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Chrome Wheel Cleaner On Aluminum Wheels

  • Thread starter Thread starter denniscjr
  • Start date Start date May 17, 2007

denniscjr

New Member
Jan 5, 2007
18
0
0
May 17, 2007
#1
  • May 17, 2007
  • #1
Hey Guys! I was very dumb recently as you can tell by the title... I got brand new rims from www.musclecarsusa.com which have cheap prices but took a hella long time to my wheels. Anyway I bought my rims and after about a week I decided its time to clean em up of course. Not paying attention to what I was doing or using I grabbed my uncles Chrome wheeler cleaner which he uses on his chrome rousch wheels. I went from wheel to wheel spraying it on and waited about 10 seconds and then started to spray them off. After starting to spray the first one off I saw a hazy look on the chrome lip of my wheel. I started to scrub it and noticed it wasn't coming off. I sprayed it off all my wheels and I used mothers metal polish to get the chrome lip shiny but the middle of my wheel is a metallic painted piece and I cant seem to find anything to get that off. My dad told me it might be the acid that ate at the metal. Has anybody ever been as dumb as me and done this or seen it happen? If anybody needs any info let me know i'll be more than happy to let you know.
 

McQueens Dream

Member
Apr 18, 2006
260
7
18
Winston Salem, NC
May 20, 2007
#2
  • May 20, 2007
  • #2
your Dad is right, unfortunately, this set of wheels is more than likey ruined for good. the acid in that cleaner will eat clearcoat paint right off. it will also ruin any polished wheel it is used on. i used to detail cars for a living, so i have seen pretty much everything when it comes to this. food for thought, don't use cleaner at all on any new wheels, just use a good soap and water. if the wheels are new, there is no reason a cleaner would be needed. to fix your problem, you will have to have the center of the wheels repainted, or maybe buffing them out will fix them. but that is about all you can do. sorry
 

denniscjr

New Member
Jan 5, 2007
18
0
0
May 23, 2007
#3
  • May 23, 2007
  • #3
Awww... Well thats all I needed to know though... Thanks for the info!
 
R

ruffy

Member
Apr 10, 2003
314
0
16
Skopje, Macedonia
May 24, 2007
#4
  • May 24, 2007
  • #4
I had a simular problem on my Junk Yard Dogs from Cottington. I dulled them up pretty good with a cleaner that was "supposed " to be safe. I polished them by hand with Never Dull which helped but it didn't restore the shine in had before.
 

iskwezm

10 Year Member
May 24, 2005
4,159
20
79
Rowland Heights,California
May 24, 2007
#5
  • May 24, 2007
  • #5
as it has been said, the cleaners will etch the polished finish and have to be polished again. On polish wheels,NEVER use anything abrasive, i dont even like Nver Dull, that will aslo scratch the finish. I use Bule Magic,Wenol, etc.. I have had good luck with the Flitz ball and the small Mother Powerball.The bigger ball didnt do crap for me.

You will never acheive the same finsh as machine polish, so do the best you can by hand.
 
R

ruffy

Member
Apr 10, 2003
314
0
16
Skopje, Macedonia
Jun 10, 2007
#6
  • Jun 10, 2007
  • #6
Looking pretty good

ruffy said:
I had a simular problem on my Junk Yard Dogs from Cottington. I dulled them up pretty good with a cleaner that was "supposed " to be safe. I polished them by hand with Never Dull which helped but it didn't restore the shine in had before.
Click to expand...

I took my rims to a guy and he polished them up pretty good. I don't know what he did or how he did it because he speaks no english, but they look very nice. Not perfect mind you, if you look close you can see some damage in small spots. The important thing is they are shiney again and good enough for me to roll with and not to buy a new set. Sorry Boyd.
 
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