Buying, polishing, and reselling aluminum rims...

[Blackthorn One]

Little update. I pretty much finished one. I'd like to get around the valve stem a little better...but other than that, this one is finished. This is the same one on the right in the above picture. You can tell I definitely brought some shine back. This was the worst of the 4. It had some pretty bad pitting going on. That's the darker spots. Here it is...

I thought this was damn good considering they were clear coated, and machine polished. I didn't even know this was possible. A first for me! :xyxthumbs:

You made a lot of progress on that wheel, and I'm sorry to say this, but the grunge on the outer lip of the wheel is really noticeable and severely detracts from the overall look of the wheel, and then draws your attention to the grunge around the valve stem. It makes it obvious that the wheel was neglected, and is going to turn off a lot of buyers and at the very least is going to prevent these wheels from fetching top dollar. I know you are probably tired now after all the work on em, but if you really want this to pay off, the improvement on the wheel has to be uniform. Even if you need to fold up a piece of wet and dry sandpaper to get into that crack, using a popsickle stick to stiffen it in order to get into the corner well, it is what you need to do to make this wheel really stellar.

 

[Ted S.]

You made a lot of progress on that wheel, and I'm sorry to say this, but the grunge on the outer lip of the wheel is really noticeable and severely detracts from the overall look of the wheel, and then draws your attention to the grunge around the valve stem. It makes it obvious that the wheel was neglected, and is going to turn off a lot of buyers and at the very least is going to prevent these wheels from fetching top dollar. I know you are probably tired now after all the work on em, but if you really want this to pay off, the improvement on the wheel has to be uniform. Even if you need to fold up a piece of wet and dry sandpaper to get into that crack, using a popsickle stick to stiffen it in order to get into the corner well, it is what you need to do to make this wheel really stellar.

Kris wrote that the darker spots were where the wheel had pitted. Can't do much about pitting without taking more material off the wheel. Pitts can run pretty deep, so it may just be better off leaving them be.

 

[Blackthorn One]

Kris wrote that the darker spots were where the wheel had pitted. Can't do much about pitting without taking more material off the wheel. Pitts can run pretty deep, so it may just be better off leaving them be.

If the pits really are that bad, then painting those sections would be the best way to make the wheel look new again. He could paint just the lip where it is pitted, maybe with some chrome paint, or paint that looks like aluminum. A fairly easy way to make the wheel look fresh, while still maintaining the look of the metal.

 

[Matt]

Just cut the valve stem off. I'm not sure if it's a permanent fixture but when I took my friends HSV to get some new tires they cut all the old valve stems off and put new ones in.

 

[tuscarora dave]

I called the guy up and talked him down to $100 for the pair of 4. I'm going to spend a day reconditioning them...and probably get at least $300-$400.

In my opinion, I'd still be thinking $100 - $200 for the set. The first set usually will leave some room for improvement. If you're looking to fetch top dollar, I'd be looking into a better process and/or maybe different tools to further restore these type of wheels. Clean or dirty it's still a neglected wheel.

 

[Jokeman]

I think there is a Harbor Freight near you. Go there and get an aluminum polishing kit. They have a bunch of felt bobs and come with 3 sticks of rouge. If done correctly you can get them to look like a mirror.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Nice improvement!

I've polished out a few sets of aluminum mags over the years as I like slotted mags and have ran them on my first truck, the tandem axle trailer on my drag boat and now have a set on my current truck.

A smooth finish is definitely easier to shine and maintain, machined finishes are just more difficult due to the ridges but any surfaces that get machine buffed will shine up and give an overall shiny look.

While looking for slotted mags out in California I was told a lot of people take them to aluminum recyclers to get cash and this was taking a lot of aluminum wheels out of the marketplace?

I picked up the set in the thread for $150.00 and they were rough, as in horrible horrible condition, the quality form the factory was poor and decades of neglect didn't make them better.

Old School Aluminum Slotted Mag Wheels - Extreme Makeover


While they're not as nice as I hoped, they did turn out respectable. I have two that are actually good quality and still looking for two more that match them. Once I find two more that match my good ones I'll swap them out and run the good ones and save the current onces for back-up.

I recently picked up a set of 4 old school Aluminum Slotted Mag Wheels for my truck and today they're getting and extreme makeover...

These are in about the same shape as the wheel that Oley from Flitz and I restored in this thread...

