Getting mirror shine on polished aluminum

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Greg5OH

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Hey guys, I have had alot of issues getting that nice chrome like look from my polished aluminum wheel lips. I tried working up from a 400 all the way to a 3000 grit, rouge, mothers aluminum polish but there is always a little bit of a haze. They dont have the depth and clarity I am looking for.
TBH after that whole wetsanding process etc, they looked about the same as the other wheel just hand buffed with mothers aluminum polish!.

What am I missing here? i see guys with some crazy hi shine and clarity polished aluminum wheel lips! Feed back please
 
After using Mag & Aluminum Polish, step up to a finer polish, like our Billet Metal Polish.

Technique and tools are important, too. The best results I've obtained have been with using Billet Polish and a nitrile glove - do your polishing with the glove, and then wipe the residue with a quality microfiber lightly - turning the towel over frequently and not using any pressure.

BTW, the shine is going to be dependent on the quality of the aluminum. The highest shine is going to come from billet, with forged right behind. Expecting that level of shine from a cast aluminum rim is hopeful, but not likely.

Have any pix of the rim you're working on?
 
forrest@mothers said:
Technique and tools are important, too.

Have any pix of the rim you're working on?
Click to expand...

Plus one.

At this point in the process one needs proper speed and pressure to eliminate the haze regardless of machine or manual correction.

Also sounds like you're working dirty.
 
Vegas Transplant said:
Plus one.

At this point in the process one needs proper speed and pressure to eliminate the haze regardless of machine or manual correction.
Click to expand...

Consistent speed and pressure will give more uniform results. A tool to do the work will help. Btw, more speed is not necessarily a good thing.
 
I think we kinda said the same thing. I enjoy working on aluminum as much as a fat kid loves cake.

If I live ten lifetimes I'll never possess the knowledge of blinging aluminum that you have acquired . Mother's quality control is world renowned.
I can't recall one week in the last year or so where I haven't used MM&AP. Its that good.
Knowing when and where in the process to reach for it separates novices from enthusiasts.

I spent seven hours touching up my tanks and wheels yesterday only to back into a bay at the tank wash today where a pinhole steam of caustic rinse ruined the drivers side.
 
What material are you using for your final wipe? I've found flannel leaves the best finish. I was using multi-purpose microfibers and always seemed to have some haze/marring. On a recommendation from a couple guys who know aluminum polishing, I switched to flannel and haven't looked back. All of my experience has been on aluminum tanks and tubing, not wheels, but the results should be similar. Also, unless your wheels are pitted or scratched, I don't see any benefit in doing the sanding steps.
 
Well, they won't ever look like chrome, unless you actually have them chromed, but you can get a mirror shine without too much fuss. Sand out to 600 grit, then brown rouge with a yellow wheel, followed by white rouge with a white wheel. We use 8" buffing wheels on an old beast of a milwaukee grinder that spins around 5000 rpm. One of the keys to using rouge successfully is that the part you're working on has to be hot, like a couple hundred degrees hot. If the part is cold the rouge will just come right off the wheel and stick to the part you're trying to polish. Brushing and reloading the wheel with rouge every 30 seconds or so will make it easier to get a semi scratch free shine. Now, you can get aluminum really shiny without rouge, but if you want mirror, rouge is the only way. The spanish guys in SoCal that polish big rigs know what they're doing ;)

Here's a couple after pictures of a set of bmw style 5's we did a full restore on. Cell phone quality, but better than nothing.
 
Brody, yes! that is the shine I am going for, and I know it can be achieved. I have a set of Autocouture magnifiques on my ls400 I am trying to get the lip to look like that. They are $1k a piece new, so I would think the aluminum quality is decent. They are forged. (goot to know about billet vs forged, my billet wheels on the foxbody shine up super quick and easy!) I was using smaller buffing wheels on a plug in drill before. I have never used wheels on a grinder. I shall look into this.

are those buffing wheels something I can pick up at home depot or HF? I need these done before Friday so dont have time for shipping at the moment.

