Topic: Polishing aluminum rims

[Dave K]

Many of you know the satin finish of the aluminum rims used on the XL's, XR's and CR's. I want to polish the rims to a bright polished shine. Is the thing to do is to start with something like a 400 grit and then work up to a 600 grit, before going to the buffer? Any hints or tips?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I can't really speak on how to polish your rims, but I wanted to say hello from New Bremen (I'm interning at Crown right now).

[Stev-o]

If they have a clear on them, strip that off first. Aircraft stripper works good.
Then, yes you can start with 400 or lower and work your way up. Then buff with the different compounds.
Do a search, there are some good threads on polishing on this forum.
I agree, highly polished aluminum looks great!

[Dave K]

Thanks Stev-o for the response. You are right as well, I didn't think and I should of done a search. 

Sheik, welcome to the neighborhood. I am about 6miles from you at the where I live. My daughter currently lives where you are from, near Cincinnati.

[greenjeans]

Remove the satin finish - If you are lucky, it's just a thin coating that will leave a pretty nice surface.

You may or may not need to sand them.   For aluminum, you should try the brown tripoli compound.

Depending on your buffer and its horsepower and arbor, you can put 2 or possibly 3 buffing wheels on there to give you  more surface area.
It will speed up your time.