My First Real Wheel Polishing(CCW Classics)

[Josh@BR]

A couple days ago a client called me asking if I would be able to polish up his CCW Classic wheels for him. He said they sat on his Mustang outside for about 8 months in the weather and sun while the motor was being rebuilt and they were really "fading". I said to bring them by so I could take a look at them and see if it's something I can try to fix.

After looking them over I decided I would attempt to polish them. The surface of the wheels from what I could tell looked to be aluminum and the client said they were also so I decided I would be able to use a more aggressive metal polish for non-coated wheels if need be. I have never in my 7 years of detailing experience had an opportunity to do a restoration like this on wheels and was somewhat nervous. It seemed somewhat like a paint correction for wheels lol.

Since I'm not very experienced with this sort of thing I didn't have the best tools for the job but I did pretty good with what I had I think. For the face of the wheel I used my PC 7424 with 4" LC Orange Pads. For the lip of the wheel I used my PC and Craftsman drill(1600 rpm max) with 3" 3M Orange Pads. For the area between the spokes and other tight spaces I used the Meguiars Wheel Polishing Tool with my drill. For an aggressive wheel polish I used Mothers PowerMetal Scratch Removing Polish and for finishing I used Optimum Metal Polish(New Formula).

So I cleaned up the wheels and decided to try the least aggressive approach first with Optimum Metal Polish. This made the wheels look better but couldn't remove some water spots and most of the oxidation. So I decided to bust out the Mothers PowerMetal for the very first time and began cautiously polishing. The PowerMetal removed 99% of all water spots and the oxidation was dramatically cleared up. After that the finish was somewhat dull similar to after using M105 on paint. Then I polished the wheels with the Optimum Metal Polish which restored the beautiful mirror reflection the wheels once had. After that the wheels were sealed with Ultima Tire and Trim Guard. As you can see from some of the pics there was still some slight swirls marks on the surface that I could not get out. These are really only noticeable under the halogen lights that I took most of the pics with. Once outside even in the sun the swirls can't be seen unless your right up on them looking at the right angle. My client was absolutely shocked when he saw how the wheels turned out and said they looked better than when he bought them new which is all that matters to me. I only charged $95 for this but he tipped me about $50 because he was so happy with my work.

Thanks and please let me know what you think for my first time doing a job like this. Any tips or recommendations are highly appreciated!

These are also some of my first pics that I took with my new Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR camera(I was always used to taking pics my cell phone haha). Anway, on to the pics!

Here's a couple before and after's:

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW1.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW2.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW3.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW4.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW5.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW6.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW7.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/CCW8.jpg

Here's my favorite. The 50/50 shots:)

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/5050a.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/5050d.jpg

(These next two pics were taken outside under overcast skies to see how much the swirls were noticeable outside)

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/5050b.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n548/BeyondReflectionsAutoDetailing/Wheel%20Polishing/5050c.jpg

[Fast Eddie]

Well the wheels turned out great, and they look like a PITA to polish. FWIW, I hate polishing wheels.

[Josh@BR]

Well the wheels turned out great, and they look like a PITA to polish. FWIW, I hate polishing wheels.

Thank you sir! Yeah I don't even wanna think about the amount of hours I have in these. It was mainly a learning experience for me. I'll charge much more next time I do wheels like these again.

[Twister]

CCW classics are nice wheels. You did a great job on the wheels. I think UTTG dulls the finish of polished aluminum when I tried it.

I bought 2 of my Torq Thrust wheels used and they had sat outside for months. One had pitting on the lip but with some wet sanding and a lot of time I got them looking better than the 2 new wheels I bought.

[mikep288]

Quite the transformation there, nicely done!

[opie_7afe]

looking great, why not get some opti-coat if your going to add wheel polishing to your menu, be a good up sell i just dont know how it holds up on aluminum, theres also a product called zoop seal that is an aluminum sealer and lasts quite a while but then again i dont know how well it works compared to other stuff available. just a tip on alot of those "webbed" wheels you can remove the center section which can make polishing ALOT easier, just need to have the correct tools to not mess up the heads on the bolts holding the face on and be sure to use some blue loctite on them if you do remove the faces of the wheels....might have saved you some time in the long run if you removed the faces.

[Josh@BR]

Thanks for the compliments and feedback guys. It's much appreciated!

[CamaroSS27]

Great job, wheels like those deserve to be treated the way you did!

[Bobby B.]

Awesome job! The CCW Wheels look great.

[Mike Phillips]

Very nice work. Polishing wheel by hand or machine is always a lot of work but well worth the results.

I have another set of slotted mags to polish and I'm going to do a full-blown restoration on them starting with sanding... not till after Valentines day though...

One thing I find handy for getting into hard to buff areas are the microfiber gloves (http://www.autogeek.net/pairglov.html) we sell on Autogeek.net

Simply use the glove as your material when applying and working a metal polish. Since you're wearing the application material your fingers won't get tired squeezing some other type of material as you work the polish over metal. They actually work really well.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/HandPolishUsingGlove01.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/HandPolishUsingGlove02.jpg


:)

[Josh@BR]

Great job, wheels like those deserve to be treated the way you did!

Thank you I appreciate it:)


Awesome job! The CCW Wheels look great.

Thanks Bobby I agree!


Very nice work. Polishing wheel by hand or machine is always a lot of work but well worth the results.

I have another set of slotted mags to polish and I'm going to do a full-blown restoration on them starting with sanding... not till after Valentines day though...

One thing I find handy for getting into hard to buff areas are the microfiber gloves (http://www.autogeek.net/pairglov.html) we sell on Autogeek.net

Simply use the glove as your material when applying and working a metal polish. Since you're wearing the application material your fingers won't get tired squeezing some other type of material as you work the polish over metal. They actually work really well.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/HandPolishUsingGlove01.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/HandPolishUsingGlove02.jpg


:)

Thanks Mike! I do have a couple pairs of the mf gloves that I never would have thought to use on wheels. Matter of fact I always forget I have them when doing things like this. May I ask what products/brand you prefer when doing heavy cutting/polishing on bare metal wheels? The products I used did the job but the Wolfgang Metal Works polishes seem great and of high quality just very expensive. Also what tools are you using(drill attatchment, buffer,etc.)