Show Car Garage Video: How to clean and polish aluminum wheels by machine with Flitz Metal Polish

Oley from Flitz calls this "White Rust"

First up... wash with Flitz Aluminum Pre-Clean. In the link above there's a video where we used this product and the results were truly amazing...

Next up will be putting the Wolfgang MetallWerk Aluminum Polishing System to the test...

Lake Country Wool-Ball 3 inch & 5 inch Wool Polishing Balls

Nitrile Gloves to keep your hands clean and shielded from chemicals...

Even though the backs and insides of the wheels are not seen I'm going do my best to clean them up a little bit...

First up is washing and cleaning with the Pre-Clean... I'll be back in a few hours...


Here's the time stamp from the start of this thread...

08-14-2010, 11:13 AM


Here's the time stamp for the update to this thread with after pictures...

08-14-2010, 06:22 PM



Took a short lunch break and a second break to run over to Robert's "Impressions Detailing" to pick up my spare, which is the slotted mag Oley and I polished out with a 35" Bogger on it...

And here are the results after about 5 hours of work; first a reminder as to how the backs of the wheels looked before starting. You can see the Flitz Aluminum Pre-Clean soaking in and going to work.

Here's the back of the wheels now...

Fronts after polishing...

And cleaned up the insides too...

These rims are now ready for tires... :xyxthumbs:



Process Comments
After investing the majority of my time restoring these wheels by first cleaning off the "White Rust" and oxidation using the Flitz Industrial Strength Aluminum PreClean with the 1500 Grit Flitz Mini ScuffPads.

I've polished out a lot of aluminum in my life as the owner of a full race Sanger Drag Boat for 20 years and all the running gear, engine mounts and many of the engine components were polished aluminum. Unlike a car with the engine usually out of site, the engine and running gear in the Sanger was completely open to view so as a "Car Guy" or a "Boat Guy" and a detailer I kept the aluminum polished to the hilt.

Also I've owned probably close to 5 sets of aluminum slotted mags on my trucks, cars and the trailer for my drag boat over the years, so again, I'm pretty familiar with restoring dull, oxidized aluminum and then maintaining a brilliant shine.

The wheels used in this extreme makeover were severely neglected and I knew that just like creating a show car finish on automotive paints, the end-results were going to be dependent upon the prep-work performed before the actual polishing work and this is where the Flitz Pre-Clean and #1500 Grit ScuffPads enter into the picture.



I didn't do a quickie when I did the washing step using the Flitz product, completely opposite, I meticulously rubbed the aluminum clean, putting a lot of passion behind the Flitz Scuff Pads and repeating the process over each wheel 2-3 times and of course with most of the emphasis on the face of the wheels.

The Fitz Scuff Pads are NOT just simple steel wool, instead they are non-metallic resin coated fibers with a cut equivalent to approximately #1500 grit sand paper but without using abrasive particles like sandpapers.

Sanding with sanding papers will also remove years of neglect but low grit papers will also leave behind sanding scratches which will then have to be worked out.

IMPORTANT NOTE
Even though the Flitz ScuffPads are not made from a metallic fiber and don't use abrasive particles for their cutting action they WILL scratch smooth, high shine aluminum surfaces so do not use or scrub with ScuffPads on high shine, smooth aluminum surfaces or you will then have to remove the scratches. In this extreme wheel makeover, the face of these wheels have machining marks and pitting from extensive corrosion, so in this example they were safe to use as they improved the surface because the surface was so far gone to start with. If you're unsure of the aluminum surface you're working on is a good candidate for this kind of process first test in an inconspicuous area or take some in focus pictures and start a thread and ask for guidance on our detailing discussion forum.
​

The Flitz Pre-Clean by the way is an amazing cleaner for aluminum in that it will rapidly dissolve built-up oxidation and what is referred to as "White Rust" all by itself and then rinse off and this is key... it will do it without dulling the aluminum. There are other chemical cleaners on the market that will dissolve and remove white rust and oxidation but many of these and especially anything with acid in it will dull and even gray the aluminum.


After the wheels were thoroughly cleaned using the ScuffPads and Pre-Clean the plan was to polish the aluminum with the wool polishing balls inserted into an electric drill. After a few minutes of using this system it was plain to see that the finish on the aluminum although clean would require more power to restore a shine, mostly because the overall quality of this particular brand of wheel was lower than hoped for and much lower as compared to higher quality aluminum slotted mags.

