sander leaves millions of random lines your eyes can not follow and therefore you can't see. I bought a pneumatic one at harbor freight but you have to have a compressor. The challenge I had was getting the buffing wheel not readily available. I will sell my kit for $60.00. You could polish 100 wheels. You do need a polisher, not the clown ones you see but one like the desalt dap 849 or 7" polisher from harbor freight for 39.99. a power ball and drill GTFO!!!!! Tell them to get after it, my wheels looked like a mirror.

I wasted 40 hours with the wrong buffing wheels, once i figured it out 45 minutes top a wheel and that is from heavily pitted, oxidized to mirror finish. I will warn if you hit the tire with the buffing wheel it will rub/texture the rubber and it will look like sheet, best to remove tires or tape with many layers of tape, blue painter tape first than duck tape. don't put duck tape on directly or you won't get the sticky stuff off your tire, if you do blue painter tape and then duct tape it all comes off easy.

if you don't need to sand than 10 minutes a wheel with right polishing wheel and buffer. If you lived in Houston I would do for free.

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by madmaxx

If you lived in Houston I would do for free.

For that price, send them to him. Worth the shipping cost.

[jeffnolan]

I have 20" 3 piece wheels on another car, the centers are diamond cut but the rims are polished and not coated... so they discolor over time. The Mother's aluminum polish with the Ball works really well but I think you would be in for a long session with it. There are custom wheel shops in abundance and a good one can polish them for you, for a couple hundred bucks. Call around.

Originally Posted by csw

When I was down at Boynton Beach touring BDR and inspecting the car we bought, they had a few cars with polished wheels, all 18". I asked Frank about polished wheels, but he said they didn't have any 17" left. He said I could polish them myself with a polishing ball and a little elbow grease, but not sure I want to risk messing the wheels up. I was wondering if anyone has had the wheel lips polished as I like the look of the grey center vs the full polished wheel or by chance has any they would like to part with.
Thanks

[krausewich]

If you just want the lips kicked up a notch, use some Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish. Runs about 9 bucks. You can use sparingly, hand polish with paper towels if you like, then give it a second round with a soft cloth. Should shine up to a mirror finish. If you need to take down and machine marks, 800 grit with a little water and light pressure will softly take out the marks, then follow up with 1000. The alum polish will take out the marks from there. I'm restoring my stock Ford 20's right now, and it works killer!!

Good luck,
Mike.

[csw]

Thanks guys, currently hit them with mothers mag and aluminum with a terry cloth. Might call a customer of mine who does custom wheels to see if he can do it as I'm not sure I want to tackle this one since these wheels are getting hard to come by according to the boys in FL. Mad maxx, you have me contemplating sending them to you unless you want to come see beautiful South GA!

[Hrdayz]

While I'm no expert I would suggest a quality microfiber towel and not a terry cloth towel. The microfiber has less of a tendency to leave scratches which is the goal in polishing.

[madmaxx]

Help me understand are you polishing the entire wheel or the lip and center sections? Polishing the center section would be a BIATCH. I suggest chroming the entire wheel vs polishing the entire wheel. Polishing the lip is very easy with the correct tools. Mother mag wheel polish is like Natural Light, bottom of the barrel. White Diamond or Exotic Metal are superior. My spf firewall was deplorable, obviously I couldnt buff in place with my buffer. Tried Mothers it polished the it to light and dark areas looked like sheet. Applied White Diamond, let it dried, wiped it off and I sheet. It look perfect with a nice even shine. NO BUFFING, apply, it dried and I wiped it off. Exoctic is also top notch but not as accessible at you local parts store. I have been out of the country a couple weeks and just got back on the forum

[csw]

Thanks Madmaxx, will see if I can pick one or the other up. Do you use it on your pipes as well? Usually hit the pipes every other month to remove the yellowing using a cleaner from gas n pipes I think. Then come behind with the mothers and the pipes shine, but open to trying other products. Heck, I just ordered one of the zaino kits to try and remove a few clear scratches. This forum and the knowledge that is freely shared is just another reason I'm glad a chose a BDR!

[scootter]

I have never used power anything for the wheels. Either What a Shine or Zephyrs polish. I also use the Zanio products.

[madmaxx]

Your wheels appear to be Chrome. A different beast than polished aluminium. Chrome is wonderfully maintenance free if it was done properly.

Originally Posted by scootter

I have never used power anything for the wheels. Either What a Shine or Zephyrs polish. I also use the Zanio products.

[madmaxx]

If you have stainless pipes the gas n go product is wonderfull but as you know they bronze over quickly. The best of both worlds would be ceramic coated stainless pipes...

[scootter]

Originally Posted by madmaxx

Your wheels appear to be Chrome. A different beast than polished aluminium. Chrome is wonderfully maintenance free if it was done properly.

My wheels are polished aluminum, not chrome!

[Slick61]

those of us in DRY Southern California have a much easier time maintaining our polished/uncoated wheels. I've polished mine maybe 3-4 times in the last 8 years...

[6t8stang]

Mine are full polish as well. If you stay on top of them and keep them dry, it's fairly easy to maintain.

I usually give them a full cleaning/polish over the winter each year vs. the quick detailer throughout the year.

[dannick]

Try using a sealant/wax. I heard that Collinite metal wax will not diminish the shine on polished aluminums.

[tpatodd]

Originally Posted by scootter

I have never used power anything for the wheels. Either What a Shine or Zephyrs polish. I also use the Zanio products.

I love Zaino products!!