Aluminum Silverado wheels

[NJakey]

I scooped a set of factory aluminum wheels for my 87 Silverado. I thought I could just steel wool them and they’d polish up, but that’s hasn’t been the case. These wheels have little ridges in them and I think what I initially thought was grime may be scratches. Any suggestions on how to bring these back to life?

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[Frankenchevy]

Cut and buff

 

[gotyourgoat]

Believe these were like many other gm aluminum wheels and were not polished from the factory. After being milled the raw finish was cleared. If you start polishing them you're in for the long haul of knocking down those original mill marks. Some sort of chemical non abrasive stripper/solvent/cleaner or combination there of would be needed. At least to retain the originality and get out of the labor to polish the ridges out.
Someone more familiar with chemicals may chime in and have some suggestions.

 

[bucket]

Believe these were like many other gm aluminum wheels and were not polished from the factory. After being milled the raw finish was cleared. If you start polishing them you're in for the long haul of knocking down those original mill marks. Some sort of chemical non abrasive stripper/solvent/cleaner or combination there of would be needed. At least to retain the originality and get out of the labor to polish the ridges out.
Someone more familiar with chemicals may chime in and have some suggestions.

Yep, a mild paint stripper to remove the clearcoat, then a polish (by hand) with some mag/aluminum polish to clean the surface up. That will provide a nice factory finish. Wet sanding and polishing the aluminum will add even more shine.

I don't have a recommendation for paint stripper anymore. There was some stuff that took GM's wheel clearcoat right off without hurting the aluminum, but it's out of production. It was made by Kleen Strip and was called Peeler, then changed to Aircraft stripper. However, there is still remaining stock here and there. I recently picked up two cans of it from Federated in Amherst VA. It was the only two cans they had left.

 

[TPISly-C10]

lot of sanding, polishing and elbow grease! thx God i'm only need one for spare tire! loll

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[idahovette]

@TPISly-C10 , how soon can you come and show me how to do this?????....LOL that looks great!!!

 

[QBuff02]

lot of sanding, polishing and elbow grease! thx God i'm only need one for spare tire! loll

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Bringing old wheels like that back to life is definitely a labor of love! Or madness, or both.. Lol

 

[Marcoman]

lot of sanding, polishing and elbow grease! thx God i'm only need one for spare tire! loll

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Those are looking killer!

 

[Raybo135]

@TPISly-C10, What did you use to shine those up. I would like to get the aluminum moldings on my truck to shine like that again.

 

[NJakey]

lot of sanding, polishing and elbow grease! thx God i'm only need one for spare tire! loll

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These look ridiculously good!

 

[RecklessWOT]

Yep, a mild paint stripper to remove the clearcoat, then a polish (by hand) with some mag/aluminum polish to clean the surface up. That will provide a nice factory finish. Wet sanding and polishing the aluminum will add even more shine.

I don't have a recommendation for paint stripper anymore. There was some stuff that took GM's wheel clearcoat right off without hurting the aluminum, but it's out of production. It was made by Kleen Strip and was called Peeler, then changed to Aircraft stripper. However, there is still remaining stock here and there. I recently picked up two cans of it from Federated in Amherst VA. It was the only two cans they had left.

aircraft remover was the best stuff going. Sent straight down from the gods. Then a few ********* killed themselves with the fumes and they had to outlaw it to protect idiots from themselves. Now there is nothing that compares. A damn shame.

 

[78C10BigTen]

Ask @Vbb199 how he did his

 

[78C10BigTen]

lot of sanding, polishing and elbow grease! thx God i'm only need one for spare tire! loll

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Step 2 looks killer but... OMG!!! The finished product!

 

[bucket]

aircraft remover was the best stuff going. Sent straight down from the gods. Then a few ********* killed themselves with the fumes and they had to outlaw it to protect idiots from themselves. Now there is nothing that compares. A damn shame.

I can sort of understand how ********* could do that. It's funny to see wings melt right off of flies. But when the breeze changes direction, Peeler in your eyes is not fun, lol.

 

[calredneck]

I use Zephyr buffing supplies you can get them at your big truck parts stores and others look up how to do aluminum polishing on internet or you tube it will take some money if you want to do it the easy way