Thread: To polish or not to polish

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My car doesn't have much trim on the outside, but what it does have is brushed. That was a theme I followed inside the car as well. The issue I'm having is with the wheels. The natural thing to do is polish them, but it would be inconsistent. I'd like to brush them, but I don't know how to go about it so that it looks good. I've had the car 3 years now, and so far I've just just given them a light polish to get the water spots off, but not make them too shiny.

Suggestions?

What's the brush finish...i.e. is it a fine brush, medium, coarse? If it is fine, can you do a Scotchbrite on the wheels to match? Of course, it would require some directional sanding just like the brush on everything else. Brush finish is a tough one to duplicate on wheels. If Scotchbrite did work, it would make it fairly easy to upkeep. You might experiment on some other polished aluminum piece before you start brushing a wheel.

I am impressed that you are trying to keep the continuity. I have a polished aluminum mirror on my 39 and it clashes with the polished stainless trim. I am thinking of machining a stainless mirror head to polish so it will match.

It's just a fine brush on the other trim. I used a gray pad to do it. I was wanting a satin finish more than a defined brush finish, and that worked well on the hard SS.

I was considering polishing the wheel to remove the oxidation and then trying a dry wool polishing pad on my 7" polisher/sander. Maybe that will give me a uniform satin finish if i can put the wheel on a lazy suzan and rotate it slowly as I buff from the center out to keep the scratches in a circular pattern. Thoughts?

Anyone ever tried a chemical like oven cleaner on aluminum to etch the surface?

what you have to watch with any chemicals around alum is the oxidation it causes---even some polishing compounds are oxidisors that get wiped off but do cause a repeated quick tarnish of the polished finish----after I polish most anything I wipe it clean with a jewelers rouge cloth(remember the brass in the Army)