How can I clean these rims?

[withac]

I had a set of Ultra Type 50's given to me, nuthin' fancy but the price was right. They have some pretty good grime on the rim and in the slots. They're an aluminum rim but I don't know if they are clear coated or not, I don't think so. I tried Meguiar's wheel cleaner and just plain hot water and Joy with a scrub pad. It's not coming off. Any ideas what I could use? I'm not afraid of a little elbow grease but it looks like it will take more than that. I don't want to just throw any cleaning compound on there and mess them up. I figure if I can get them looking good, for the cost of mounting, lug nuts, and one center cap, I can replace the factory rims. The pics aren't the best but I think they give you an idea.

 

[bahollis]

Cleaning those rims

I had a pair of aluminum bed rails on my Chevy pickup that did something like that. They had a clear coat on them, and it was that which had discolored.

I hope that's not what your is doing, but if so this is what I did.
I bought "Aircraft Paint Stripper" and sprayed the rails. It's a gel-like consistency, so it went on pretty thick. I let it sit like the can said, and then I got to wiping and scrubbing with pieces of towels and shop cloths. Granted, these were $50 rails, not rims, so I was not too concerned if they got jacked up. It did not come off easy, and it was a pain in the a$$. But once I got all the clear coat off I just used some Mothers Aluminum Polish and they looked better than new.

WalMart sells the stripper in the automotive section. If the spots are on the inside of the rim you might try it there first to see if it works.

Good Luck!

BH

 

[boostaholic]

Mother's powerball and some aluminum polish, that flitz stuff works pretty well on that kind of wheel too.

 

[withac]

Thanks guys. I rubbed a little spot on the face with some Meguiar's chrome and aluminum polish. I shined it up but wouldn't touch the spots on the lip. It's not smooth there, almost like it's etched. I had a friend suggest 0000 steel wool if they aren't clear coated. I won't have time to mess with them for the next two weeks but after that I plan on taking them down to the tire shop and seeing if they are clear coated or not and what they would recommend. The rims came off a '98 pick up so I imagine they'll fit but I'll make sure of that too before I invest any time in it.

 

[withac]

I checked with the dealer, they're just aluminum, no clear coat. I got after one last night with some 000 and 0000 steel wool and Muguiars aluminum polish. On the tougher spots I took a nail, put it in my drill, and wrapped the steel wool around the head and used it as a power buffer. I know, if I'm not carefull the head will poke through and fubar things big time. They look pretty good but need a good high speed buffing now to bring out the shine. I've thought about the Mother's Powerball but I'd like to find a large felt polishin wheel I could put in my drill, something like the litte one I have for my Dremel.

 

[withac]

Okay, I've been tinkering some more. I decided the steel wool and polish worked about as well by hand as with my drill. Compare this pic to the ones above, much better. I still wondered if I could get them even shinier. I had at them again with the drill and steel wool but no aluminum polish. It really shined it up, but leaves an uneven look. I wonder if it's because of the imperfect shape of the steel wool wrapped around the nail. In the full rim pic, the spoke at the 2:00 position is the one I worked on, the other pic is a close up of that spoke. I think you can see it is much brighter, I also think you can kinda see the uneven appearance I am talking about. I would think the Powerball wouldn't be aggressive enough for this type of shine, I'd think that's what I would use after did this process. Any suggestions as to what I could use that might give me a more even finish?

 

[DarkTahoe00]

You could try buying a small buffing wheel and maroon buffing ruge.You can find at like Sears And get some stuff called Simichrome its use as a final finsher,which you can find at local Antique store i've gotten there and motocycle shop its its in a yellow and maroon box the stuff works wounders on aluminum!

 

[withac]

You could try buying a small buffing wheel and maroon buffing ruge.You can find at like Sears And get some stuff called Simichrome its use as a final finsher,which you can find at local Antique store i've gotten there and motocycle shop its its in a yellow and maroon box the stuff works wounders on aluminum!

Is the roughe a compound or a material? Do you find it at Sears also or were you just referring to the buffing wheel?

 

[DarkTahoe00]

I was refering to both you can get at Sears the roughe you can get in a 4 pack that as different ones in it like white,black,red as well as maroon, I would have to say its compound its semi hard stick you take the buffing wheel while its spinning and put it on it running up and down it. And then start buffing it will take some time but it should turn out real good,the ideal tool to use is a air die grinder its like a dremel but lil bigger,if you don't have one a drill should work as well! After you get them all polished up you go online to Eastwood they have this stuff that you can put on polished stuff that protects the stuff up to a year it keeps you from having to repolishing so they don't get that satin kinda dull look! I can't remember the name of the stuff but once you see you'll know!

 

[withac]

I was refering to both you can get at Sears the roughe you can get in a 4 pack that as different ones in it like white,black,red as well as maroon, I would have to say its compound its semi hard stick you take the buffing wheel while its spinning and put it on it running up and down it. And then start buffing it will take some time but it should turn out real good,the ideal tool to use is a air die grinder its like a dremel but lil bigger,if you don't have one a drill should work as well! After you get them all polished up you go online to Eastwood they have this stuff that you can put on polished stuff that protects the stuff up to a year it keeps you from having to repolishing so they don't get that satin kinda dull look! I can't remember the name of the stuff but once you see you'll know!

Cool, thanks for the help. I was wondering about protecting them when I was done, I really appreciate the advice, I'll look Eastwood up.

 

[withac]

I was refering to both you can get at Sears the roughe you can get in a 4 pack that as different ones in it like white,black,red as well as maroon, I would have to say its compound its semi hard stick you take the buffing wheel while its spinning and put it on it running up and down it. And then start buffing it will take some time but it should turn out real good,the ideal tool to use is a air die grinder its like a dremel but lil bigger,if you don't have one a drill should work as well! After you get them all polished up you go online to Eastwood they have this stuff that you can put on polished stuff that protects the stuff up to a year it keeps you from having to repolishing so they don't get that satin kinda dull look! I can't remember the name of the stuff but once you see you'll know!

