Getting mirror shine on polished aluminum

First pic is before polishing, second is after..

I use wheel wax, i got it from this site forgot the maker of it. Doesnt really seem to make a difference. What about using standard paint wax? meguires gold class?
I have meguires hot rims in a spray but found it is useless
 
They make regular metal sealants that are supposed to bond to the metal to protect it longer/better. I know several companies make them.
 
Hm....looks like it's polishing correctly. Just like paint you compound then polish. You need a more aggressive metal polish and then a fine metal polish.
 
When I was a kid I was into those go-peds. I was too poor as a kid to afford the chrome pieces so I would buy the billet aluminum pieces for a fraction of the price then soak in oven cleaner to remove the anodized coating and I would be left with bare aluminum. What I did then was I would use Wenols (red) mixed with a little bar keepers friend and go to town with a cotton buffing wheel then finish off with just wenols by hand. Im not even kidding when I say the parts came out looking chrome. Its now what I use on everything. I even did a skid plate on a hummer h2 that had no shine at all and left it looking like chrome. Unfortunately I dont have a picture since the sun was down by the time i was done. Hope that helps.
 
you use Wenols and bar keeper friend in a mix? Are they more abrasive than Mothers mag an aluminum?

I have meguires finish polish which I tried over the MMAP which did actually give it more brightness, I was impressed. But obviously I still have those larger scratches (cant feel them with a nail but can see them, metal loses its clarity in those areas) I need to get out, which the mothers just cant do.
 
I'd suggest you go with a multi-step program.

Sanding (start with 800, then 1500, then 2500 or so - all wet) and polish from there to remove the scratches. Then use your metal polish in steps to restore the finish. Or, try just the metal polishes below.

The inability of our Mag & Aluminum Polish to remove those scratches isn't an issue with the product - the scratches are too severe for that level of polish.

We make 3 different metal polishes - and AutoGeek stocks all 3:

05150 PowerMetal Scratch Removing Polish - designed to be used with a cutting type foam pad (our 05142 PowerBall Mini MD) at no more than 300 rpm on a drill.

05100/05101 Mag & Aluminum Polish - it will remove the scratches left behind from the 05150, and bring the shine up. Use it with a PowerBall/PowerCone at no more than 300 rpm on a drill.

05106 Billet Metal Polish - our finest polish, it's the finishing product to bring the shine up. Best results are obtained with a nitrile glove and polishing directly with fingertips. Wipe to remove with a high quality microfiber and many passes back and forth - no hard rubbing as this will introduce marring from the towel.

The above process works well for high quality aluminum, as I mentioned earlier in the thread. It's overkill for cast aluminum, or other inexpensive alloys.

Other manufacturers offer different levels of polishes as well. Regardless the brand you use, you need a stepped program from aggressive to less to least aggressive to give the finish you're looking for. Care of polished aluminum is time consuming and never-ending.

Even sometihng as simple as wiping polished rims down after a rainstorm will introduce scratches to them.

VegasTransport has extensive experience with polishing, and has had amazing results. Follow suggestions from him and others in the know -those who live with aluminum every day. Restoring aluminum is the same process as paint, but the products are different .
 
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VegasTransport has extensive experience with polishing, and has had amazing results. Follow suggestions from him and others in the know -those who live with aluminum every day. Restoring aluminum is the same process as paint, but the products are different .

Transplant. Sorry for the typo
 
Thank you. I was wondering about a "cutting" compound, something to take out sandinf scratxhes. I think this is where i messed up when i oroginally started out with the 600 or whatever it was. Went up to 3k, but the mmap didnt have enough cut to get those sanding marks out.

question about the foam applicator for cutting compound, are there any hand applicator versions of that? to get right up against the wheel face, i found the only thing that works is a terry towel folded once, then i can slip it under that small 1/8" gap, so there is no ring of grime.
 
Our PowerBall Mini MD is the type of foam you need. The shape of the PowerCone will get into that corner, but it's not aggressive enough.

If you have an old cutting pad, you could cut it up. A Lake Country yellow pad would be a good choice. Follow it with the milder polish by machine, then the Billet by hand.
 
Greg5OH said:
Thank you. I was wondering about a "cutting" compound, something to take out sandinf scratxhes. I think this is where i messed up when i oroginally started out with the 600 or whatever it was. Went up to 3k, but the mmap didnt have enough cut to get those sanding marks out.
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Are you sure you got all the coarser sanding marks out with each additional sanding step? It's no different than sanding or polishing paint. You have to make sure that you're removing all the "defects" of the previous step as you go. If you don't sand out the scratches left by the previous step with the next grit they will most likely be there when you're done sanding. Then after you polish, the deeper scratches become very obvious and you'll be back to sanding again or using a more aggressive wheel and compound to try to remove the scratches. It's easier to make sure you're removing the scratches as you go.
 
Really some GREAT information in this thread!

Thanx to everyone who posted...

Bill
 
I use a sisal wheel after 1500 grit sanding and Tripoli (Brown) compound on a 3-4" wheel on a drill or buffer. I use a flexible shaft available from most tool stores. Follow that with soft cotton buff wheel and red (rouge) compound. Works every time. If not the shine you desire lesser grit sand paper and very the compound and type of buffing wheel. Key point is match aggressiveness of compound to the wheel. Seal after very thorough cleaning (must remove all polishing oils) the same as paint.
 
Crispy said:
I use a sisal wheel after 1500 grit sanding and Tripoli (Brown) compound on a 3-4" wheel on a drill or buffer. I use a flexible shaft available from most tool stores. Follow that with soft cotton buff wheel and red (rouge) compound. Works every time. If not the shine you desire lesser grit sand paper and very the compound and type of buffing wheel. Key point is match aggressiveness of compound to the wheel. Seal after very thorough cleaning (must remove all polishing oils) the same as paint.
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I agree on matching the compound with the wheel.

I've found sisal wheels to be too agressive in most cases (left heavy scratches), but that was a larger dia wheel on a rotary. Perhaps the slower speed of the drill with the smaller wheels helps lessen the agressiveness.
 
MIsnowman said:
Are you sure you got all the coarser sanding marks out with each additional sanding step? It's no different than sanding or polishing paint. You have to make sure that you're removing all the "defects" of the previous step as you go. If you don't sand out the scratches left by the previous step with the next grit they will most likely be there when you're done sanding. Then after you polish, the deeper scratches become very obvious and you'll be back to sanding again or using a more aggressive wheel and compound to try to remove the scratches. It's easier to make sure you're removing the scratches as you go.
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Very,very true MIsnowman ...I've mostly buffed aluminum car trim,tanks and stainless car trim. I'll share this, when I do aluminum that has light scratching I'll start with 220 grit or 400 grit depending how bad scratches are,always sanding in a cross hatch pattern, first this direction ////// then this direction \\\\\\\. Work your way to 600, 800,1000,1500,3000. (If you are handy at buffing you can skip some sanding) Yeah ,I know ,it's a lot of wet sanding but that's what works for me. I then buff on 8" cotton flannel wheels with white (fine polish) compound. for the ultra mirror finish I use Nu Shine 2 from Nuvite on a cotton flannel wheel.The picture is my 64 Galaxie and the head light bezels and grille are aluminum,trim is stainless,bumper is chrome.The NuShine 2 takes it to another level.....I'm not trying to dis anything sold here at AG,but you asked for mirror finish and this product gets it done.
 
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?
 
ethanbaker said:
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?
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Seal it with something like Backfire Metal Sealant.
 
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