Is there a right way or a wrong way? And what will give the best results?

Several ways.
Here is a successful procedure I have used over the years.
Buy Aircraft paint remover (available at Walmart).
400, 600, 800, 1500, sand paper.
3m marine polish restorer
Mothers aluminum polish
Strip clear coat from wheels using aircraft remover, then clean them. Sand with 400, then 600, 800, 1500. Buff out with 3m polish.
Westand with 1500, buff out with 3m polish again followed by Mothers polish.
Bingo, high polished wheels


that is what most people go by. and it will give you great results. and for better. get them powdercoated afterwards so they will never look the shine.
good luck man

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Jarrad
1990 IROC-Z L98 350 TPI
TH-700R4
G92- 7.5" 10 Bolt 3.23gears
Bright Red Hardtop/ Grey Custom Interior
5,507 IROC's Coupes/Ttops; 2,415 5.7L IROC's Produced in 1990

DAILY DRIVER: 1991 S10 2.5L/5SPD WITH CAMARO RIMS

Thanks, but I'm not talking about wheels. I know how to do that already. Sorry, I should have been more specific. I want to know about aluminum in general.

ok just use the mothers aluminum polish then. all aluminum works the same man. what pieces are you talking about..

be more specific. and we can answer

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Jarrad
1990 IROC-Z L98 350 TPI
TH-700R4
G92- 7.5" 10 Bolt 3.23gears
Bright Red Hardtop/ Grey Custom Interior
5,507 IROC's Coupes/Ttops; 2,415 5.7L IROC's Produced in 1990

DAILY DRIVER: 1991 S10 2.5L/5SPD WITH CAMARO RIMS

if your talking like the plenum and the runners and stuff like that there is a tech articl on it. check it out i did it and it turned out great i redid it a couple of times then after i followed the procedure that was layed out a buddy of mine owns a body shop he took the buffing wheel to the parts that i polished and they turned out great!! hope this helps..

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1988 firebird ws6 formula350tpi ascd ram air hood GT AUTO 4th gen spoiler black paint with blue pearl centerline champ 500 16x8 all around potenza 245 50 16 on front and 27x11.5 16 mickey thompson sportsman pros on the rear(real sticky!!) msd 6al box blaster 3 coil accel 8.8 race wires hooker shorty headers hooker cat back system pro shift light A pillar gauge pod and water temp and air/fuel ratio gauges autometer oil pressure gauge b&m mega console shifter vette servo custom ram air system with a 9" K&N cone filter tb coolant bypass slp runners polished plenum and runners 170* thermostat smog pump and a/c delete plus cat delete march underdrive pullies, tpis airfoil cvr high torque starter (love it) aluminum drive shaft
best 1/4 mile run of 14.44@ 96.53
this run is before the new exhaust system new sticky tires coolant by pass smog removal new runners new thermostat and new three core radiator since i would get to the line and be well over 220* aluminum drive shaft and vette servo

What I had in mind was aluminum pipes, sheet metal, driveshafts and stuff like that. When I bought my car it had some eagle alloys (series 117). They are 15X7 and they were orginially polished, but now are looking kinda dull. I've tried extreme metal polish and it didn't work at all. I'm not looking for the shine of chrome (I think chrome looks better on a dark car, not a white one like I have), but I would like it just a tad brighter. RARE, will the procedure you described work on any kind of after market aluminum wheels? What about plated ones? Thanks

Rare the procedure you are saying is very similar to the tech article


by the way, yes it will work on any aluminum surface.

[This message has been edited by theformula (edited March 17, 2001).]

hey all i did was cut and paste my first response. i got if off her and saved it so i could print it later and take it with me. so i just pasted it. i didnt make it up. so sorry if i took anyones tech article.
and i hope everyone has answered your questions
and the driveshaft just use the mothers aluminum shine and it will look awesome since it is already polsihed.

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Jarrad
1990 IROC-Z L98 350 TPI
TH-700R4
G92- 7.5" 10 Bolt 3.23gears
Bright Red Hardtop/ Grey Custom Interior
5,507 IROC's Coupes/Ttops; 2,415 5.7L IROC's Produced in 1990

DAILY DRIVER: 1991 S10 2.5L/5SPD WITH CAMARO RIMS

hey
i have aluminum rims that are painted white, so will polish work just the same since there's white over the aluminum?
thanks for any info or tips.
-92RS