I need to freshen up these mags, what the best way to do it? I know with my old spun aluminum Centerlines I used a scotch pad and WD40.

when Dad drove tractrailer, he pulled an aluminum dump trailer. they used Fruehauf (one of the trailer makers)acid. It would clean the aluminum to a whitesh finish, but it would clean off the stuff like your wheels has. Any tractor trailer dealership/parts store should have it. Personally I used SOS pads.

eagle one , mothers , etc. ETCHING mag wheel cleaner .

Mothers polish and one of those red powerball's you buy at an auto parts store that mounts on the end of a drill ( for wheel polishing) Will be polished in no time!

or check with a local metal polisher on a price, I'm sure there are a dozen or more places around you, time is money and it will take you at the least two hours a wheel to get them to a high luster finish. What would you charge an hour to do someone elses wheels

Here's one with just a quick search, not saying to use them just an example of places that would do them....

http://russellscustompolishing.com/

I know around here there are at least a dozen metal polishing places that are reasonable...again just an opinion.

If you do them your self call a local bike shop and ask if they carry Simichrome and get a small tube to at the least do the final polishing.

This gets my vote

http://www.autosol.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=1824

I'm not so sure those were ever polished? Weren't they more of satin finish when new?

I'd start with acid and a scotchbrite pad like guys said. Things I have used to clean aluminum:

You can use aluminum cleaner that the auto paint store sells.

Or you could use "coil cleaner" that HVAC guys use to clean coils.

Or I have some alkaline degreaser that will etch dirt out of aluminum just like the above products.

Or probably easiest, mag cleaner that etches like RR said. I don't think you want to polish?

If they were polished originally, then I would use a wool or cotton buff on them after the acid. A foam ball is very weak compared to a cotton buff.

I second the Autosol, I have done shitloads of polishing in the past and from all the polishes I tried, Autosol is the best, imo.

I could completely polish that simple wheel in less than 10 minutes per wheel if it was originally polished with my polishing tools.. Up to 2 hours per wheel would be crazy in my mind, sorry.

The red stuff in the spray bottle is the alkaline degreaser that will lift dirt out of aluminum and etch it. It's made by Johnson Wax and called Job Shop 600. Sold to strip waxed floors and is a awesome degreaser.




Use the red stuff to get brake dust off of aluminum wheels. It'll etch the polished, got to keep it away from polished aluminum, but boy does it clean. If it get's on the polished, I can buff it it out and make it look new again.

Wheel on the left is the inside wheel and not polished, has a satin finish that I have restored many times since 2002 with just the degreaser and a pressure washer.


I polish tanker trucks at work sometimes and buy it by the case.

Ever try Simichrome?

Yes have some on the shelf right now along with I bet 5 other kinds. Not a bad polish at all, works just like Autosol for the most part. Maybe better?

I started using Autosol because it was available in quarts at the Race Hardware store in Indy that I shopped at. Then it works really well. Now I get it from Eastwood.