Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Polishing pitted/hazed aluminum wheels

Any of you guys done any work on trying to bring old alloys back to life? I'm talking uncoated, previously-polished, high-end wheels from the late 1990's that have just been sitting. They are dull and there is a bit of white pitting (light) in some areas. Doing a little Googling shows that many people wet-sand with progressively lighter grits to even out any pitting before working with polishing compounds. I'm not familiar with the process or the tools. There is a Harbor Freight store nearby though. I'd not object to spending $100-150 on supplies to get these wheels back in shape. Anybody have any insight to offer?

try some nevr-dull....

Mother's Mag Wheel polish works for me, I spent no more than 10 minutes knocking the oxidation off this Jeep wheel to prove the point back in 2008. Using a Power Ball or similar tool works even better.

That looks pretty good. Some more research reveals that many are using a 6-7" multi-speed polisher with 2-3 different wheels and 2-3 compounds to get most of the oxidation and pits smoothed out, then going with something like the mag polish to finish it off. I think I'll try that. Mine are some old Centerline Jeep wheels that are thankfully uncoated.

Yep, if you have pits or scratches you can feel with a fingernail, Mother's won't cut it. The factory alloy was rough to the touch, very oxidized but for a polish, it's a good product.

I did a test on the inside (not back) of the wheel, sanding machining marks down with 220, 320, 400 and 600 and followed with Mother's and it looked like a mirror.

How long does that job take?

Steve.

It takes awhile to do right, kinda like fixing hazy headlights.

Most wheels today are clearcoated, so be sure to re-clearcoat them or the shine won't last long.

If you live where salt or liquid deicers are used in the winter, it makes a lot of sense to put your winter tires on a set of steel wheels and run them in the winter.

Alloy wheels are like having a beautiful girlfriend .... look very nice but a lot more upkeep.

I read that a person might spend a couple hours to get a wheel looking really good, provided they are using power tools and washing the wheel between applications of different grit compounds. Longer if you have to take off a clearcoat or clean up dings or curb rash.

Steve, it took a few hours sanding by hand, and it was a small section. My CJ's wheels needed a full restoration, I sold the CJ after the restoration to put the money towards a house, I am glad I did because those wheels were rough!

My Cherokee has the same wheels and they are in much better shape so the job should be easier.

I would guess it would take me 40 hours a wheel, mostly due to the care needed not to round over sharp edges.

I would clearcoat after polishing as suggested.

This is correct. HOW GOOD DO U WANT IT TO LOOK? A friend of mine has a side business polishing show trucks (semi's). He gets paid by the hour and sometimes it takes him 2 weeks to polish a truck. He does not come cheap and has more work come his way than he wants. But u can shave off any polished surface on the truck. Polishing properly is a multi step process of multiple grits of rough. If u get a green bar of polish and some mothers polish and a good yellow wheel I'm sure just that alone will be shiny enough for what u want. If u want mirror polish your gonna need a few more grits and wheels and a whole lot of time.


Green bar. (I know it says stainless steel polish but its the best all around polish)

http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.co...G0adSsihTFmyZwblMbTeNNn4qixByhoCFKrw_wcB


Yellow wheel. I use it on my 4.5 inch grinder and it makes a mess but does the job. An actual polisher is a much better option

http://www.raneystruckparts.com/zep...MBoCES2mcagR4LZUOmMSVVRYLAMPLxoCPRrw_wcB


White bar optional. Will give the best final mirror polish but a mothers aluminum polish will work well too.

http://www.jmstoolsupply.com/en14whdirpoc.html?ref=lexity&_vs=google&_vm=productsearch


He also uses these quite a bit for hard to reach places in wheels and such on an air drill type polisher

http://www.pjtool.com/cylinder-buffs.aspx

I wish I still had the picture of a fuel tank he did on a mid 80's 359 Peterbilt a guy was redoing. The tank had NEVER been polished. When my buddy was done it was a literal mirror. Took him many many hours.