Heres a little how to on making your polish aluminum wheels nice n shiny again. The whole process of going to the store, stripping the paint down, sanding, and buffing took me about 5-6 hours, and i spent about 27 bucks on everything i used. So on with the how to.

Supplies:
Sandpaper WATERPROOF - i started with 400 grit then moved to 600 grit and didnt go any higher
Buffing Wheels
Buffing compound
Drill
Water and water hose
Polishing Compound
Air compressor and buffing tool/or you can use a drill

Step 1: You need 400, 600, and any other fine grit sand paper your little heart desires



Make sure its the waterproof ****, because when you wet sand the wheels you dont want your sand paper to start falling apart.

Step 2: Start wet sanding, i soaked the sand paper and the wheel before i started, helps to keep the scratches to a minimum



Obviously you start with the 400, then move your way up. Rinse the wheel off occasionally so you can see what you're doing because you'll start to get black water around the spots you've sanded.

Step 3: After you're done wet sanding its time to buff those tiny scratches you've got left. Now I bought a little kit that came with 3 wheels, and 3 different buffing sticks, 1 for coarse, 1 for medium coarse, and 2 for fine. Start off accordingly (if you've got a lot of scratches and **** on your wheels then use the stronger stick, if not then start with the medium and finish with the fine)







Step 4: After you've buffed out the wheels or lips which ever you're doing, take a CLEAN rag/towel and wipe off the residue of the buffing sticks, you will start to see your shiny finish showing through. If you used the 3 different sticks wipe the residue off between switching sticks so you don't start to mix the compounds.

Step 5: After you've buffed your wheels out you can start to polish them, I used turtle wax polishing compound, but any brand will work. I rolled the buffing wheels in the compound and started on the wheels, you will have to wet the polishing compound a little at the beginning. But do little sections at a time for the best results



Now you are left with nice shiny wheels that will raise your status from w/e it is to PIMP haha. Enjoy the shininess and go show off your wheels








To strip the paint off of the wheels i picked up some Aircraft Paint Stripper in the spray can. Worked pretty well, got the oxidation off the lips and took off the paint like a pro. ENJOY!!

 

good looking stuff i was thinking 4 lug Se wheels though

 

Itll work for any aluminum wheels man...just more time haha.

 

looks good man, lol for a while i thought this was spences thread.

 

Freakin' sweet write-up! I think I need to resurrect my stock alloys for autocrossing.

 

You can use muriatic acid to take the corrosion off as well. All you do is mix it 50/50 in a spray bottle and spray those wheels down. Wear gloves, respirator, and eye glasses... seriously, this **** burns EVERYTHING. Dont get it on pavement, or your wife/parents will tear you a new one... turns ashpalt/concrete LIME green and starts smoking. Wont harm your tires/valve stems. Turns the wheels a dark grey color, then you hit it with a mothers powerball and some polish, or some sandpaper.