# Machine polish - alloy wheels??



## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

My alloys are in reasonable condition, but have suffered from crap washing previous to my ownership, just wondered whether I could use my rotary polisher on them to clean them up and bring a bit of shine back before I wax them up for the winter, there is no real scratches etc on them, couple of marls but nothing to worry about.

Was thinking that a gentle polish with a small 2" finishing pad and some AB cherry glaze polish or some Menz 106FA might get them looking good maybe?

Is this a wise idea or not?

Any else machine polished alloys??? 

If it is possible, what products have people used??

Thanks in advance, James.


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## Kap01 (Aug 12, 2007)

I would be interested to know the answer to this one... i would assume its ok as long as the wheel is well prepped, clayed etc... but i suppose it depends it the shape of the wheel.


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Standard alloy wheels are either painted/lacquered or powder-coated, both of which can be machine polished. Use a relatively light combo such as Menzerna 203s with a polishing pad, at medium speeds to restore gloss/clarity etc. 

Depending on the wheel design it may be advisable to use a spot pad, or in many cases a larger pad so that you can cut into grooves/spokes with the machine itself being kept away from the wheel surface.

Although, to answer your question you can machine polish wheels.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

These are my wheels, they have a lot of surface area, but they have plenty of curves etc, so it seems that it might be OK to give them a light polish, they just look flat, no real sheen to them so will give it a go with some 106FA and a spot polishing pad and see how it goes, might get a few hours tomorrow to do them.










Thanks, James.


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## Kap01 (Aug 12, 2007)

They look clean lol ! ;-p


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

^^^^ I was going to same as Gaz, but he got there first. But yes polish away.


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Yeah, those will be fine to machine polish, a light polish such as 106FA should work OK.

Be sure to avoid, or ideally mask off the tyre as you will quickly kill pads if you accidentally brush your pad against the tyre.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

yes those pics are from about a year ago, and yes they are always clean, but they need some 'shine' ideally they need refurbing as they are bubbling behind the spokes and there are a few scratches and some kerbing on one of them (from before I owned them... grrrr..) but figured its worth having a bash with the rotary before spending the cash on a refurb, if they can be tidied up as a temporary measure then that means I can save for other bits to be done!


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