# Alloy wheel polishing recommendations - newbie



## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

Hi detailers i am looking for some help 
the process of polishing alloy wheels to a nice shine and products to be used

the process i have in mind would be as follows

surfex HD
wash a lot
then wire wool
wash a lot
then 600 grit wet and dry?
rinse
800 grit
then g3 cutting compoiund with drill attachment from kit
then the blue clay bar in the kit with drill attachment from kit
then the lime stuff
then ?????

thinking of buying this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheel-Polishing-Kit-For-Alloys-15pc-By-PolishKing-3-x-1-2-WPKA-3001-/281693149135?hash=item41963857cf:g:kC4AAOSwstxVCJRu

hopefully this is what i want them to look like


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

these are the wheels im hoping to shine up


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

When I've done them I've worked up through grades of wet and dry, starting with the most coarse needed to remove any pitting. With wheels needing only a minor polish then p800 might be enough to start with.

I finish with 1500, then use a drill mounted kit I bought from machine mart, use the supplied brown bar on a felt mop, then the blue on a soft cotton mop, followed by a normal metal polish by hand. Have had good results with both autosol and meguires metal polish.

I'm no pro though, just done a few sets of my own wheels over the years.


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

Harry_p said:


> When I've done them I've worked up through grades of wet and dry, starting with the most coarse needed to remove any pitting. With wheels needing only a minor polish then p800 might be enough to start with.
> 
> I finish with 1500, then use a drill mounted kit I bought from machine mart, use the supplied brown bar on a felt mop, then the blue on a soft cotton mop, followed by a normal metal polish by hand. Have had good results with both autosol and meguires metal polish.
> 
> I'm no pro though, just done a few sets of my own wheels over the years.


sounds bang on to me mate pretty much what i had in mind, im new to them bars, so brown bar first
like everything, i think it just depends how long you spend doing it
thanks mate


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## raze599 (May 8, 2014)

You won't need to use the clay bar because you'll have sanded out all the contaminants and it'll be a pristine surface after polishing.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

Not clay bars, polishing compound bars which you briefly hold against the polishing wheel to load it up.

Less messy than pastes and liquids.


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## raze599 (May 8, 2014)

Harry_p said:


> Not clay bars, polishing compound bars which you briefly hold against the polishing wheel to load it up.
> 
> Less messy than pastes and liquids.


Oh right, I use one of those on a bit of leather to sharpen my chisels lol

This kind of thing? http://www.shavenation.com/images/Chromium Oxide Bar OK.png


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Hi i tried to buff mine up with my rotary i basically just cleaned the. The best i could a couple of them have concrete splatter on them so i need to address those. I gave one a going over with autosol on a wool pad just a few passes at low and high speed it came up alright i guess but really wanting to get a mirror finish as their for my show truck. Any advice would be great


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

i will be happy if i can get mine like that, good job mate, i will post pics of my attempt when they arrive


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

For a mirror shine you're going to need to be more aggressive with the sanding, to sand out all of the pitting before going up the grades and starting to compound.

Pro polishers use big wheels on bench mounted machines so can get some real force and polish out a lot of defects straight on the wheel with some compound.

For a home user a wheel on a drill is probably as good as it gets, you can use a nice high speed, but the working area is fairly small so you have to keep moving it, and be carefull not to catch the chuck on the rim.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

A previous set,


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Harry_p said:


> For a mirror shine you're going to need to be more aggressive with the sanding, to sand out all of the pitting before going up the grades and starting to compound.
> 
> Pro polishers use big wheels on bench mounted machines so can get some real force and polish out a lot of defects straight on the wheel with some compound.
> 
> For a home user a wheel on a drill is probably as good as it gets, you can use a nice high speed, but the working area is fairly small so you have to keep moving it, and be carefull not to catch the chuck on the rim.


Thanks mate ill try . Wheres the best place to get the drill attatchment mate


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

tonights efforts after a little go at them, like was said above i needed to take the more agressive route on these i started at 180 grit 320 1200 next step is 2000 but didnt have any, i think i wheel would take chunks out and id be too scared to try this, a **** load of elbow grease, and a lot of patiance, all i kept thinking was omg i got 3 more togo lol, not a bad evening hobby for the next few months lol:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:

oh and as a polisher i used a 20 year old tin of silvo i think its made for jewelry but hey it works http://www.wilko.com/multi-purpose-cleaners/silvo-metal-polish-wadding-75g/invt/0101283


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Keep us ipdated


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

DanielWright said:


> Thanks mate ill try . Wheres the best place to get the drill attatchment mate


I bought a mini kit from machine mart with a mandrel, two wheels and two compound bars, I'm sure you can get similar on eBay, Amazon etc.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

