Polishing Aluminum Wheels

[ZiggyPopp]

Hi
I was hoping that someone may be able to assist with my polishing project. I am polishing my MK 1 Audi TT phat five wheels which is something I have wanted to do for years. I have stripped the paint from the face of the rims and cleaned off all corrosion spots sanding from 80 - 3,000 grit and then finished off with various polishes. Now that I am on wheel #3, I am getting picky trying to improve on my process. My issue is that I polish the wheel out and it looks good (indoors) until I hit it with my sun gun. Then it looks awful. So I am wondering what the pros do on show cars. Can you ever get rid of fine polishing scratches on a reflective metal surface? Below are the products I have used. I would include a photo showing the polish scratches but they don't show up.

Polishes: mother's mag & aluminum, Menzerna metal polish, flitz, Wenol red (blue on the way), megs 205, *Menzerna 3000 and 4500, Zepher red rouge (I hade high hopes for the rouge which was my final step)

*do not use Menzerna paint polish on aluminum as it tends to discolor the metal. I guess that's why they make a metal polish.

Tools: PC 7424xp white LC 3" pads and Meg's MF 3" disks. Corded drill with power ball mini, LC 3" wool ball, quality 6" buffing wheels.

All of these products work very well. I am just looking for that last little OCD pop.

Thanks







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[Mike Phillips]

My issue is that I polish the wheel out and it looks good (indoors) until I hit it with my sun gun. Then it looks awful.

The solution is easy... don't inspect with the sun gun.


My answer is kind of tongue-in-cheek except there is something about using the Sun Gun to inspect your work. The light is so intense that it shows ever imperfection. Imperfection you would never otherwise see. To you point, you don't see the imperfections under normal light conditions but when you use the Sun Gun you see them.

Your process looks and sounds like you're on the right track, most brand name aluminum polishes work pretty well. The trickier products are the high-end finishing polishes and you're using good brands for your finishing steps.

So maybe it's just a case of the Sun Gun is a cruel master?

[ZiggyPopp]

You are correct. I primed a Meg's 3" MF pad with the rouge and polished one final time with my 7424 and the random pattern left by the DA is more acceptable. The wheel looks great on the car. Sun gun is put away for now.

Three wheels down, one to go!

For comparison, Simichrome left, Wenol blue on the right.

Thank you for your reply.




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[custmsprty]

Those look pretty darn good to me!