alright so i've tried all the possible over the counter products for my billet wheels on another set of wheels to see if they work and while they do these types of polishes seem to create a black residue that dulls the finish.

how can i clean/hand polish and protect my wheels without worry of messing them up? the company i bought my wheels from recommended mothers billet polish which does clean them up the best of any others i compared with but still leaves a black residue.

any suggetions beyond having to take a rotary tool and some white rouge?

 

www.wheelwax.com

I've heard great stories about this product Soon I'm gonna get some and test it out, and see if it gets the seal of complete approval.

 

15 huh....i though mothers billet polish was expensive at 13. if it doesn't leave a black residue then that's one step better.


anyone else?

 

What do you mean it leaves a black residue? Every aluminum polish I use doesn't.

I may sound like an a$$ but, are you wiping it off after you polish it?

 

how do you mean exactly?

i take a compound much like mothers billet polish....use as directed and buff it off. every over the counter polish i've ever used leaves a black residue. it even says on the bottle that if it doesn't the metal is not a polishable metal. no if you use things like white rouge supposedly it leaves a white residue.

the whole reason behind the colors is pretty simple. all the metals have pores large or small and if it leaves a black residue it dulls the finish where as white (reflecting) doesn't. don't get me wrong though, i'm the one asking for help so i sure could have it backwards but it makes good sense to me, so that's why i'm trying to find a polish that doesn't turn black.

 

OK I see what your saying now. Here's what I do.

I polish with the aluminum polish (Eagle one to be exact). If it leaves black residue in the pores of the metal, I'll then spray my wheels with Windex, then wipe it dry with a paper towel.

No more black residue

 

that's a good idea but doesn't the windex leave a film on it?

 

lol, sorry i have to laugh here. well since its a polishing compound its meant to polish and shine the metal, if its leaving the oxidization that means u didnt do all the steps of using the polishing compound. ur supposed to apply the compound and rub it in really good, then let it sit till it oxidizes (black residue) then rub all that off with a clean rag. dont let it sit to oxidize too long, a few min should be fine.

 

You could always use some Zoopseal on them. I watched their instructional video last night and they did a set of rims. Zoopseal will last up to 2-3 years, thats what they say.
I just did an intake, air cleaner, carburator base, distributor, valve covers, and a few pulleys. I still have 3/4th of a bottle left.

The only thing I dont like about the system is that its not spray on. You mix 2 chemicals in 1 bottle then you apply that to a cloth and swipe the zoop on the parts. The zoop then seeps into the pors and seals everything in. Once it dries you then have to use some wax and it gets rid of any rainbowing of the zoopseal.

It would be a whole lot more user frendly if it was spray on. Trying to get even swipes on an intake is a pita. The intake in my avatar is the one that I just zooped.

 

i having the same problem.

yes i have heard of the zoopseal but i don't want to dull the finish. thanks guys i'll figure it out on my own i guess.

 

Zoopseal doesnt dull the finish, this was taken 1 day after I coated the intake in zoop.
looks just as good as the day I polished it.

BEFORE:


AFTER: attached pic.

 

the one example i saw did...however that doesn't look to bad eveen though it is a picture and polishing can look much brighter in a picture. that looks great though, where did you say you can get that at?

 

http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp

On all of the parts I did they came out just fine. Where did you see the example pic?

 

i'm going to try to get a picture....it's one i took at a show where it was demonstrated.

 

I may not be an expert but every polish I have used creates a black residue. You can get so much off with a dry clean cloth as suggested but I always found that I needed to wash the wheels again after polishing to get the shine I want to get that last bit off. My 2 cents anyway. By the way Kandied, I think your car is THE $h1* !!! I have showed it to all my buddies and we agree , IT IS BAD A$$!!!

 

Budnik sells some polish for thier wheels.... Contact them and see what they say.



Jason

 

thanks for the compliments!

yes i know what budnik, boyd, and a few others like hre recommend and they all do the same thing. pretty much stick to the mothers billet polish which is $13 for their little oz can. not that it's a big deal because it does work better then the others but it still leaves a black residue. however i never took it to the next step and washed it a second time to remove the sediment although i would assume that that might remove any protectant. polishes really don't protect anyway correct?

i was told to use a white rouge compound but you can't use that stuff unless your using some sort of buffer which is rather hard on wheels.

 

LUVmy92 - You said exactly what I was going to say. Every
polish I have used also produces a black residue. Although,
buffing it out seems to help, the wheel doesn't seem to shine
as much as it should until I clean it off. So what I do now it polish,
buff, then I clean the wheel with Eagle One Polished Aluminum
wheel cleaner, then rinse with water. I use the eagle one
cleaner, because it has a neutral pH and will not remove the
polish or oxidize the aluminum.

Kandied - Good luck polishing the wheels. I noticed your rear
wheels are for sale and that you are going to mini-tub your car.
What size wheels/tires are you planning on going with now
18x13's with 335/30/18's? .

 

pretty close.

so the eagle one cleaner is it a spray cleaner like a mothers detail mist or a typical wheel cleaner?

the mothers billet aluminum polish works very well, i just want to make sure that i can get the black residue off because buffing doesn't do it no matter how hard you try unless you can get something to buff into the pores.

 

Ok first im seconding luvmy91 Ive always loved your car Kandied.

I've been using some chrome and metal polish made by 3M for marine applications. I used it on wheels and a couple other things and it seemed to make them shine pretty good. I wansnt inspecting with a magnifine glass or anything but I didnt see any black or white spots anywhere, Im pretty **** so i probably would have noticed this. It dries white (actually a little off white)so im guessing if it does leave any spots theyll be white. My dad yelled at me for using cause he said it was expensive...that doesnt mean its really expensive, tho i dont know how much it costs. I still use it tho.. i mean.. my car has to be clean right? Also I used to if i was feeling lazy just put tire black gel on the wheels and it made them shine good, that was with the stock clear coated so I dunno itll probably look like goob on aluminum, I guess its worth a try? i dunno

 

at 1200 a rim i'm not about to put tire wet on them.

thanks for the compliment. if most typical polishes don't leave a black residue then the material isn't a polishable metal. with that said i have yet to find a product that produces similar results yet yields a white residue.

it's all a big conspiracy i tell you......:lala:


out of everything on the shelf mothers billet aluminum works the best although it's over twice the price of the competitors. this other product called blue magic which is only $5 works pretty darn close for those on a budget but has a very strong smell to it which gets old quick.

i've been told to use 100% carnuba after polishing to protect. something along the lines of meguiars stage 3. i have yet to try that though.