polishing your rims

[SEEEEYA]

who knows the best way to polish your rims, wiping them down alot to get brake dust off but would like to polish them up, has any one used that polishing ball that goes on your drill??seems like just rubbing them makes them look "cloudy" or else my else are going bad

 

[Steve-Indy]

Are they stock? If so, they are clear-coated, so a "wipe-down" (without thoroughly and carefully washing first) will micro-scratch them with the brake dust, dulling the finish. You might try the same swirl remover (masker) products that you use on the rest of the vehicle.

 

[SEEEEYA]

yes stock tires, I use that california "rim" duster alot since it gets in all the nooks and cranies real nice, so no "polish ball"?

 

[Kraaken]

If you put polishing compound on there and rub it in with a cloth Nd it turns black like the polish is supposed to then they are not clear coated and I would suggest some thing I explained in the detail forum. If they are clear coated you can basically polish them like you would polish your car.

 

[VIPER PIT]

Adams fine machine polish with a 4" white focus pad and a drill do wonders. You have to watch you speed with the drill.
It will remove the scratches and haze.

 

[MTGTS]

Mothers Billet Polish

 

[PeterMJ]

Are they stock? If so, they are clear-coated, so a "wipe-down" (without thoroughly and carefully washing first) will micro-scratch them with the brake dust, dulling the finish. You might try the same swirl remover (masker) products that you use on the rest of the vehicle.

I do not think they are clear coated at all, to my knowledge, the six spoke and five spoke use a proprietary Alcoa finish called durabrite that cannot be refinished using conventional methods such as polishing and clearcoating. The only way you can do this and have the finish match is to strip all four wheels and then polish and clear coat them (or powder coat them).

You can go to Alcoa website and read their guidelines regarding care of durabrite finish, you will see that outside of rinsing them off and wiping clean, you are not supposed to do anything else.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Excellent info, PeterMJ...admittedly, I did not know that, much less when the use of this product began. Here is an interesting link:

http://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/north_america/en/info_page/viper_srt10_technology.asp

Bottom line...be careful with Viper wheels !!!

 

[PeterMJ]

Excellent info, PeterMJ...admittedly, I did not know that, much less when the use of this product began. Here is an interesting link:

http://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/north_america/en/info_page/viper_srt10_technology.asp

Bottom line...be careful with Viper wheels !!!

No problem, I thought it may be a good idea to warn others. Durabrite is a form of anodized finish and should not be messed with. Apparently Shelby Mustang owners deal with the same issues.