Enter the Rotary Buffer
After a few minutes of using the drill with the wool buffing balls, I switched over to using a Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer with a combination of a Optimum Double-Sided Rotary Adapter and a 3M Quick Release Adapter attached together to extend the reach of the buffing pad when using the rotary buffer.


From left to right...
Optimum Double-Sided Rotary Adapter - 3M Quick Release Adapter

I started with the Edge 6" Medium Cut Wool Buffing pad, the unique center system reduces/removes vibration while buffing.

Note I have removed the handle options from the Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer, this gets them out of the way for intricate work in tight spaces and is my own personal preference.

Below are the Wolfgang Metallwerks Compound and Polish, I did some testing with the compound and found it to be too aggressive for this aluminum so switched over to the polish for the first step.


From left to right...
Wolfgang Metallwerks Aluminum Compound, (green), and Wolfgang Metallwerks Aluminum Polish, (pinkish).

After using the aluminum polish I switched over to the Concours Polish... note that before using you want to stir the product up as it's normal to see some separation after the product has sit still on a shelf....

Stir your jar of Concours Polish with a clean utensil before using for a uniform consistency...

To apply the Concourse polish I switched over to an Edge 6" blue finishing pad.

After removing most of any leftover polishing residue I hand applied a coating of the Wolfgang Metallwerks Concours Metal Sealant.

In case you have never polished bare aluminum, it's completely normal to see a lot of blackish residue coming off onto your pads...

Products Used
Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer
3M Quick Release Adapter
Optimum Double-Sided Rotary Adapter
The Edge 2000 6 Inch Wool Buffing Pads

• Yellow Medium Cut 50% Wool, 50% Wool Acrylic Pad
• Blue Finishing 70% Acrylic, 30% Wool Pad

Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Aluminum Compound
Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Fine Aluminum Polish
Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Concours Aluminum Polish
Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Concours Metal Sealant
Lake Country Wool-Ball 3 inch & 5 inch Wool Polishing Balls
Flitz Mini ScuffPads - 1500 Grit
Flitz Industrial Strength Aluminum PreClean
Lake Country Wool-Ball 3 inch & 5 inch Wool Polishing Balls
Black Nitrile Gloves
__________________

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The Flitz Aluminum Preclean is a really cool product for uncoated dirty and neglected aluminum.

Cleans and removes "White Rust" and other crud without dulling the aluminum, that's the key feature, it doesn't dull the shine that's left and actually appears to help restore the shine as you work it over the aluminum.

Here's a video we shot on one of the my "good quality" slotted mags where we restored it using Flitz products. I still have the matching wheel right here below my desk saving it for another aluminum wheel extreme makeover.


Show Car Garage Video: How to clean and polish aluminum wheels by machine with Flitz Metal Polish


Oley the President of Flitz Polishing Products stopped by Autogeek's Show Car Garage to showcase some of their products here at our new Webcast Studio. Everything we worked on shined up like the day it was new!

Oley shared tips and techniques for maximizing the results from their complete line of product and in this article we're going to share the video that shows how to use the Flitz Mag Wheel Restoration Kit on a set of uncoated, aluminum Mag Wheels with years, maybe decades of oxidation and corrosion. The Flitz Mag Wheel Restoration Kit along with proper technique reversed years of neglect and restored a bright, mirror-like finish to our demo wheel.

Learn the secrets to removing oxidation and restoring a brilliant shine to aluminum wheels
[video=youtube_share;RF21eHUAwlk]- How to polish aluminum wheels to look...[/video]

Visit Autogeek's YouTube Channel for more YouTube Videos​

Here's some behind the scenes shots...

Before shooting a video everything needs to be set up and placed into position, this is where Yancy our Director takes over...

I was the lucky one to get to drive the Colossus Kodiak into the Studio...

All the props to be used in the video need to be positioned for the camera view, which Yancy can see simply by looking at the 55" big screen on the wall.

Hmm... over to the left just a little... no no no... back to the right a little... wait... back to the left a little... that's it... wait, back to the right a little... :d

Oley knows knows his product line inside and out and makes shooting a video a breeze...

Also, if you look just below the camera mounted on our 19' Jib Boom you'll see a "Smilie Face", that's so you know where the camera's at so anytime you need to look at the audience you know where to look.

When making a video there usually isn't time to fully polish out whatever the project is live, so in-between takes I used the Flitz Mag Wheel Restoration system to polish out the wheel enough to show the before and after difference.

Here's the results after doing a "quickie" on the wheel as time is limited for things like this... the wheel on the right is the mate to the wheel on the left and both wheels looked like the wheel on the left previously this morning.

