Looking for ideas on how to bring a shine back to the factory stock wheels. It appears the "Clear-Coat" has worn off and the wheels are very dull looking and possibly pitting.

Any suggestions ??????????????????

Mother's polish and a small buffer.
If they're really bad, diluted acid wash will work but you have to be really careful.

Thanks Pookie.

However, does anyone make a type of "Clear Coating" that can be applied once the wheels are polished that will keep them shiney without having to polish on a weekly basis ??

I doubt that the clear coat has worn off....you would see an edge of the clear as it was coming off...it is probably the clear coat that is scratched and looks dull. You can find out for sure by testing a small spot with the mothers aluminum polish....if the rag turns black, then there is no clear coat...if it does not turn black, then the clear is still there. You can try to bring back the shine to the clear coat with a polishing compound (not rubbing compound) that is made for clear coats. Usually, the process of removing the clear coat is difficult and messy...and there is no easy process to reapply a new coat due to the heating of the wheel and exposure to brake dust, salt and other factors.
I know of a detailed post on Corvette Forum where a guy with polished wheels stripped off the clear so that they could be polished and he said it doesn't take that much work to keep them shiny...let me know if you are interested and I will try to find it.


Hope this helps,
Matt

mothers power ball works wonders in a drill on aluminum, did my kodiak 19.5s all 4 in about an hour, they were nasty from the neighbors dog pissing on them.

alsa corp makes a clear that they claim works great on polished aluminum and even chrome

Outlaw:

Thanks very much for the advice. I will try the polish and see what happens per your advice. It makes the most sense to me.

JPD:

Actually the wheels used to look very good until one day a crew member polished them with the "Ball" that you described. My thoughts were that he rubbed the clear coat off, but after reading OUTLAW's post I believe he may of just put light scrathes in the clear coat that actually makes it look dull.

Another suggestion I got today was to remove the tires from the wheels and bring them to get "Clear Powder Coating". But in that case if there is any clear left on them it would have to be removed.

Thanks to all for their suggestions !

Regards,

Ray

On large semi's you go to any decent sized truck stop and someone will be on the CB radio advertising to polish your wheels for 5 dollars each. Once they are done with a machine the first time it is easy to keep the shine up.

That's alot of work for 5 bucks. You couldn't even get your knob polished for that 20 years ago.

hey dennis happy new year, yes you can get your knob polished for 5 bucks at a truck stop. It could be ugly but keep your eyes closed. seriously there are people that will do your wheels cheap. Once they are done with an electric buffer it is easy to keep up. I just get them done once a month. how is the skater doing? are you going to be ready for the miami boat show poker run?