I get asked a lot and overhear a lot of conversation about Aluminum polishes. A lot of people want a magical polish. There isn't one though, truth is that a lot of them work similar, but in reality you just need to get it to a mirror shine the old fashioned way. Just like wax alone does not make your paint shine, the abrasives do, same concept.
Polishing Aluminum has always been rewarding for me. Its the one thing you really see a big turn around on and I just like working with it. Over time I have acquired the tools and products to make the process faster.
I recently got into more sanding to get rid of heavy defects. Below is a wheel I polished to use on one of our semis as a steer.
Here is how the wheel started out. It was an outside dual so this side of the wheel suffered a lot of abuse and would not have been taken care of. It also has a machine finish as there is no point in having a mirror polish in between the duals.
Here is the wheel after a bath in a diluted Hydroflouric & Sulfuric acid mixture. This may scare some people as the general trend seems to be pH balanced cleaners, however in this case of a raw Aluminum wheel, nothing cleans like Acid. Remember to use proper safety equipment and handling procedures when using this stuff if you try this on your own. I do use a scour pad to agitate it just a little bit, but the Acid does most of the work on its own. Let it sit on there for about 5 minutes then wash off.
Make sure you mask any areas you do not want the Acid to effect. Here is what it will do to a polished wheel.
The corrosion on the face of the wheel was very bad and very deep. I tried numerous steps until I settled on my most agressive approach. 40 grit sandpaper on my DeWalt Rotary polisher. I'm sure a few cringed at that, but don't worry, I'm working with Aluminum that is an inch thick, not microscopic clear coat. 40 grit on the 3M DA sander just wasn't fast enough. I'm lazy but at the same time I am not, I am very picky about using the best products and technique, but don't like to work any harder than I have to. After sanding away with the 40 grit for awhile I was able to knock down most of the pitting on the face. I left the deeper stuff that will be hidden by the nuts.
I then went over the face with the DA and 40 grit to make sure everything was smoothed out from the polisher.
Then I went to 80 grit on the rotary
Then 80 grit on the DA. I will be skipping pictures on some of the steps from now on as the camera really doesn't show drastic changes.
Then I went over the entire wheel with 180 grit. Then 240 grit.
Then began wet sanding with 320, then 400 and finished with 600. Here is the wheel after the last stage of wet sanding.
Then it was time to move onto the compounds (Rouge to some)
Starting with a Blue Air Way wheel and emery compound. Here is a picture of the wheel after this stage. It may look shiny, but it still has a long way to go.
Then I went on to using Tripoli with a Yellow Air Way, then I skipped the green chrome rouge and used white chrome on a spiral sisal wheel. I then followed that up with the Max Red platinum compound and a very soft cotton wheel. For the final step I used Pro 40 polish to seal the finished product.
Its far from perfect and you can still see plenty of deep defects, but it looks good from 10'. Honestly, unless you have a fleet of trucks to do, after the investment in time and equipment, its just cheaper to pay someone to put it on their machine the cut the wheel down. Heck you could even buy a new polished rim.
Also please do not forget PPE if you do this on your own. I see plenty of videos out there of people polishing away with no protection. Aluminum Oxide is not good for you, wear a respirator and goggles. My choice is a nice full face respirator. I just got this one to use instead of my half mask. Its a 3M Ultimate FX. Very nice, the sheild stays very clear. In this case I was only doing one wheel and I was out of suits, but I like to wear disposable coveralls with hoodies. Even if not for safety it makes cleanup easier because you will get dirty. You will also want ear plugs and gloves.
You will get dirty, no I am not wearing a long sleeve shirt, the picture does not show my neck which looks like my arm. This is just after one wheel, you will be black from head to toe if you work all day on an entire truck.
Polishing Aluminum has always been rewarding for me. Its the one thing you really see a big turn around on and I just like working with it. Over time I have acquired the tools and products to make the process faster.
I recently got into more sanding to get rid of heavy defects. Below is a wheel I polished to use on one of our semis as a steer.
Here is how the wheel started out. It was an outside dual so this side of the wheel suffered a lot of abuse and would not have been taken care of. It also has a machine finish as there is no point in having a mirror polish in between the duals.
Here is the wheel after a bath in a diluted Hydroflouric & Sulfuric acid mixture. This may scare some people as the general trend seems to be pH balanced cleaners, however in this case of a raw Aluminum wheel, nothing cleans like Acid. Remember to use proper safety equipment and handling procedures when using this stuff if you try this on your own. I do use a scour pad to agitate it just a little bit, but the Acid does most of the work on its own. Let it sit on there for about 5 minutes then wash off.
Make sure you mask any areas you do not want the Acid to effect. Here is what it will do to a polished wheel.
The corrosion on the face of the wheel was very bad and very deep. I tried numerous steps until I settled on my most agressive approach. 40 grit sandpaper on my DeWalt Rotary polisher. I'm sure a few cringed at that, but don't worry, I'm working with Aluminum that is an inch thick, not microscopic clear coat. 40 grit on the 3M DA sander just wasn't fast enough. I'm lazy but at the same time I am not, I am very picky about using the best products and technique, but don't like to work any harder than I have to. After sanding away with the 40 grit for awhile I was able to knock down most of the pitting on the face. I left the deeper stuff that will be hidden by the nuts.
I then went over the face with the DA and 40 grit to make sure everything was smoothed out from the polisher.
Then I went to 80 grit on the rotary
Then 80 grit on the DA. I will be skipping pictures on some of the steps from now on as the camera really doesn't show drastic changes.
Then I went over the entire wheel with 180 grit. Then 240 grit.
Then began wet sanding with 320, then 400 and finished with 600. Here is the wheel after the last stage of wet sanding.
Then it was time to move onto the compounds (Rouge to some)
Starting with a Blue Air Way wheel and emery compound. Here is a picture of the wheel after this stage. It may look shiny, but it still has a long way to go.
Then I went on to using Tripoli with a Yellow Air Way, then I skipped the green chrome rouge and used white chrome on a spiral sisal wheel. I then followed that up with the Max Red platinum compound and a very soft cotton wheel. For the final step I used Pro 40 polish to seal the finished product.
Its far from perfect and you can still see plenty of deep defects, but it looks good from 10'. Honestly, unless you have a fleet of trucks to do, after the investment in time and equipment, its just cheaper to pay someone to put it on their machine the cut the wheel down. Heck you could even buy a new polished rim.
Also please do not forget PPE if you do this on your own. I see plenty of videos out there of people polishing away with no protection. Aluminum Oxide is not good for you, wear a respirator and goggles. My choice is a nice full face respirator. I just got this one to use instead of my half mask. Its a 3M Ultimate FX. Very nice, the sheild stays very clear. In this case I was only doing one wheel and I was out of suits, but I like to wear disposable coveralls with hoodies. Even if not for safety it makes cleanup easier because you will get dirty. You will also want ear plugs and gloves.
You will get dirty, no I am not wearing a long sleeve shirt, the picture does not show my neck which looks like my arm. This is just after one wheel, you will be black from head to toe if you work all day on an entire truck.
