Hand Polishing 3 Piece Wheels

[Logan Powers]

I have polished aluminum in the past with wet sanding and there wasn't really any write ups about how to do it. Ill try my hardest to make a detailed walk through with how and what to use to make them shine.

When I was younger, I polished a set of wheels from my mk4 Gti. I didn't remove the tires. That made things a lot more difficult.

This is me years ago. It took me 16 hours to polish these. But the look was well worth it.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y300/loganpowers101/518217DB-FFA8-47FF-97CD-524E48898BFD-20128-0000023421C688E1_zpsbe28e20e.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y300/loganpowers101/4E57B2B7-84F1-4661-9395-F365175F3105-20128-000002342DDFE981_zps500361eb.jpg

These are the Lips I am polishing now. They are Volk Racing and were cleared. So I had to strip them to get to the metal.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y300/loganpowers101/C627E0CD-DAA0-4FCF-A944-FF11006AF360-20128-000002343F8A5AB4_zps40941cf8.jpg

They have a machine finish to them, me and the customer hate that look. We much prefer the mirror finish.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y300/loganpowers101/9A74865E-3994-4A04-A349-B9A473EF9A6E-20128-0000023450EBC174_zps0b6493fe.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y300/loganpowers101/C4AD8DC6-AA8A-440C-8D30-306A7B4DB932-20128-0000023461E393F8_zps7f046371.jpg

What I am using to polish them.

Aircraft stripper
Misc paint brushes
600 grit
800 grit
1000 grit
1500 grit
2500 grit
Metal compound
Cloth polishing wheel
Mothers Aluminum polish

Then I'm going to attempt to use DP wheel coating and see if it will stick. I am doubtful, but it's worth a shot.

I will post up more pictures as I do more work!

[KillaCam]

Would like to see how those will turn out. Polishing wheels isn't too fun but I always love the end result.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Nice. Keep the thread updated.