What is the absolute best way to clean up the aluminum wheels on my car?

|UPDATED|9/11/2004 7:55:21 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Elbow grease and Mother's Polish. A buffer is easier, but can be done by hand.

I agree with Ken. Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish works great.

true mothers is great BUT it does not work well with clear coating. if these are the 15 inch slotted rims there is a very fine coating of clear coat. to really get a geat shine, 'show car quality' the face must be sanded 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit. then a buffing wheel with compound. if you dont have a buff wheel and compound, most don't, then continue to sand with 1000 and then 2000 grit. apply mothers now and you can shave off that rim. if you dont get the clear coat off the shine won't be very impressive. i have done about 5 sets of these slotted rims and they really look nice when finished. you must, must keep them waxed for protection.

mark v of www.starquestrims.com

|UPDATED|7/25/2004 12:49:40 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

StarQuestRims said: true mothers is great BUT it does not work well with clear coating. if these are the 15 inch slotted rims there is a very fine coating of clear coat. to really get a geat shine, 'show car quality' the face must be sanded 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit. then a buffing wheel with compound. if you dont have a buff wheel and compound, most don't, then continue to sand with 1000 and then 2000 grit. apply mothers now and you can shave off that rim. if you dont get the clear coat off the shine won't be very impressive. i have done about 5 sets of these slotted rims and they really look nice when finished. you must, must keep them waxed for protection. mark v of www.starquestrims.com

I agree here. I did this to a set I picked up for the CE and they came out perfect. After I used the Mother's, I continue to keep them clean with a product from Alcoa, which is an aluminum cleaner/polish. You can get the info from them at
http://www.alcoawheels.com


|UPDATED|7/28/2004 8:41:08 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Thanks - the Mothers worked great

just finished polishing my rims over last weekend. used StarQuestRims method but went a little farther. probably not necessary, but the rims came out great. started sanding by hand with 180 grit paper. had some deep scrathes. went to 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 2000 grit paper. then used a buffing wheel and a med grit rubbing compound, fine grit rubbing compound and a polishing compound. finished up with Diamond Brite Truck Box Polish with a wax overcoat. I think Diamond Brite works better than Mother's. it was a lot of work but the rims are like new. thanks StarQuestRims.