Actually, something like this would be a good start. Might buy one myself!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/281693149135


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

Harry_p said:


> Actually, something like this would be a good start. Might buy one myself!
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/281693149135


thats the exact same kit i put in my ebay watch list lol, see page 1, looks good for the price


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Tool station is quite cheap for the equipment they have

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power+Tool+Accessories/d80/Buffing+&+Polishing/sd2694

Also sell wet and dry 
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Pai...g+Paper/sd1730/Wet+&+Dry+230mm+x+280mm/p99182


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

after many many hours this is still the 1st wheel 70% done lol, i think i need to take a new approach to this, im going to try a lot of paint stripper tomoro and maybe sandblasting of some sort, this is taking foreeeeverrrrr

looking good though :buffer:


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## REVERSiN (Sep 28, 2015)

calvins_media said:


> after many many hours this is still the 1st wheel 70% done lol, i think i need to take a new approach to this, im going to try a lot of paint stripper tomoro and maybe sandblasting of some sort, this is taking foreeeeverrrrr
> 
> looking good though :buffer:
> 
> View attachment 44202


Mate what did you clean your wheel with first ?
Anyway for that mirror finish you want you need some serious buffing power such as a rotary. You can try another thing if you have a small sander just do the right places by hand and then the large ones that are a bit more flat with a machine. You absolutely need to use a wool pad for these a sponge pad won't do and the wool can get into difficult places, good luck


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Alright mate i had a crack at having a go today also and it does take ages im going to try having a go sanding with the rotary tomorrow after work to get most of the pitting out as by hand it is very time taking. I understand the longer you sand the better apperance you will get for the future sanding stages.

Heres mine up to now


















Sorry for hijacking your posts , hope you dont mind 
This is the alloy after a bit of p120


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

DanielWright said:


> Alright mate i had a crack at having a go today also and it does take ages im going to try having a go sanding with the rotary tomorrow after work to get most of the pitting out as by hand it is very time taking. I understand the longer you sand the better apperance you will get for the future sanding stages.
> 
> Heres mine up to now
> 
> ...


not atall mate we will do it together, im interested in seeing how you do yours, how many wheel have u done sofar? ive not even done 1 lol


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## Woody95 (May 7, 2015)

A while ago I did the lips on some BBS LM reps and they came up great doing it by hand, no fancy machines although it probably would've been a lot easier and faster! Took a good few hours per rim, however it was my first ever attempt at anything like it so once I got into a routine I sped up abit 

I deep cleaned them first.








































































I think they turned out pretty good, shame they never went on my car and they're still sat in my garage...


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## Woody95 (May 7, 2015)

I uploaded those photos as 'small' size and they're such poor quality now, stupid crapatalk! I'll re upload them in a better quality tomorrow


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Those LMs look cool i always wanted some for my volvo c30 but opted for audi reps . I had a bit of a easier day today i tried a bit sanding with my rotary but didnt have velcro pads so became a nusence . Never mind. Im going to try a simpler way thru the week with a compressor and adhesive sanding discs. 
The only thing whats a bit of a pickle is the amount id have to sand to remove all of the pitting. Hopefully i can remove all of it with the proper equipment thru the week . Any tips would be helpful .


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

Just been browsing through youtube and found this which is rather interesting


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

calvins_media said:


> not atall mate we will do it together, im interested in seeing how you do yours, how many wheel have u done sofar? ive not even done 1 lol


This is my first one mate ha i have 6 to do


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## DanielWright (Jul 16, 2012)

http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/Guide_to_Menzerna_Compounds.html

Found a fantastic shop for polishing compounds and machine mops and polishes etc


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

wow i think i need to get some power tools of the job im really struggling here lol good video too


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

heres a video i made today, bit drastic but i was sick of sanding but, you know what it worked, and it worked very very well, you cant see in the camera but it actually worked


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## REVERSiN (Sep 28, 2015)

You could use two set of these brushes as steel brush is harsh and effective to finish up follow with a brass one it will make the sanding afterwards much easier just watch out not to go crazy or the rims and take too much aluminum making a curve in it. Nicely done good luck mate 👍


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

REVERSiN said:


> You could use two set of these brushes as steel brush is harsh and effective to finish up follow with a brass one it will make the sanding afterwards much easier just watch out not to go crazy or the rims and take too much aluminum making a curve in it. Nicely done good luck mate 👍


in the video it looks wavey like ive made bumps in the alloy but there not one, id brings them up mint


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

as said above i used a brass brush and they are much more delicate, so im using that now


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

managed to get them to a reasonable polished finish


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## stonejedi (Feb 2, 2008)

Good work:thumb:,they look superb for a DIY job.SJ.


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## calvins_media (Oct 6, 2014)

cheers bud


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