Wheel care
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,223
Likes: 666
From: Northeast
For the 78 SA , the regular wheels were not clear coated & are aluminum. If you are not the original owner then you need to determine if a clear coat has been applied at some point in it's life.. Take some metal polish or even car polish on a rag and rub. Is the rag black? if so then they are not coated and you can just buy a can of Mothers Alum polish at Walmart or local parts store. There are many brands but this is the easiest to start with. Wear gloves and have plenty of rags available because each time you rub that cloth will turn black. Use a microfiber cloth to remove and shine. That should work.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 7,649
Likes: 2,466
From: Indiana
For the 78 SA , the regular wheels were not clear coated & are aluminum. If you are not the original owner then you need to determine if a clear coat has been applied at some point in it's life.. Take some metal polish or even car polish on a rag and rub. Is the rag black? if so then they are not coated and you can just buy a can of Mothers Alum polish at Walmart or local parts store. There are many brands but this is the easiest to start with. Wear gloves and have plenty of rags available because each time you rub that cloth will turn black. Use a microfiber cloth to remove and shine. That should work.
and try flitz paste...for both aluminum or clearcoat...
i did not know there was no clear on the oem wheels? I thought there were remnants on mine..not anymore after sanding and polishing
treat any clearcoated wheel like you would the hood
also pictures help
Last edited by interpon; Aug 18, 2020 at 08:02 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 11,183
Likes: 3,334
From: North of Toronto - Ontario
If you have a decent multi-meter, touch (don't jab the pointed ends in, just lay the side of the probe tips onto the clean surface) the two probes to the wheel a few inches apart while set to check resistance. Anodize and clear-coat are both non-conductive and will read high (infinite) resistance while bare (clean) aluminum is a good conductor and will read very low / zero.
Test in a few spots around the wheel to make sure
(this is how I usually test to make sure I've removed all anodizing from parts in the acid wash before going to polish)
M
Test in a few spots around the wheel to make sure
(this is how I usually test to make sure I've removed all anodizing from parts in the acid wash before going to polish)
M