Oley Jentzsch and myself at the end of the video taping. It was genuinely a lot of fun working with Oley and there's nothing like learning about a companies product line first hand from the President himself.

Later, after the video shoot was wrapped up, I was able to spend a little more time on the wheel without any pressure to hurry...

The Flitz Mag Wheel Restoration Kit really does take all the Elbow Grease out of cleaning and polishing aluminum wheels. The Pre Clean product was simply amazing to watch chemically undo years of damage without staining or dulling the wheel.


Flitz Mag Wheel Restoration Kit

Flitz Metal Polish Company Van

Besides Aluminum Mag Wheels there's a metal polishing kit for just about anything you need to polish clear or to a high shine and each product works just as good as the Mag Wheel Restoration Kit showcased in the above video. You can check out the complete line here... Flitz Polishing Products

Whatever your needs... Flitz has the products for you!

We had a great time and we look forward to working with Oley and Flitz Polishing Products again in the future!



Products Showcased
Flitz Aluminum Preclean
Flitz Paste Metal Polish
Flitz Buff Ball


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Perfections]

Very nice improvements, painstaking but well worth it for the end result!

 

[Kristopher1129]

I agree that they don't look as good as they should. But, we have to take into account that I was not expecting clear coat, or a machine polish for that matter. The pitting is just an issue I'm willing to deal with.

I honestly only bought them for a learning experience. I've never done a whole set of rims like these. Definitely never stripped clear off either. So, I'm learning as I go on these for sure.

Someone mentioned painting the pitted areas. I thought of that...but I don't really think that will necessarily improve the overall look. Maybe from a distance it would...but up close you would be able to tell.

I'm still gonna play around with them a bit. I only paid $100 for them. If I got $200...that would be fine with me. I think they could easily pull that much when I'm done. Of course they're not perfect...but for $200, you can't expect them to be!

Thanks for the kind words, and feedback guys! :xyxthumbs:

 

[Kristopher1129]

You made a lot of progress on that wheel, and I'm sorry to say this, but the grunge on the outer lip of the wheel is really noticeable and severely detracts from the overall look of the wheel, and then draws your attention to the grunge around the valve stem. It makes it obvious that the wheel was neglected, and is going to turn off a lot of buyers and at the very least is going to prevent these wheels from fetching top dollar. I know you are probably tired now after all the work on em, but if you really want this to pay off, the improvement on the wheel has to be uniform. Even if you need to fold up a piece of wet and dry sandpaper to get into that crack, using a popsickle stick to stiffen it in order to get into the corner well, it is what you need to do to make this wheel really stellar.

Trust me, I know, ha. It was driving me nuts. I tried at least getting the black out of the pits, and it wasn't really working out. I knew going in that these weren't going to come out perfect. I wasn't really shooting for perfection to begin with. I just wanted to experiement and have a little fun with them. I'm actually glad they were pitted, cause now I know...that not much can be done about it. Also, I've never taken clear off like that, so that was definitely interesting to me.

I may try your paint idea. Don't worry, I don't get offended by someones feedback. I appreciate your honesty, and will take note! :xyxthumbs:

 

[Kristopher1129]

Mike, I appreciate that thread you had on aluminum rims. That was actually what inspired me to purchase some of the Flitz products. Then, after using them...I really got interested in polishing some aluminum. Your thread is the whole reason I did this, ha.

Speaking of your threads. I read over your thread about single stage paint, and using Megs #7 instead of cutting compound to polish again...for the second time. I think that is hands down my favorite thread by you so far. Thanks for all the abundance of info you provide us with!!! :xyxthumbs:

 

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

Mike, I appreciate that thread you had on aluminum rims. That was actually what inspired me to purchase some of the Flitz products. Then, after using them...I really got interested in polishing some aluminum. Your thread is the whole reason I did this, ha.

Speaking of your threads. I read over your thread about single stage paint, and using Megs #7 instead of cutting compound to polish again...for the second time. I think that is hands down my favorite thread by you so far. Thanks for all the abundance of info you provide us with!!! :xyxthumbs:

well i read thru your post man...so i wanna know...how'd all 4 turn out! Did you finish or ever re-sell them?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Mike, I appreciate that thread you had on aluminum rims. That was actually what inspired me to purchase some of the Flitz products. Then, after using them...I really got interested in polishing some aluminum. Your thread is the whole reason I did this, ha.

