Help! Polished Alu Wheel Pitting .. ??

[65-to-00]

Now, I know some folks have real problems and this is minor by comparison but ....

It's driving me freaking wacky! :W:W:W

I have "Googled" till my eye balls were hemoraging and have tried the search features and all of that even tried to find some local specialty shops and come up with nothing.

They (according to my build sheet), are the polished aluminium option for the 2000 dead stock C-5 ... $895 back then!

Car has about 40,000 miles on it so they are starting to show age and it seems like almost overnight (over winter anyhoo), they are looking pretty seedy. Inboard of the rotors is downright nasty ....

Now, I'm not a fanatic and don't expect show quality "from a can", just something to make them presentable .... I'd like to go to a few of those sidewalk "cruise night" or ice cream parlor things and though the paint is reasonable .... those wheels .... are starting to stick out like a sore thumb.

Today, I bought "The Ball" (sponge thingie for a drill), a bottle of Meguiars spray wheel cleaner for chrome ..... and ..... a can of Mothers "Mag & Aluminium Polish" (paste).

I used the ball and the spray but they didn't do a thing to the areas of pitting ..... and I was very reluctant to hit them with a paste since it may haze or screw up with the plastic that ... I think ... may be on those wheels. The kid in the Auto Zone insisted that the paste would work but I'm not convinced especially with the possible plastic.

Recently retired, so on a budget I can't afford new wheels ... and would not want to "put the car down" to ship them somewhere ... especially in the middle of summer.

What can I do to get them "reasonable" ..... ???? :confused

Any help with this .... appreciated fer' sure .... ;help ... I know in the greater scope of a world with real problems this ain't nuttin ..... but for a month now it's been driving me nutty.

 

[c5y2k]

The stock wheels are covered in a clear coat so you want to treat them just like the body of the car. Wash, clean and polish them the same. I would say try the paste or do what you can to get them cleaned up. Once that is done polish and wax them like you do the car. After you get them cleaned up make sure to NOT use wheel cleaner on them it will strip the wax off. Use the same soap you use to wash the car to clean them. Just make sure to change the water before you start on the body of the car.

 

[65-to-00]

I'm screwed ...

Tried the Mothers paste and they look pretty bad. If there is any "improvement" it is a -1 on a 1 to 10 scale.

;squint:

 

[c5y2k]

Are u hand polishing them?

 

[njlouc]

the stock polished wheels are (highly) polished aluminum then finished with a clear coat.
Some after market ones are actually chrome plated aluminum then finished with a clear coat. Yours as noted above is most likely the polished type. You may have some residual paste that has to be removed.

FYI - From what I have seen, some liquid "wheel cleaners" contain a mild acid which is designed to clean uncoated/ unpolished wheels.

I dont believe that the inside/back of the wheel is coated and thats where you seem to have pitting. I have that on mine and have seen it on others.
Try light auto polish by hand on the front polished side and the inside/back should be polished with the ball system after a cleaning. Although I haven't tried it, I think that the inside could be polished with medium polishing compound then the ball.
I think that they should be removed to polish.
Good luck and post some pictures of your success.

 

[Toms007]

Yea, I think some pictures here would gives us more of an idea what you are facing. If the pitting is into the aluminum itself, you may have to remove the clearcoat and then sand and polish them out, then you could re-clearcoat them (or take them to a wheel place and have it done). If the pitting is just in the clearcoat, maybe removing it and then re clearing them might be the answer.

 

[Toms007]

Another thought...are you trying to do this with the wheels on the car? I usually take the wheels off and give them a good cleaning. The "back barrel" seems to pick up all sots of junk that is nearly impossible to remove with the wheel on the car.

I don't know, just a thought... and pictures if you can get them would help tremendously.