Hey folks, soon enough I'm going to be stripping the clearcoat off my 97 F150 wheels (one with 3 large and 3 small inlay holes) and I was wondering what do I need to remove that nasty aluminum corrosion salty crap under the OEM clear coat once I get it off with aircraft stripper?

Someone told me etching mag wheel cleaner and then use a mothers power ball or buffer and some polishing compound to really give it a nice polished finished, then paint my inlays black and clear.

That all there is to it?

Thanks!

 

I would not use a chemical that caustic. You need to polish the aluminum.

 

So just use some polishing compound and just use it heavy to buff out the corrosion?

 

You will probably need an aluminum polishing kit like the Eastwood Company sells.

 

Hey wandell, this is what I got to work with:

Aircraft aluminum stripper
Mothers Mag Aluminum Polish
Mothers Powerball
Wetsand paper ranging from 400-800grit
Duplicolor gloss black
Duplicolor crystal clear coat

I also have this product to work with:

http://www.fountainofyouthrestore.com/tbuff.html

Says on the bottle will polish to around 5000grit, so I may use that after I wetsand then finish with the mothers.

Hows the plan of attack sound?

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

I tried doing this, and gave up... Just ruffed up the clear coat and sprayed the wheel all dark grey.

 

Haha, nice! If the spray paint starts flaking off, you could probably get them powder coated for fairly cheap.

 

Yeah I really like the look of polishing aluminum wheels, and want to try to save them, but if it doesn't turn out so hot then I'm getting them powder coated black to match my trim. But I figured I'd go the cheaper route and see how good my skills are.