I don't have a die grinder but I have a friend who does. I told him what I wanted to do and he wondered if it would spin so fast that it would burn the polish right on, said he'd had that happen. Have you ever had problems with that and if so how do you handle it?

Is the is the stuff from Eastwood?

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...DUCT&iMainCat=410&iSubCat=411&iProductID=5158

If so it would kinda defeat my goal here of keeping costs down. Plus, there is only one customer comment and he thought it sucked.

Or were you looking at this

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...ODUCT&iMainCat=410&iSubCat=413&iProductID=619

Thanks.

Much cheaper but doesn't sound like it gives the same protection.

 

[DarkTahoe00]

It will spin fast and yes you'll have that where it leaves excess roughe on it from it spinning so fast which is no big deal all you have to do is use some Nu Finsh or chrome polish it come off! To anwser your second question thats the stuff I was talking about the zoopseal Yeah it is kinda high! But it was just a suggustion,you could try the other stuff since it is cheaper but like you said your trying not to spend to so you could just keep the up keep on them so they don't dull out to! Just DON'T whatever you use anything but soap and water to clean them most wheel cleaners have some kind of acid in them to help cut though the brake dust,use that kind of stuff will EAT your polished finsh off I know it happen to me!

 

[withac]

It will spin fast and yes you'll have that where it leaves excess roughe on it from it spinning so fast which is no big deal all you have to do is use some Nu Finsh or chrome polish it come off! To anwser your second question thats the stuff I was talking about the zoopseal Yeah it is kinda high! But it was just a suggustion,you could try the other stuff since it is cheaper but like you said your trying not to spend to so you could just keep the up keep on them so they don't dull out to! Just DON'T whatever you use anything but soap and water to clean them most wheel cleaners have some kind of acid in them to help cut though the brake dust,use that kind of stuff will EAT your polished finsh off I know it happen to me!

Thanks again. I won't have time to get to them for a week or so. I'm not really worried about it. Winter will be here soon so I'm not going to bust my butt to shine them up just in time for that slop. If I get them finished fine, if not I'll just take all winter to whittle away at them and do the best possible job I can. Of course I might need a space heater in my friends garage.

 

[DarkTahoe00]

I don't blame you for that! You should be fine. Polishing is time consuming but its worth it when you get the end result! Well good luck!

 

[withac]

Thanks. Whenever I do get one finished I'll post up a before and after pic.

 

[withac]

Long post incoming.

I picked up the Sears buffing kit, even the black compound, the most aggressive, supposed to be used for removing rust, wouldn't touch the corrosion. If I was content with a clean but dull luster, steel wool and polish would do it. It actually didn't look too bad that way, but I want them to shine. Upon close examination, the aluminum is actually pitted. In order to get the pits out I needed to go clear down to a 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper and work my way up to a 2000 grit. After that I buffed with steel wool and Meguairs chrome and aluminum polish, then the same polish with the terry applicator. For the final polish I tried something I read online, I put on a latex glove and just polished with my finger, that way you don't get any swirls from the terry applicator. Then I buffed with a super soft cloth. The pics may not do it justice, but the first pic shows the whole rim, the spoke on the left is the one I worked on. The second pic is a close up of the polished spoke and the third is a close up of a raw spoke. I worked up a little too fast so there are still some fine scratches in the polished spoke, I need to go back to maybe the 620 or 1000 grit and work back up, but I still think you get the idea. It will take some time but I've got all winter to whittle away at them. My goal here is to have some decent looking rims for cheap. They were given to me so if I can invest some time and elbow grease to make them look decent that's okay, I enjoy messing with stuff like this. One thing I learned, the guy helping me figure this out owns a shop that deals in automobile paints, polishes and other stuff. He's been around body shops and paint shops his whole life. He told me you have to be carefull with all chemicals and metals. Chemicals seemed obvious but I hadnt thought about the metals. He told me I didn't want all that aluminum oxide (the black stuff from when I polish) getting on my hands and in my system, he had me put on a pair or rubber gloves to do the work. Makes sense and my hands aren't black when I finish.

 

[withac]

One good thing about this process, I won't need to freeze my stones off in my friends garage this winter. The sanding is all done by hand so I can spread out a cheap 2 dollar shower curtain to protect the carpet and work on them downstairs while I watch tv or whatever.

 

[DarkTahoe00]

Looks good so far! I should of told ya to try wet sanding totally slipped my mind! Thats the way I always polished my stuff is doing it that way but using the buffer will put a higher shine on it after all the sanding is done. You always can try it that way,sorry that the buffing didn't work the first go around!

 

[withac]

Looks good so far! I should of told ya to try wet sanding totally slipped my mind! Thats the way I always polished my stuff is doing it that way but using the buffer will put a higher shine on it after all the sanding is done. You always can try it that way,sorry that the buffing didn't work the first go around!

It's all good, logic dictates trying the easiest way first, it would have been stupid to scuff them up with sandpaper if the buffer would have worked.

 

[withac]

Maybe instead of more time than money I have more time than brains. Twasn't easy but I got one done. Ended up going clear down to 150 grit wet/dry and working up to 2000 followed by 0000 steel wool and Blue Magic chrome polish, terry applicator and Meguiares chrome and aluminum polish, then a latex gloved finger and the Meguiars. I have some super soft Dupont polishing clothes to buff the polish off.

Question. Now that I've gone to all this work any ideas what I can clear coat them with to protect what I worked so hard to get keeping in mind my goal here was to do this on a budget.

Thanks.