Advice on polishing Aluminum wheels

madpioneer

Super Member
My 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis wheels have not weathered very well. Even tho the car has been well cared for and only 68,000 miles the wheels do not look as nice as others I see around town.
I was thinking about removing the clear coat anodizing and polishing the wheels to an almost chrome look.
But would like some advice before proceeding. Getting them refinished and re-anodized would be to costly and don't want to go with aftermarket wheels. I like the factory look. I know that I polished original valve covers from my Vette in the past that were made of very low grade aluminum with cracks and faults everywhere. I sanded them and polished them to a very high luster almost chrome looking but over time they oxidized and looked horrible.
I guess the engine heat helped that. Which required removal and re-polishing frequently.
So is this a good idea or will they look worse over time?
I know that I will have to re-polish them to keep the luster but do you think they will oxidize too much. I am no metal expert so thats the purpose of this whole thing.
 
I doubt the wheels are anodized, most likely clearcoated aluminum. I have read about a lot of people stripping the clearcoating and refinishing them. That would be reasonably cost-effective.
 
A friend of mine is a painter, when his aluminum parts are too far gone he just paints them an aluminum colour metalflake paint with lots of clear coat on top. His stuff looks great.

- Dave
 
the grand marquis wheel has the same problem that the old boxy s-10 wheel had-moisture finds its way under the "clear coat" and wrecks havoc. Modern wheels are pained steel, polished aluminum, or chrome.

since you wheel's warranty expired with the manufacturers, I soggest either living with it, or picking up some "take offs" from a salvage yard or the internet. they will only cause more problems in the long run, by failing to seal the tire and rim, leading to flats and a real pain in the ass.
 
You should try some Nuvite this stuff is used for polishing aluminum aircraft and works wonders. It comes in several grades course to finish polish and you can get a mirror finish if you want. I own a 1946 Spartan Aluminum trailer and have tried many different polishes and this is the best. You can find more about it here: http://www.perfectpolish.com/
 
Mothers or someone makes a polishing Ball for doing wheels it is used with a drill motor. I have seen demos of it on the hotrod shows and it works very well use it with a good aluminum polish and once you get it done. You can wash the wheels real well then spray them with a clear coat.
 
Some good advice I appreciate it all.

Yes I have seen the demo of the polishing ball for your drill. Just not sure where to get one locally? :scratch2:
Will have to shop around for it.
 
Looking into the Mothers products I think that may be the way to go.
Powerball Mini Powerball + Mini Powerball MD and all the different grade polishes.
Looks like I have a nice spring project to look forward to. Hope I can find it all local if not theres always the internet.:yes:
 
Then again that Nuvite polishing kit @$70 looks good too. At least I got the winter the think it over!:yes: :scratch2:
 
I have used Mothers and I will stick to Nuvite any day. It may cost more but you get what you pay for. On a small job you probably dont even need any mechanical polishers. I have done a lot of little aluminum projects by hand with the Nuvite and its great! You might just want to get a course and fine polish in the pound containers it will go a lot further. Here is some info you might find interesting its on trailer polishing but will apply: http://www.spartantrailer.com/polishinfo.html
 
Well I like what this person accomplished even tho some trial and error.
http://ourworld.cs.com/cobra30197/svo/wheels/wheels.html

Thats how I managed to polish my valve covers but alot more work as they were pitted and made of low grade aluminum cast.
I may try this but my wheels are bowl shaped not sure I could sand them well with that shape and get the grooves out. But its what I had in mind when I bought the car all along. I know its alot of work about 10 hours per wheel or more.
 

Attachments

  • 0bdf_1_sbl.jpg
    0bdf_1_sbl.jpg
    17.4 KB · Views: 10
  • aly03267u.jpg
    aly03267u.jpg
    15.7 KB · Views: 13
I took a set of nasty old aluminum wheels to a wheel shop and had them professionally restored for $100 per wheel. Not the cheapest solution, but they are like new.

Take care,

Ed
 
originally posted by spartanmanor His process is easy on flat surfaces the fun is when you have valleys and peaks. Also that is not that high a shine, it's basically a rough cut finish. On those rims that could be done very quickly. If you know what you are doing you can get a true mirror finish with just a few more steps.

I agree, I got a much more shine on my valve cover project. It does give one a place to start and learn from others errors and avoid those steps.

I will just have to toy with the idea and decide just how far I want to go and how much work I want to put into them. For now its jusy gathering info and ideas.
 
Back
Top Bottom