Saturday, November 17, 2007

DIY: Polishing Aluminium wheels.

I recently started looking for something busy, and found this set of teardrops that needed a little TLC.
I decided to polish them. Already having polished a set of Castellet wheels in the past, I knew what I was getting myself into.

Here's a DIY taken from vwvortex that may guide people a little...

First off, if there is any type of paint or clearcoat on the item, strip it with some aircraft stripper available from your local hardware store. Get the surface ass clean and rare material as possible.

Second. Sanding. This will be the hardest and most painstaking part. Start off with a rough grit to get all the rough casting down and smoothed out. For EVERY grit you use, sand untill the scratches put in by the paper is all the same. Move up some grits when you do. I reccomend and electric sander for grits all the way up to 600. When you get to 600 grit, start by hand and sand again till all the scratches are the same. When you get to 800 grit, wetsand using either water or WD40 as your lubricant. Sand till scratches are all the same. For the best shine the aluminium has to be smooth. The smoother it is the more it shines. Go up to 2000 grit and stop.

Next, clean the rim throughly to get off ater and wdyo you might have used.

Last but not least, buffing. To get the best shine I eccomend getting a buffing kit like Wenol offers. It comes with wheels and compounds. Start off with a medium buffing wheel and Black Rouge (compound) Hit it up with that multiple times. You should be blingin' already. After that is done, take some White Rouge with a lil softer buffing wheel and hit it up a few times.

Take a step back,

If you are doing a rim or anything that contacts with water and what have you clearcoat them. Professional if you can. My rims aren't clearcoated but I take care of them. When your products get dirty, use some metal polish like Wenol in the red tube or Top-Brite. Stay away from wheel polish and such.


When I first got the wheels:
Still getting there... I'll post more pics as it progresses
The previous set I completed...

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