How do you polish 10 hole wheels

[lx500]

I started on one wheel using 220 sandpaper, then 600, then 1000. Buffed it out with electric buffing pad, red rouge, then white. It took forever though and still doesn't have that mirror shine. Any ideas :?:

[85 Notchback]

Media blast the with galss beads, the clearcoat Ford applied to them was some kind of super clearcoat lol. After glass beading them you will be able to clean and buff them no problem.

[v8only]

that clear coat is a bitch to remove, we tried it with a wire wheel with little success. Once, I ran into a guy with super polished ten holes, and he said he got an attachment for his drill, and just had at it, and it buffed them good, and got in all the holes.

[J. Alden]

I think you have the right stuff. What is the polishing pad on? Electric drill? You may need something with a higher RPM to polish. Are you going inside the holes or just the machined sections?

[Myersracing]

If you want a mirror finish you'll need to strip the coating from the wheel with a paint stripper best in my opinion is Aircraft aluminum stripper it works best for me. The more you scratch the surface to be polished the more work it will require to finish. Aluminum is a non- ferrous material and is easily scratched unlike chrome being a ferrous material.
Just a few tips from my experience with aluminum that is coated.

1.Strip coatings from aluminum with some sort of chemical stripper.
2.If you want that chrome look you need to get whatever you are polishing slick and as scratch free as possible.
3.Depending on how slick you get the piece you are polishing, will determine what type of compound you need to start with.

Polishing aluminum is basically the same as wet sanding and buffing a car, one difference is you don't have the worries of going thru the paint.

I'm not an expert but have polished many different types of aluminum pieces like sport bike frames, wheels, forks from a bike, intakes and some other odds and ends.
I love the look of polished aluminum over chrome their is alot of up keep but thats price you pay for aluminum and you can always refinish it at you own expense.

[negusm]

Aluminum is a ferrous material and is easily scratched unlike chrome being a non- ferrous material.

Ferrous = Iron

I think you mean:
Aluminum is a non-ferrous material and is easily scratched...

-Mike

[Myersracing]

Yes my bad, Thanks.

[mfpmax]

that clear coat is a bitch to remove, we tried it with a wire wheel with little success. Once, I ran into a guy with super polished ten holes, and he said he got an attachment for his drill, and just had at it, and it buffed them good, and got in all the holes.

Aircraft Stripper next time.

[Smiley84]

I had the same problem getting my 83 gt wheels clean.
Try using mothers Alumium polish its like $8.99 CD it works wonders on mag/alumium wheels I couldn't believe how shiny my wheels were, the looked almost as if they had been chromed. but it seems dust tends to stick to them more after words. but its deffently worth a try.

[The WebWheeler]

Anybody got any pics?
I thought about chroming them due its simplicity!
& quik wipe & your done!
Un like haveing to polish! :roll:

But Polishing could be nice because you can leave the holes raw & polish around them... :D

http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/197682/fullsize/webwheelerfilm2.gif

[nl mex]

I'm in the process of polishing my Roush rims for my 99 GT......it's a pain in the butt, but well worth it. My rims used to be silver. Here are some pics.....

http://www.fordpower.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111233

[The WebWheeler]

Has anybody got a Pic of these Rims Chromed :?:

[f4fntm]

I'm in the process of polishing my Roush rims for my 99 GT......it's a pain in the butt, but well worth it. My rims used to be silver. Here are some pics.....
Can't access them - maybe you could just post them here.

[capri650]

The Problem with 10 is that underneath the clear coat ar groove rings to give the clear adna ribbed illusion after you remove the clear coat, I used a DA and 180 grit paper after get down thru clear and smooth ribis then you can start to progressively go to finer grit just be sure that you are cutting down the sanding marks you can switch to wet sanding as the alu. will clog sanding paper fast. once you have all the sanding marks just about gone then you can hit it with heavy rogue then work it til start to get shine then go to white til get shine. I did a set for my 87 XR& 10 years ago spent about 5hours a wheel and that was just the faces not holes or the ring. There is no fast way to polish Aluminum.