I have a set of the 13", eight spoke gold Enkies, but they are pretty corroded around the once polished lip, and a bit on the gold itself. I tried a little mother's polish, but it did not do a thing.

 

What do you all use to restore a nice little set of wheels?

 

Thanks,

 

j.

I use YOU like my polishing rag.

sandblast them and paint them afresh with some rustoleum?? It depends on the extent of the corrosion, but it doesn't take a great deal to be a killer.

yep clean the rust off, either with sandblast or abrasive sanding disks. I don't own a sandblaster so I have limped by with abrasive disks on a drilll, tons of rust chemical applicant, then clean dry and repaint, repeat if necessary, I HATE rust. it's such a pain in the assholomio.

Not rust. They are aluminum.

 

Any other ideas? The gold middle isn't too bad. It is the aluminum ring on the outside that needs the most work.

Walnut-hull blasting.

navel jelly for Al

get a buffer wheel for an electric drill and some (mild) abrasives (rubbing compound) - take your time - perhaps put a couple layers of masking tape where you DON'T want to take the gold off - go easy on the pressure - let the abrasives do the work - you should end up with a really sharp looking rim - then either clean it with solvent and clear coat it (to keep it from pitting again - for a little while) or get happy with keeping them clean and waxed every few weeks.

There are several "aluminum" finishes, and they all have different polishing characteristics.

 

Since you brought up the subjuct, I'm assuming you are dealing with the worst of these surfaces; the non-machined (pourous) type. This finish is dull, dark and stains easily. Forget about trying to buff them to a shiny silver finish - you'll be wasting your time. About the only thing you can do with these is paint them, and even that can be tricky. Primer does not always adhere well to cast aluminum, and this can lead to expansion/shrinking "alligator skin" texture. On "raw" aluminum surfaces, I would recommend bead blasting, followed by powder coating for best results.

 

Naval Jelly or Mother's aluminum polish works well on the "machined" aluminum surfaces, but you must follow with a protective coating to keep the shine. Eastwood Supply carries a decent clear-coat for this purpose, but it does have a slight yellowish tinge. Personally, I think old fashioned wax looks the best, but it requires periodic buffing.

 

good luck, John

I have a set of the 13", eight spoke gold Enkies, but they are pretty corroded around the once polished lip, and a bit on the gold itself. I tried a little mother's polish, but it did not do a thing.

 

What do you all use to restore a nice little set of wheels?

 

Thanks,

 

j.

 

Yeti, a lot depends on your budget. How much do you want to spend? The polished lip can be done by hand with wet/dry sandpaper, and elbow grease. A lot of good suggestions here.

 

I had a nasty looking set of American Racing OLD Torque Thrust wheels. They had lain outside under a tree for about 20 years.

 

First I acid washed them. I then went over them with a sandblaster. I polished the lip with wet 80 grit sandpaper, to start. Other grits after that. Then the actual fine polishing by machine and buffer wheel. Man, that's a LOT of work, time/money thing.

 

You should just give up and sell them to me cheap.

 

Doug

Yeti, a lot depends on your budget.

 

How much do you want to spend? Man, that's a LOT of work, time/money thing.

 

Doug

 

Doug:

 

That is very true. I can't think of too many sets that would be worth the effort. I did this with my set of Pug alloys, but I'm not sure I'd do it again.

And you really can't run a nice set of rims in certain parts of the country, especially on days like this. A few trips up and down SR 33, with all the salt they lay down around here (Central/Southern OH), will eat those up in no time...

John

 

Never been afraid to put time into restoring my cars. Some would say I am a little OCD

 

Great advice, all. I will get some pics of the before and after when the weather warms up a bit.