Good to hear. I recently purchased a second set of aluminum mags for a new project and as usually need to restore these mags also.

Speaking of your threads. I read over your thread about single stage paint, and using Megs #7 instead of cutting compound to polish again...for the second time. I think that is hands down my favorite thread by you so far. Thanks for all the abundance of info you provide us with!!!

My favorite projects are restoring antique and original single stage paints on classic cars, especially "Barn Treasures". I've witnessed too many paint jobs ruined simply because the person attempting to restore the paint didn't really know what they were doing, usually using some type of Caveman Compound.

It took a long time to carefully word that article and I receive a lot of positive feedback from it. It all has to do with the paint.

If it's important to the owner of a car to do everything they can to preserve the original or antique paint then it's important to use a very non-aggressive approach.


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


I think it's cool AutoTraderClassic.com liked it enough to put it on their website for their audience.

 

[Kristopher1129]

well i read thru your post man...so i wanna know...how'd all 4 turn out! Did you finish or ever re-sell them?

Nah man. Never finished them. But, I did sell them for what I paid. I got too busy with work, and couldn't squeeze in the time to get the other 3 done.

One of my customers actually offered me $100 for them...so I just took it since that's what I paid for them anyways. I did learn quite a bit just doing that one. I learned that I'd NEVER offer this as a service, haha.

If the rims weren't machine polished, I would have had a much easier time. Plus, they would have polished out better. But, that wasn't the case. I was happy with the results I got from the one I finished. :xyxthumbs:

 

[Kristopher1129]

Good to hear. I recently purchased a second set of aluminum mags for a new project and as usually need to restore these mags also.





My favorite projects are restoring antique and original single stage paints on classic cars, especially "Barn Treasures". I've witnessed too many paint jobs ruined simply because the person attempting to restore the paint didn't really know what they were doing, usually using some type of Caveman Compound.

It took a long time to carefully word that article and I receive a lot of positive feedback from it. It all has to do with the paint.

If it's important to the owner of a car to do everything they can to preserve the original or antique paint then it's important to use a very non-aggressive approach.


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


I think it's cool AutoTraderClassic.com liked it enough to put it on their website for their audience.

Right on. Love your articles. I wish I lived closer cause I would love to see you polish out those mags personally. As you know I did those Foose rims recently that were sprayed with acid. That was actually the first time I did a whole set of rims like that.

I've done a lot of polishing for aluminum...but nothing like that up to that point. I definitely had your articles in the back of my head. I'd like to get down there and take some of your courses. :dblthumb2:

 

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

Nah man. Never finished them. But, I did sell them for what I paid. I got too busy with work, and couldn't squeeze in the time to get the other 3 done.

One of my customers actually offered me $100 for them...so I just took it since that's what I paid for them anyways. I did learn quite a bit just doing that one. I learned that I'd NEVER offer this as a service, haha.

If the rims weren't machine polished, I would have had a much easier time. Plus, they would have polished out better. But, that wasn't the case. I was happy with the results I got from the one I finished. :xyxthumbs:

Ive found a few fairly cheap sets up for sale around me, im just trying to figure which one would be easiest and have the largest market to resell...i have no idea how to tell someone 'oh these rims will fit this, this and this model car'...any tips there?

 

[Kristopher1129]

Ive found a few fairly cheap sets up for sale around me, im just trying to figure which one would be easiest and have the largest market to resell...i have no idea how to tell someone 'oh these rims will fit this, this and this model car'...any tips there?

Lug patterns, width, and rim size should be all the info you need. I would just leave it up to someone else to figure out if they're gonna fit.

It's certainly not your job to go out and create a list of ALL the vehicles the rims will fit. Most likely it will be someone seeking a particular size rim anways....and they'll just end up on yours via craigslist or whatever. They should be aware of what will fit their vehicle IMO. Once they're sold...sorry, no returns! lol

 

[SubieTrav]

Ive found a few fairly cheap sets up for sale around me, im just trying to figure which one would be easiest and have the largest market to resell...i have no idea how to tell someone 'oh these rims will fit this, this and this model car'...any tips there?

Try this website My Bolt Pattern - A Bolt Pattern Chart for Selecting Custom Rims to Fit Your Car or Truck

Travis

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I wish I lived closer cause I would love to see you polish out those mags personally.

I wish you lived closer too because I would let you give me a hand!

There's 4 of them... 3 for you and 1 for me...

How about sometime after SEMA?


:buffing: