Alcoa aluminum wheel polishing?

[PNW Steve]

Hello Everyone,

I have 22.5" Alcoas on my truck. They were great looking wheels until I spent a winter driving roads where they used heavy salt/chemicals on the road in the winter.

Now they are VERY dull and pitted.

I went to the local auto parts store and they sold me a foam ball on a shaft, wheel cleaner and Mothers Aluminum Polish. I followed the instructions on the products. I used my Makita cordless drill and spent almost two hours and a full tub of Mothers on one wheel. It looked somewhat better when I got done but nowhere near as nice as I expected.

I am brand new at this and learning. Please have patience....

I suspect that I need to start with something more aggressive. A faster drill? More dense polishing wheel? Coarser polish?

I really don't know. What do you all suggest? Perhaps there is an "Aluminum polishing for Idiot's" that I have overlooked?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

S.

[Goonie75]

I'm no expert and i'm sure others will chime in but perhaps it's the finish on the wheels... clear coated... and they might need to be sanded a good bit then polished to really 'fix' them and bring that shine back. perhaps the polish itself isn't, as you said, 'aggressive enough' without sanding before the polish.

[Mike Phillips]

If the are pitted you may have to wetsand first. If you wetsand you’ll need to go more aggressive in the buffing steps.

I think Flitz usecto make a type of scotchbrite pad with abrasives in it available in different grits.

[Mike Phillips]

I’ve left work so not behind a computer and I abhor typing on my phone.

That said, I dug this up

Old School Aluminum Slotted Mag Wheels - Extreme Makeover

[Mike Phillips]

Some Alcoa’s have a special finish on them and should not be abraded.

[LEDetailing]

Some Alcoa’s have a special finish on them and should not be abraded.

I commented on how nice the Alcoa’s looked on the class A motorhome of the original owner of my <<< Trans Am. Asked the owner if he had them polished, he commented that they were coated. I looked closer at them and they definitely were coated. Looked very much like a clear coat type finish. The coating muted the brilliance of the aluminum a smidge, but I believe these wheels were 10 years old and looked brand new.

[JustJesus]

I’ve left work so not behind a computer and I abhor typing on my phone.

That said, I dug this up

Old School Aluminum Slotted Mag Wheels - Extreme Makeover

Thanks for the link! The AL wheels on my Jeep aren't as bad, but I have a set of some old school wheels for japanese cars that are in similar shape to those slotted mags in your older thread. I have been thinking whether or not I wanted to take the time to polish them out. I've also looked into those rouge bars and airway buffing wheel.

[Mike Phillips]

I remember wheels on this truck, either the front or the rear, had the Alcoa Aluminum Wheels with some form of "Brite Finish" on them.

You couldn't polish them but the finish looked good and seem to hold up without polishing.

This is from 2010


Behold Behemoth! - Cleaned & Sealed with DP Poli-Coat


Washing, claying and waxing a truck this size is a little more difficult than a normal car, truck or s.u.v., luckily we have the right tools to do the job safely.




After washing, I drove the Behemoth into the studio where I can dry it with some waffle weave drying towels and then inspect the paint for above surface bonded contaminants.


The sides were easy but the higher section required the use of the ladder and even a Skyjack Scissor Lift.



The Flitz Metal Polish not only restores brilliance to faded, stained chrome but also leaves behind a protective coating. Using the Flitz Buff Ball took all the work out of the job.









So maybe do some Googling on Alcoa wheels and see what you can find out.

If I remember correctly, their might have been a sticker or something on the wheels designating that they had a special finish.

[Mike Phillips]

There's a simple test you can do to determine if the wheels have a coating or if they are straight aluminum, just be careful where you do your test because if they are coated and you use too aggressive of a polish you could scratch the coating when you do the test.


From this thread,

The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints



Oxidized Aluminum Turns Black
With metallic single stage paints, oxidation can show up as a darkening effect on medium to light colored paints because the aluminum metal flakes embodied inside the paint will stain or discolor the paint with a grayish black color.


If you’ve ever polished uncoated aluminum then you’ve seen this grayish black color coming off the aluminum and onto your polishing cloth as you work a metal polish over it. This same type of oxidation is taking place to the aluminum flake inside the paint.

Polishing Uncoated Aluminum





Oxidized Aluminum Comes Off Black

Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Aluminum Polishing System


Hope that helps, let us know what you find out...

[fuchsjhf]

Sharkhide is supposed to be a good product.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk