Re: cleaning / polishing AL wheels?

["Jim Adney" <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

> 	I got some aluminum rims that I'm thinking of putting on the '69
> for fun, but they're a bit stained and/or corroded.  I spent about a
> quareter of an hour just trying to clean up about two square inches with
> steel wool!  Yikes!  I'm not looking to get them polished to a mirror
> finish at this point, but just to make them look *clean*.  What do people
> recommend?  Chemical?  Mechanical (elbow grease)?  Any other idease?

If you get aluminum really clean it will oxidize really, really 
quickly over the next few weeks and ruin the effect, as well as your 
day if you put a lot of effort into it.  The best way to do this is 
to tumble polish them in a medium that produces a controlled oxide 
layer that will prevent furthur corrosion.

Finding someone with a tumbler big enough for wheels will be hard, 
but you might call some of the places that repair wheels.  If someone 
has the right setup it should be relatively cheap, and a lot better 
than spending the rest of your life polishing.

Jim
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Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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