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polished aluminum

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 9:02 pm
by BrettT
Did some polishing of the wheels before going to beach last
weekend. Turned out looking like chrome..IMO

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Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:20 pm
by RollTide93
mine are in need of repair bad! i really like the look of that if it's not to much trouble how did you do it?

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:32 pm
by 226gpd
I think they look great polished..

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 7:57 am
by BrettT
I used mothers wheel polish and mothers powercone that attatches to a hand drill. Worked out very well. Looks even better in person... cell phone pics don't do them justice. The one thing I learned with polished alumium is that do not use any WHEEL CLEANERS when washing. They seem to leave hard water marks.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:45 am
by WillyB93
Yea they can leave some nasty marks too. I like using blue magic polish

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 8:01 pm
by RollTide93
Ya good question, I have some paint coming off. Also I already destoyed one power cone and I only have 1 center cap done, that was $25 down the drain. It only took about 20 min. to do the center cap so it shouldn't take that long.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 8:48 pm
by BrettT
Hey guys,if u still have paint on the wheels, you will have remove that first with something more abrasives.

Your probably going to have to sand the paint of and use stages of polishing rouge to start to get close to a polish looa k. Then u can use mothers to get a high luster look

Mine were already polished aluminum. I just spent some more time using mothers polish and cone to clean Udall the imperfections and fine scratches to get look you see above.
I hear that there is a company out by you guys that chrome wheels. A bud of here in MD got a quote of like $500 plus shipping both ways. Should be cheaper for guy since your CA.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 8:58 pm
by RollTide93
Good to know, I will start will a fine grit sandpaper, and as far as polishing rouge do u recomend a brand? I've never heard of polishing rouge

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:15 pm
by BrettT
Go on Eastwood.com they offer polishing tools and kits to do such a job. It takes some time and effert.

You could see if a local body shop would get you started by bead blasting the paint off

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:20 pm
by RollTide93
cool sounds good, and I think I need to replace the bushings because mine rides pretty stiff, nice on the freeway but stiff. And I'm not sure I like the eibach's, I have always had them but the stance isn't very level, the rear end is way up in the air and has a really pronounced rake. I'm sure it has something to do with the camber plates, I was just going to cut a quarter coil out but I might just go with H&r's. I like the way the front end sits though so I don't know.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:27 pm
by RollTide93
Kit includes:
4 Four-inch Spiral Buffs
3 Tapered Goblet Buffs
One Four-inch Loose Section Buff
Two Buff Tapers for 1/4" Chucks
Two 1/4" Shank Mandrels
1 Three-Pound Tube of 80 Grit Greaseless Compound
One Three-Pound Tube of 220 Grit Greaseless Compound
One Three-Pound Tube of 320 Grit Greaseless Compound
One 13 oz. Tube of Tripoli Compound
One 14 oz. Tube of White Rouge Compound
Complete Instructions

Hey Brett this is a package that I found on Eastwood.com, does this sound like it would do the job?

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 7:21 am
by BrettT
Hey that will work. But if you still have the factory paint on the wheels. You will need something more abbresive to get that off. I would suggest find a body shop or machine shop and see if they would blast the paint off for ya for a resonable price. That would give a great head start in using that eastwood kit.

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 7:48 am
by BrettT
RollTide93 wrote:cool sounds good, and I think I need to replace the bushings because mine rides pretty stiff, nice on the freeway but stiff. And I'm not sure I like the eibach's, I have always had them but the stance isn't very level, the rear end is way up in the air and has a really pronounced rake. I'm sure it has something to do with the camber plates, I was just going to cut a quarter coil out but I might just go with H&r's. I like the way the front end sits though so I don't know.
Camber plates provide better caster and camber settings and provide better strut movement.

Believe me, if you want a really nice ride and level stance. You can't go wrong with H&R (Sports), Tokico Blues, MM Caster Plates.

EDIT:::: I think this is the place my neighbor was refering to that chromes wheels out in CA. http://shop.thewheelzone.com/services.php
He couldn't remember, but he said just google it.