When polish won't work!

gibson89LX · Mar 13, 2007

I have a set of polished aluminum rims on my car. I swear to God they soak brakedust and dirt into them...
I had polished one rim (by hand and by powerball) with meguir's best aluminum polish and it did jack squat. Still looked awful. Looked better than it DID, but still was foggy and dirty and spotty.

Now, I usually wash my car myself, but had it detailed last summer through a service offered through my place of employment. ($10 wash/spray wax/vacuum)
I come out and my wheels are glistening like they're brand new. I talk to the guy and he said he used acid on them. He said he'd get me a vial, so I didn't press the matter. However, he never got the vial and the season ended. Now that spring is coming I'll be detailing her soon and want the wheels to have that same luster. This time I'll try to preserve it better by using some sealer or wheel wax.

Any ideas as to what kind of acid this may've been and where I can procure some?

Also, what does everyone use for pine tar? I got a couple spots on her last fall and didn't realize it til now.

kramer03gt · Mar 13, 2007

Hey Man, my sister was in the detail business for a while, go to www.promax.com and look for pro power acid cleaner, or check out this link http://www.detailsupplyoutlet.com/prod_cat.htm?cat=2 if you go to the bottom of the page there are some acid wheel cleaners and all kinds of stuff.

kramer03gt · Mar 13, 2007

Also in that second link i gave you they have a tree sap remover as well

Jim D. · Mar 14, 2007

I'd try a spray-on, hose-off wheel cleaner that's safe for bare aluminum -- assuming these are aftermarket polished rims that are not coated.

There are many types of acids used on wheels, and you want one that's safe for bare aluminum. I like Mothers FX Wheel Cleaner or All Wheel (both are pretty equal in cleaning, but FX smells better). Clean the wheel first before polishing.

Instead of the Meguiar's polish, I'd strongly recommend PowerMetal liquid or the Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish paste -- for tough polishing jobs on bare aluminum, you can't beat these products especially for the money. If you use the Mag polish paste, dampen the PowerBall a little with water.

gibson89LX · Mar 14, 2007

Jim D. said:
I'd try a spray-on, hose-off wheel cleaner that's safe for bare aluminum -- assuming these are aftermarket polished rims that are not coated.

There are many types of acids used on wheels, and you want one that's safe for bare aluminum. I like Mothers FX Wheel Cleaner or All Wheel (both are pretty equal in cleaning, but FX smells better). Clean the wheel first before polishing.

Instead of the Meguiar's polish, I'd strongly recommend PowerMetal liquid or the Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish paste -- for tough polishing jobs on bare aluminum, you can't beat these products especially for the money. If you use the Mag polish paste, dampen the PowerBall a little with water.

Those spray-on, rinse-off things never work
They MIGHT get some brake dust off, but that's it...My wheels, if I let them go for more than a week, collect dark brown deposits and black goop in the corners. The black goop will come off with enough scrubbing with a brush, but the hard, black deposits stay fast.
I tried mothers mag as well and it had less of an effect than the meguirs did...
I sat there and polished one wheel for literally 2 hours with little/no effect. I thought my arm was going to fall off.
Interesting though, because that site says I shouldn't use the acid solution on aluminum wheels. Can I maybe fault the service that first used it because they weren't supposed to?

Jim D. · Mar 15, 2007

If your arm's falling off, that's why the PowerBall is so handy... it does a lot of the work for you.

You'll want to get the wheels clean before you polish, so that's why I recommend the spray-on, hose-off cleaner... you might need to use a brush and a second application, but sometimes professional refinishing is the only practical answer.

Perhaps your rims aren't bare aluminum and/or there are some other issues I'm not understanding, but a photo or a model information on the wheels might help.

gibson89LX · Mar 15, 2007

Jim D. said:
If your arm's falling off, that's why the PowerBall is so handy... it does a lot of the work for you.

You'll want to get the wheels clean before you polish, so that's why I recommend the spray-on, hose-off cleaner... you might need to use a brush and a second application, but sometimes professional refinishing is the only practical answer.

Perhaps your rims aren't bare aluminum and/or there are some other issues I'm not understanding, but a photo or a model information on the wheels might help.

Any idea how much refinishing goes for? I think the clearcoat on my wheels is WAY gone... Can it be done while on the car?

gibson89LX · Mar 21, 2007

Bump!

Jim D. · Mar 21, 2007

gibson89LX said:
Bump!

I've been quoted about $100/wheel for my machined aluminum w/ clearcoat factory wheels... weld-in the dings, re-machine the finish and re-clear. They'll want to take the tires off. It's probably cheaper to go to someone local because of shipping costs. Check custom tire shops or Google in your area for wheel repair or wheel refinishing.

4G-KDMP · Mar 21, 2007

$100 per wheel, WOW!

iskwezm · Mar 22, 2007

100 bucks a wheel is cheap.If they are coated, they woyld have to be sanded or sand blasted,polished then either powder coated or cleared.

Here we pay about 50-60 to get a wheel polished,80 for clear powder coat etc.

When polish won't work!

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