Weenol or Mothers. Both about equal imho

 

i just had mine done as you can see in my sig...(click to enlarge)
the guy did a great job and he recomended Blue Coral in a pinch...
has anybody tried that?
but anyway he gave me a "rag"...it is imperviated with some kind of wax and its in a clear celophane package...i dont remember the name on it but it is some kind of professional product...
he said that it is by far better than anything on the store shelves...
i will take a picture tomorow and post it here...


[Modified by SIGNGUY, 10:37 PM 5/10/2004]

 

Zephyr Pro 40 is the real deal for aluminum wheels.

I used some 6" buffing pads with a drill attachment with great results. Ace Hardware actually has a 4" buffer metal polishing kit (comes with off-brand metal polish) for $16 that I have had my eye on. The 6" was a little hard to angle into the "curved" part of the wheel, and it was prone to leave machine marks. My wheels started out with black/brown crusty something like surface rust all over them and they look pretty darn good now. This picture is after I just basicly gave this wheel the once-over:

 

I heard WEENol and mothERS merged, they now market WEENER polish .... :lolg:

I crack me up sometimes ....

 

Wenol! Non Abrasive. Reacts with the oxidized metal. Wont remove scraches, but really makes it shine! I used it on some threshold moldings on one of my other '60's GM cars. What a shine!
:thumbs:

 

Don't quit your day job. :skep:

Mothers here too. :thumbs:

 

Autosol available from Eastwood Co. I've used Autosol and Mothers. Both are about the same on polished aluminum. Autosol also polishes chrome and stainless, and works great to remove scratches and brighten up your plastic tail light lenses and marker lights. Mine look new again!!!
Eddie

 

:iagree:

Thats what I use to clean up the Boyds.

 

Well, I purchased some at Chicago's ChevyVette Fest. It was a small time brand name if I remember correctly, but the samples they did at the car show looked pretty good and they did there right in front of you. It's supposed to seal it much like a wax, but supposedly made for metals and is supposed to be durable. It's also supposed to reduce break dust. I haven't used it yet, but I will let you know how well it works.

As for Mothers and NeverDull, I tried both last night on a small strip of billet aluminum. Billet aluminum is a softer metal than what is used on our wheels, so I figured if it won't scratch the billet, it won't scratch my wheels.

NeverDull seemed to have some sort of strange reaction with the metal. It actually discolored it a bit, making it much brighter than it was, but it didn't really shine. It was really milky. To top it off, it even left swirl marks from the motion in which I applied it. Needless to say that stuff will never touch my rims. Let's see now... swirl marks, discoloration, milky unclear finish.... NEXT!!!!

No to try Mothers (in the red can as many have stressed). I tried it on the same piece of billet aluminum. I again used a circular motion to check to see how abbrasive it was. It produced a superior shine and clarity over NeverDull, but it also left swirl marks. Since I really like the shine, I chose to try it again using back and forth motions. It didn't look quite as bad, since the swirl marks were no longer there, but it sure did seem quite a bit abbrasive. I'll have to test it on a small part of my wheel to see how it affects it, and if it scratches it at all.

Let me pose this question... is chrome polish more or less abbrasive than aluminum/metal polish? My guess is much less abbrasive, but I'm not certain. Isn't chrome much more easily scratched than aluminum?

I need to do a bit more science homework before I will finally put a spit shine polish on those wheels. They look great straight from the guy who did 'em, but I want to bring out that mirror finish from a quality polish.

 

I have recently found some Mothers polish for billet wheels: http://store.superior-carcare.net/mobimepo.html
Has anyone tried that yet?

 

here is the polishing cloth that the guy gave me...
has anyone here ever used this?
he says that NOTHING off the shelf comes close to it...
but i think he meant to "maintain" the shine and NOT to achive it...
i havent had time to try it yet but i plan on trying it tomorrow...

 

You have to be careful with these wheel polishes. If your wheels have any Magnesium in them then they will polish up white since that is the color of this metal. The polish won't hurt them but they will not really give a mirror like shine. Ask me how I know all this. Bill.

 

I agree with Leos...
I use the more abrasive NeverDull to get years of grime off (after I recently bought the car...)
Then I use the Mothers as a finishing polish with a drill driven buffer
THEN...I use ZOOP...I'll post pics of the final product this weekend...

 

Flitz or Semichrome is good for heavily oxidized wheels. These compounds are slightly abrasive so don't use too much. For final polishing, Mothers is good. What I've found better, however, is wadding compound. Eagle is one of the companies offering the product. My Harley has lots of polished billet aluminum and nothing works better, especially if you use a high speed buffing tool.

 

Mothers Billet is my choice. It is not recommended for chrome so there are some chemistry issues in play here.

 

The finest (least abrasive) polish I've found is Rolite AP300. Do a google search to find where to purchase, usually Aircraft or Trailer supply houses carry it. It's what they use to buff out old Airstream trailers and old Aircraft.

I've found Simichrome & Eagle actually scratches a part, finished with this stuff. It's expensive...$40.00ish for a 1 lb. tub.

Later,
JU

 

Actually the best stuff I've ever used is a bar of red jewelers rouge applied to a spinning buffing pad,,,the different grades of buffing compounds are used to go from a raw state to a highly polished almost chrome finish. This is what the professional wheel polishers use. It is easy and quick with an air compressor and air drill. I've polished a ton of aluminum and stainless steel pieces using the various polishing compounds. Get an Eastwood catalog and they have more information on polishing aluminum than you'll need,,,but stay away from their final spray stuff,,,it's a clearcoat and will yellow!!!

 

Further info to above...
Sears has a kit just like he's talking about...comes with three different size polishing wheels for use on an air drill as well as 4 different buffing compound sticks...ran me like $15-20...

 

Mothers :cheers: