80_vette

I've started my little project of polishing my aluminum wheels so they look like chrome next summer............
My question is,what's the best way to maintain them,I know I need to avoid the rain but what if I put some car wax on 'em?Will it help or is it just a waste of time and effort.
I don't want to clearcoat them 'cause I'm afraid of the peeling,then I'm screwed and I'm giving myself a bigger job the next time.
What do you guys do with your polished aluminum wheels?

80_vette

MotorHead

Try Wheelwax

rihwoods

3M,Mothers,whatever is handy....

David Ey

I put chrome on mine

GUSTO14

After polishing mine in 1991, all I do is polish once or twice a year, at most, with Semichrome or Wenol and they look as good as chrome... but just a little softer...

I don't put anything on them, but I can't imagine wax would hurt... it just doesn't last long on wheels for me. But I am very careful to dry the wheels after washing the car. It not only prevents water spots, but keeps me from having to polish them more often. Frankly I have found polished wheels to require a minimum of upkeep.

GUSTO

guppie

Mothers mag & aluminum polish

fl_rider

By Eagle One

I have been using it on the chrome and aluminum on my Harley for years and now I use it on my Vette.

Any good polish used regularly will do the trick.

Chris B

80_vette

thanks for all the tips guys.........

bobs77vet

we do nothing with ours other then polishing them.....it seems the shinier they are the easier they are to maintain...(no kidding)

Zoomin

You might want to try out the new "PowerBall" from Mothers. It's a foam ball about 5" that attaches to your drill. Saves a bunch of time and finger therapy.

LS-Five

At $20-$25, the Powerball is an expensive hunk of foam, but I broke down and shelled out for one and I like it.

It is especially comes in handy when the wheels you are polishing are very oxidized to start with. I tried several different types of polishes while using it, and the Mothers PowerMetal liquid polish seemed to work the best.

MYBAD79

The 'powerball' is worth the money, works as advertized ...you have to be careful with the drill's speed or you get the polish all over the side of the car :o

mooneyd

Zoop Seal

comp

Jims79

mothers polish nothing else. Oh a lot of clean rags too.

redc3

mothers is the only polish
and to maintain use zoop seal.

hank51

I use Diamond Brite Truck Box Polish. like it better than Mothers.

Sprzout

I bought the Flitz ball advertised through Eastwood instead of the Mother's one, but got it at one of the local expos that they have at the fairgrounds. I paid $30 for the ball and Flitz polish; I could have cared less for the Flitz polish, but the ball I like better than the Mother's Powerball, because it's made of bits of chamois (I think it's synthetic material) rather than the foam, which I've noticed tends to rot in our garage quite easily (several peanut shaped foam sponges have died horrible deaths).

They're both about the same price for the ball, but they both work the same way...As for cleaning material, either the Meguiar's NXT Metal Polysh or the Mother's Mag Wheel Polish are the things to use (Although my dad has used Autosol to polish the wheels of his Harley-Davidson F150, it's not something I recommend, since a tube of it runs $7-$10).

JerrysVette

I am in the process of polishing the rims on my 95 coupe, and I would love to see pics of polished stock rims. I don't think anything looks better.

MYBAD79

I grew up with that stuff - it used to be dirt cheap and mainly sold in the bicycle section of european supermakets/hardware stores..... now suddenly it is $10 a tube...... wow..... I didn't even know that they sold it here in the U.S.

That polish is simply awesome - made for chrome, a little aggressive for aluminum but it definately gets heavy oxidation off ----> a very good shine, too

one tube should last about two years if you only use it for your rims