I have been working on the right rear rim for the past 8 hours(about 10 total), trying to clean these things with everything from steel wool to scotch brite pads, to a drill with a scotchbrite like pad on it, to a ton of mothers polish, to Eagle One Wheel Cleaner/Polish, to poshing by hand to polishing by a buffer wheel. and as far elbow greese, you cannot tell me 10 hours on one wheel is not enough. After all this work, compared to the other 3 wheels, this one looks like I just hosed it down and wiped it off, it doesn't look much better(as I said, looks like I just hosed it down). Im about to either put a bullet hole through it, or have my car up on blocks until I can afford $1000 for new rims. We won't even get into those d*mn center caps either. :mad :mad

What are you guys secrete? Should I just look for some paint, and shoot these with a coat? I have some testor's chrome paint that I use on my models, should I go buy about 15 bottles of this stuff, and spray it onto my rims with some testors clear coat, then sand and wax?

Anyone have some old rims (aftermarket or not), that they are looking to get out of their garage?

Daniel
PS. They are the factory aluminum ones. I want some rallys, anyone have an old set of rallys they want to sell for a decent price??


[Modified by daniel77350, 7:13 PM 10/7/2001]

 

Pay some professional shop to refinish them. Mine went from crap, to :eek:









[Modified by Rhys, 2:38 PM 10/7/2001]

 

I took mine to a professional polisher. Had to take the tires off the rims (no problem as I was already going to buy new tires) and they did the work. They look 100 times better. I also stripped and painted the center section after they polished the wheels. I then ordered new center caps from Zip. Looks like I bought new wheels and it cost me a total of $200 +/- and a little time. I now use Nevr-dull to keep them shiny and only polish with the grain. If you go in circles, you can scratch the wheels. No clear coat.

 

What shop did u send them to was there a quick turnaround?

 

I did mine myself although I went back to the rally style wheel :rolleyes:
I used the Sears Mouse which is a variant of a jitterbug sander, started with a rough grain and worked my way to a fine grain sandpaper. Then I used Eagles 3 step. It took me about 5-7 hours per wheel, but they turned out great. Truly a labor of love. Next time though I'll pay someone else to do it. :smash:

 

Start with a 200 or 300 grit sandpaper, then use the products you mentioned.

 

Disclaimer: I have never used this stuff.... also looks a bit pricey at $129

but it might just be what you are looking for (wheel restoration kit is at the bottom of the page) MJ
http://www.por15.com/restorationkits.html

 

If you're going to spend $129, you might as well pay someone else to do it. Mine were $35 per wheel, but then I had to do the centers since I wanted them to be black. I took mine to Metal Master in Salt Lake City but that was when I lived there. Took about three days but that was because they were backed up. Call around to some of the custom wheel stores in your area and ask who they recommend to polish old aluminum wheels. Who knows, maybe one of the stores does that kind of work.

 

I think I will just scrub them good for now, because all my hard work is helping some. Im going to try a new trick tomarrow to see how that goes. If I can get them to look halfway decent I will be ok for now. When I planned my budget, I planned the wheels to take $30 max, including all polish and application tools. Right now Im pretty darn close. The only $140 I have that is expendable is the money for my carpet, and I think I'd rather have carpet then super shiney wheels. If I can get them semi-shiney I will be happy for now.

Daniel
PS. I will call around, maybe I can find a good deal on them that I cannot pass up.

 

actually i have heard that oxiclean (that stuff thats always on speedvision) works forget where I heard about it tho??? supposed to work great on it

ZD

 

I use "Never Dull"
It comes in a can and is used on aluminum. It works great :cool:

 

I'm not sure how bad your rims are, but if you are just trying to get them shiny it won't happen. The 76-77 factory aluminum rims were dull. Pace car and 78 on had the shiny rims. If its the dull pitting you are referring to there are specialty shops that will refurbish them. Hope this helps.