Wheels, Polish? Spray Bomb? Sell?

[cmann250]

It may be too late now, but I've used Kem-Co Alumi-Brite on semi rims at work. I find it amazing. I put it in a pump-up sprayer, sprayed it on, took a pressure washer to it right away, and it looked really good. Beats the heck out of polishing!

[CumminsPower59]

At first, I didn't realize how bad those wheels were, once I started, I noticed how badly they were pitted and oxidized. I have used about half of a brown rouge bar so far. It takes about ten minutes to work out a 2"x2" square. No turning back now. I tried hand polishing them at first, but that made them look worse than what they started off as. Oh well. Once the wheels are done, I am going to flip the tires on them, run them black wall out, since they have been curb checked a few times. They ought to look pretty good then.

[bmoeller]

Did you use any aluminum brightener on the wheels first, to take the top layer of crud off? I always do. Makes polishing that much less work.

[Tacoclaw]

Yeah, you gotta hit dirty aluminum with acid first or you'll just be polishing the dirt deeper into the wheel.

[CumminsPower59]

Is there some place I can buy a small bottle of said acid or brightener? I knoticed when I would hit a fresh spot to polish, the wheel would push the crap around till it finally buffed out

[bmoeller]

As bad as they are, I'd get my hands on some commercial grade stuff, and put it on straight to burn it out. Then, polish it up.

Could try muriatic acid. Most brighteners have it in them. http://www.homedepot.com/buy/smart/case ... 97393.html

Aluminum brighteners you get off the shelf at auto stores or F&F are really weak. Which is good for most, but the other would damage the finish on an overall clean wheels. Yours need to be cut with it.

Put it in a spray bottle and spray it down good. Rinse it out really good and let it dry. That way, in case there is some chemical left, it won't run down and streak the wheel.

[Tacoclaw]

For a quick, cheap bottle I use Eagle One Mag wheel cleaner from Autozone. It's worth a shot before you track down the big boy stuff. I brush my the wheels on my Dodge with it when I wash it and it takes all the crap off of them.

Make sure it's for Magnesium wheels and not Aluminum. The Aluminum cleaner sucks balls, it won't cut anything.

[CumminsPower59]

Well, shoot. I guess I will run to up to Home Depot tonight and get some, there is one just a few miles from the shop. I will spray the wheels down with that stuff...shouldn't hurt the rubber, right?

[ellis93]

Nope

When you spray that stuff,start at the lowest surface and spray up from there. That way you won't streak the aluminum

[CumminsPower59]

Got one gallon of Muriatic Acid, should I cut it down to a 50/50 mix or just spray away at 100% pure acid? A buddy at work said the straight stuff is some nasty sh!t, eats anyting it touches, i.e. shoes, jeans. I plan on doing this on the gravel part of my drive, away from everything, and having a hose ready. I hope this stuff works

[dazedandconfused]

Id cut it down first and dont breath that sthi

[CumminsPower59]

Well, the acid did the trick! That stuff is wicked Mixed it about 2/3rds acid to 1/3rd water, it fizzeled and when I rinsed it off, the wheels were cleaner than they were before. I did this three times, the last two I scrubbed the wheels with a soft, plastic bristled brush, and that got alot more off right after I rinsed them with water. Got rained out, gonna go right out and snap a few pics as soon as the rain stops

[dazedandconfused]

They should polish easy now.

[CumminsPower59]

Here is the shots from after the acid wash.

Here is the worst wheel after acid


All four after acid...


I worked on one after the rain, had it rough cut finished in one hour

[PToombs]

Wanna do my H2's?