Need some help with rims
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Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 361
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From: Suffolk, VA
Need some help with rims
This is slightly off-topic because it's for a Buick Skylark and not an F-150 but...
My brother and I purchased some rims on eBay for his Buick Skylark. They are 14" x 6" Buick Rally Wheels and the problem I have is trying to figure out the material they are made of so that I know what to use in order to polish them up. Is there any method of determining what their material is? They are OEM so should they be stamped with a certain code?
I had read over at Meguiars that the NXT Metal Polish is for all metals so I will probably end up just ordering some of that online. My brother was really interested in using the Powerball by Mothers with one of their products but I need to figure out what kind of metal and if they have a clear coat before he can really mess with that idea.
- Chris
My brother and I purchased some rims on eBay for his Buick Skylark. They are 14" x 6" Buick Rally Wheels and the problem I have is trying to figure out the material they are made of so that I know what to use in order to polish them up. Is there any method of determining what their material is? They are OEM so should they be stamped with a certain code?
I had read over at Meguiars that the NXT Metal Polish is for all metals so I will probably end up just ordering some of that online. My brother was really interested in using the Powerball by Mothers with one of their products but I need to figure out what kind of metal and if they have a clear coat before he can really mess with that idea.
- Chris
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2004
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Be very sure they are actually bare metal before you start to work on them. Most rims that are not plain chrome, are clear coated, so you are not actually working on metal anymore than your front fender.
Sure the wheel and your fender are metal, but they are painted so you use 'paint rules'.
Chris
Sure the wheel and your fender are metal, but they are painted so you use 'paint rules'.
Chris
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,248
Likes: 2
From: Rochester, NY, USA
I think you'll find that for OEM wheels, they're all either steel or aluminum. That said, all you need is a magnet to determine which you've got. Next, you need to determine what finish you have - since nothing from the factory is unfinished. For steel wheels, you have two choices - plated or painted. For chrome plating, use a chrome or metal polish. For painted use a synthetic (NXT, Zaino, etc.) wax because it stands up better to brake heat. By the way, nobody clear coats chrome plating.
For aluminum, you need to need to determine if there's clear coat or not. This one's easy. All factory aluminum wheels are either painted and / or clear coated. Since we're talking paint here, use the same technique as noted above. Do not use metal polish on a painted surface. It's way too aggressive and will damage the finish. If you have aftermarket aluminum wheels, you might have just polished / non clear coated aluminum. (bummer) In that case, use a good metal polish, then follow up with synthetic wax as above.
For aluminum, you need to need to determine if there's clear coat or not. This one's easy. All factory aluminum wheels are either painted and / or clear coated. Since we're talking paint here, use the same technique as noted above. Do not use metal polish on a painted surface. It's way too aggressive and will damage the finish. If you have aftermarket aluminum wheels, you might have just polished / non clear coated aluminum. (bummer) In that case, use a good metal polish, then follow up with synthetic wax as above.