Rims Shine

[Datzun76]

I own these same type of rims. I have tried but I am not able to get mine to shine like these. Any suggestions?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2433935073&category=43954

Rims Link

[Dtsnlvrs]

Clean them with a citrus based cleaner...then hand polish with a jewlers rouge. I use eagle one brand mag polish.

[Victor Laury]

Have the model in your Icon rub up against me .... Oops.... I mean the wheels and they'll shine. No. Wait. Have her rub up against me and I'll pay to get your wheels polished.

Seriously. Take you wheels to a wheel polishing shop. Best 125.00 I ever spent. I polish aluminum, but wheels are so awkward, that the only way to do them right is on a machine built of the purpose. My wheel shop dismounts the tire and mounts the rims on a turntable platform. This platform is brought to the polishing wheel a manipulated through the process by a few levers.

Then the tires are remounted and balance on perfect wheels.

[SuDZ]

Originally posted by Victor Laury

Have the model in your Icon rub up against me .... Oops.... I mean the wheels and they'll shine. No. Wait. Have her rub up against me and I'll pay to get your wheels polished.

Seriously. Take you wheels to a wheel polishing shop. Best 125.00 I ever spent. I polish aluminum, but wheels are so awkward, that the only way to do them right is on a machine built of the purpose. My wheel shop dismounts the tire and mounts the rims on a turntable platform. This platform is brought to the polishing wheel a manipulated through the process by a few levers.

Then the tires are remounted and balance on perfect wheels.

Is this something that a lot of tire places offer or more of a specialty?

SuDZ

[LanceM]

I am currently polising a set like that. To get the centers polished you have to sand the milling marks off. It isn't as hard as it sounds and really dosen't take long. Using wet dry paper wet I start with 320 and work up to 1500, from there I use Mother's aluminum polish on a buffing wheel in an electric drill, they come out looking like crome. One thing I found that was a problem with getting them to shine was the clear coat that was put on by the factory. Regular paint stripper was used to get it off first. When I'm done I will either recoat them with clear or just figure on polishing them once in a while. I did 2 wheels sunday, and they were pretty ratty to start with, I may get around to the other two this weekend if the weather stays cold and rainy.

[Zs-ondabrain]

just this week end I polished all four of my old slotted mags.

took a while but was well worth it.

I started w/ a bottle of acetone to remove all wax/grease/tar

and paint from the wheel so as to not gum up my sand paper

and buffing pad which is a 5" spiral sewn buffing wheel on a

$20.00 4'' grinder

I used (tripoli) compound to cut through the years of crap that built up on the aluminum, then after cleaning the pad w/ a screw driver I used a White rouge for the final shine.

[Zs-ondabrain]

the wheels after years of crap, mind you I already used the acetone on it

[Zs-ondabrain]

the reflection is hazy but thats aluminum, I could do better but thats another day, I'm real happy w/ the results but the picture doe'nt show you what I see. sorry, it's a crappy camera.

[26th-Z]

If I'm not mistaken, Datzun76, your wheels are clear coated. You may seek the best results by having those wheels done professionally. The slotted aluminum mags by Zs-ondabrain may not be clear coated. Either way, sealing them after all your work will ensure they stay that way - nice shine - nice tatoo - nice...

[Datzun76]

Thanks for all the info. I think I will try the wheel polishing shop suggestion.

I tried using Mother's and the drill with a hard buffer but they still dont shine like the wheels in those pics on ebay.

[JMT240KGTR]

Those wheels are absolute quality!

I have a set like that also and will look to getting them polished like that.

Sure makes a factory item look like one of those big brand aftermarket items, looks excellent.

[Z Kid]

Why polish them when you could just buy this immacualte set of 5 already polished, 4 with good sticky 205 rubber