I will get some pictures tonight. Right now they are super dirty as I have yet to wash them in prep for polishing them.
 
I use a product called Simichrome and a soft cotton buffing wheel on a die grinder on the final steps, I don't know if AGO sells either. It can be hard to find.

To give you an idea this is mainly aluminum - the beast is the intake manifold because it's sand cast.


engine.jpg
 
Greg5OH said:
Brody, yes! that is the shine I am going for, and I know it can be achieved. I have a set of Autocouture magnifiques on my ls400 I am trying to get the lip to look like that. They are $1k a piece new, so I would think the aluminum quality is decent. They are forged. (goot to know about billet vs forged, my billet wheels on the foxbody shine up super quick and easy!) I was using smaller buffing wheels on a plug in drill before. I have never used wheels on a grinder. I shall look into this.

are those buffing wheels something I can pick up at home depot or HF? I need these done before Friday so dont have time for shipping at the moment.

I will get some pictures tonight. Right now they are super dirty as I have yet to wash them in prep for polishing them.
Click to expand...

The drill might be your issue. I'm not sure what diameter wheels you are using or what rpm the drill turns, but you want to be around 5000 sfm (surface feet per minute) when polishing aluminum. Calculate sfm by multiplying the circumference of the wheel (in feet) by the rpm it's spinning. For example a 4" wheel has roughly the same sfm as the rpm it is turning. (4" X 3.14159) / 12 = 1.047' So at 5000 rpm sfm = 5000 X 1.047 = 5235 sfm. I think most high speed drills max out around 2000-2500 rpm. Slow speeds will give less than impressive results IME.
 
good to know! i will look for a 4" grinder buffer wheel
 
I am having some issues finding something that attach to a standard handheld grinder. They all seem to be for bench grinders?
 
I would go with a larger wheel than 4". A 4" wheel probably won't even stick past the drive head of the grinder. I would go at least 6" preferably 8" to give you more room between the tool and the edge of the wheel. I'm not sure where you could find them locally. Maybe try a truck stop? I know our local TA is a zephyr dealer and has a decent selection of wheels and compounds.
 
I doubt you'll find anything good at HD or HFT. The quality of the buffing wheels and rouge makes a big difference. We use these guys Metal Polishing Supplies, Buffing Supplies & Metal Finishing Supply for rouge and buffing wheels. Hopefully AG doesn't have an issue with that link, it's not like I'm sending you to a competing site or anything. Checked the model on the buffer today as well, it's a milwaukee 6066-6.
 
If you want to have the lips shiny and polished like chrome, it takes a few steps. Having multiple sets of bbs wheels and tsw etc, I have some knowledge to polishing the lips. First you want to establish if your wheels are in a good state to even polish. No clear coat, and not rashed to hell. Let's assume your wheel is clean and you've done your own polishing to make it chrome like. You'll want to get a mother's PowerBall, or megs foam polishing cone. They attach to a drill. I prefer using megs aluminum polish, but eagle polish works good too. You want to have a clean wheel and lots of time. It's pretty straight forward. Use the Polish and PowerBall the f*** out of those lips. You can't really mess it up. Just takes time.
 
I have had no luck with the power cone. I get better results with just my hand. Brody thanks for the link, I will look into it.

Here are the wheels.

after washing and claybar. lots of scratches and marrs.


MMAP and terry cloth.
Ibviously wont take out those scratches. They are not deep, cant catch my finger nail on em.
bad pic to show the detail.
 
an add on question: after I finally achieve a mint scratch free and polished surface, how can I keep it super clean and bright after driving in the rain? EAfter driving through the rain, rinsing off the wheels and giving them a quick wipe with a micro, they are noticably more dull. i then have to re polish them. every. single. time.

Chrome...i need to chrome the lips.
 
Yikes!! I certainly hope that's before polishing and not after.

Do you use any type of sealant on them after you polish? That should help with staining/dulling.
 
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