So last year I decided to join the ranks and sand and polish my Iroc wheels.I used aircraft stripper first,followed by 100 grit,220 grit,320 grit dry,320 grit wet,400 grit dry, and ended with alot of 400 grit wetsanding.They sat all summer and last week I decided to finally polish them.I am using the Eastwood kit with the white rogue and tripoli with the according buffing wheels.I am using a air powered die grinder and a 60 gallon compressor.My problem is the first wheel did not seem to polish out with the superb luster I was expecting.I tried another wheel with the same results.I am expecting a much better reflection close up and it is hazy at best.Upon a very close visual inspection you can still see fine sand scratches.They are not deep but at the right angle in the light you can spot them if you concentrate on it.Will these buff out or is more sanding necessary?This is my first attempt at polishing any metal so I know nothing in this arena.Searching old posts didn't really help me find anyone else running into this.I attached two pics to hopefully help describe what I am babling about!Anyone have any ideas?

 

another...

 

when i sand stuff, normally i start with 220, and work my way to 1000...that takes out most of the scratches you see.

 

I stopped at 400 wet as that is what everyone seems to say is the finest you wanna sand aluminum with.They say after that the compounds will take care of the rest.I think it may be a buffer speed issue,I need to add some RPM's.I don't think I am creating enough heat.

 

The higher you go with the sand paper the less work you need to do with the buffer. So if you stopped at 400 your going to have to buff the hell out of them. If you go to 1000, the buffing is alot easier, sometimes you can skip the rougher compound and go straight to the final buff.

Most people dont sand with 1000 because they find it easier to do alot of buffing with power tools rather than the manual hand sanding.

 

I buffed mine with a 1800rpm drill, You really have to buff the hell outta them to get a good luster, but it sounds like your on the right path.

 

Sounds like I need to buff them with the course compund longer..with a little more RPM's as well.How much pressure needs to be applied??

I thought they would polish up a little quicker than that...figured it would buff out easy.

 

I used Tripoli for quite awhile. You need to apply a decent amount of pressure while your buffing too. If your doing it right, you will know very quickly as things will start to shine up quickly.

 

Try rubbing on some Mother's billet aluminum polish. That's what I use on my 91-92 16" wheels after I polished them. I didn't use all the buffing compounds though.






Not the best pic, but the only one I have.

 

I went to about 1000 with mine. Some people say to stop at 400, but some people also do this a LOT, and are VERY good at it. With that ability, they probably see better results that way, but for most of us I think a little extra sanding goes a long way.

JM2C

 

Id suggest going a higher grit if you wanna get a nice shine. Heres the aluminum plenum I polished up to 2000 grit and some mothers polish.

 

Yeah I would go with a higher grit. Whenever I polished my compressor housing on my turbo I went to like a 1200 grit and then used a dremil with a fine metal polish. It came out like a mirror. I would also suggest using a metal sealer once your done to help prevent oxidation and corosion since you removed the clear and they're now bare aluminum. I use Wizards Power Seal on my turbo and I'm very pleased with the results. You're suppose to use it every like 3 months or so but it has a very fine grit to it also to help restore the shine everytime you use it while blocking that dreaded oxidation.

 

Definitely go with a higher grit. When I went to work on my plenum I took it all the way up to 1200. If your going to wet sand, I wouldn't recommend doing it at such a low grit. The results you received are to be expected.

 

So,I am about to get back to these wheels.Wheels are wet sanded with 400 as they sit right now.I plan to sand to 1000 or so and start the polishing again.Do I need to polish in each step/grit?Starting at 400 right now..go 500,600,700,etc,etc till I get to 1000 grit?Do I have to dry sand and then wet sand each grit..or at this point should each succesive step just be wet sanded?

 

I would just dry sand up to like 1000 and then go a step down and wetsand and then go back to 1000 and wet sand.

 

lotsa elbow grease and Mothers Billet Alum. polish.

http://www.cecoatings.com/images/Car...s/DSC01486.JPG

220/320/400 is usually good enough. Then buff with white rouge.
(thats what I do when I tripple chrome plate stuff)

you can buff any 320/400 grit lines out easy with a good buff wheel.

 

Good info for anyone. This is where I buy some of my buffing suplies
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm#

Speeds
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm#speed

CUT AND POLISH MOTIONS
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm#cut

One Wheel for one compound DO NOT mix compunds
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm#wheel

 

Wow!!
Some of that is looking good. I may have to work on my 13 year old wheels!!

 

This is what I kept reading and hearning and why I stopped at 400.I am using the Eastwood recommended wheel and compounds.I am also new to this so it is more likely user inexperience.I may need to buff longer with the first step to get better results..I don't know at this point.

 

Well I guess I should have said the steps I suggested is what I used to do my aluminum compressor housing on my turbo. He's some close to finished pictures. This is without using any compound on it yet.

http://home.comcast.net/~FIRE72BIRD/IMG_0232.JPG (warning it's big but shows the slight marring that you'll get before the compound.

 

stoped at 400 on my turbo also.



The bbuffing action is where it sounds like you need to spend more time at.

Dont run it over the rims fast. You need to get a good slow steady motion. dont go back and forth. Keep a steady motion.
Say from the hub outward. then back to the hub outward again. etc.. etc...

 

Ok so that is also where I beleive I am failing to get the results I am after.The actual buffing.Am I looking for alot of RPM or not?How often do you run the wheel over the rake to clean it out?I have been doing it after each rib.

 

What were your steps to acheive these????This is what I am looking to come out with!

 

You just quoted the steps I use.

Sand
220/320/400 ( i use a grease stick not water)

That set I went to like 800 but you dont have to.

EVERYTHING I chrome plate I stop at 400 then buff it out.
To slow a RPM and your not buffing enough. To much you will burn it to much and it will cloud up on you.

I'll look at the machines tomorrow and see what the RPM on them are.