FastKat

iTrader: (10)

I know that as time goes on, polished aluminum looses its shine as it oxidizes. About how long does it look good for before that? From what I've seen it can take months, but I am wodering if different alloys oxidize at different rates or what... any input is appreciated!

Thanks, -Dave

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

It depends on your environment...all it takes here in FL for my polished rims to look like **** is to have rain water sit on them and dry. When tropical weather moves through, it is even worse. I daily drive my chrome ZR1s for that very reason.

GETGONE

iTrader: (5)

As long as you clean and polish them on a regular basis they'll stay shiny indefiniately. It's people who let dirt and grime sit on the wheels for long periods and never clean or polish them that cause them to get ugly and require professional buffing/polishing to get them looking good again.

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

I've gone a few months without polishing my wheels and they looked for about a month

GotV-8

iTrader: (15)

They tend to get a haze look to them if you dont polish them up good. Let them set for awhile without polish on them, thats no good.

MountainMotor

iTrader: (2)

I've heard of people having luck when they seal it with zoopseal. I've also heard of people having luck with flitz after they get dirty. I've never used then personally but I have a few friends that have and like them. If you want to read more about them then here are there two sites www.zoopseal.com and www.flitz.com. The zoopseal is kind of expensive but if it works then I think it would be worth it.

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

I am thinking more of the under the hood components, like my valve covers, etc... they would be very difficult to properly maintain, especially with the coil packs sitting right on them. Any comments/suggestions?

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

It's fair to say that I can answer your polished aluminum questions.

If you don't drive the car in any rain and you keep the engine dusted off, your bling should last in perfect shape for at least 3 months. If you spend about 2 hours by hand you're all set for another 3-4 months.

If the metal's in the rain it comes down to duration of exposure and type of environment.
Zoop seal wont work on hot engine parts.
Yes different metal hardness will affect the type of shine and the resistance to elements.

lsevenl

iTrader: (5)

I was curious about this as well. I have polished z06 wheels and I can tell these aren't going to stay shiney for too long

Black IROC

I agree with you guys about keeping up with the wheels. It is really hard if you drive the car all the time. I did some major polishing on my TPI engine. I do not drive the car in the rain (always garaged). I have not touched any of my polished pieces in two years, and they still look great.

thesoundandthefury

iTrader: (3)

IMO, if you're only looking to do things like valve covers, it would be better to just invest a little money and get an aftermarket set of chrome ones. However, if you're wanting to get more in-depth and do the stuff that you can't find readily available in the aftermarket chrome plated, there's a product sold by this company that so far is the best solution I've found to keeping polished stuff looking nice without doing the regular upkeep. Here it is:

http://www.alsacorp.com/products/cle...h_prodinfo.htm

The company that sells this clearcoat can give you all the support and techinical info you need to make sure you apply the product correctly and that it lasts. FYI: don't mistake this stuff for being just your average run-of-the-mill clearcoat that you can get in a spraycan from the hardware store. This stuff is specially formulated to chemically bond to super smooth surfaces like chrome and polished metals. The stuff in a spray can will cloud up and start peeling off in about a week if it's applied to parts that will get hot such as engine parts.
As was already mentioned Zoopseal is also an option but the only thing I would caution against using this stuff is that it has a very steep learning curve as far as getting the mixtures right and how it's applied to the surface. You have to be extremely careful that you don't wipe over the same area twice otherwise when the solution finally seals it will have the appearance of a wax job that wasn't completely buffed out. Kind've smeared looking. If that happens, there's nothing you can do to correct it outside of buffing it off and starting over again. At $110-$150 a kit, mistakes can get expensive pretty quick.
I usually encourage people who are new to polishing to just practice and experiment on something small to get a feel for what they're doing and how labor intensive it is. Polishing aluminum is a really temperamental process that eats up patience in a heartbeat, and is very time consuming. Your best bet would be to just find something to practice on and decide for yourself from your experience with that whether you feel comfortable investing the time and energy it takes to keep your polished pieces looking nice.

My $.02

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the input! Black IROC and FIREHAWK#608, can I see a couple more pics of your engine bays?! Definitely sweet...

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

Here's a link to a thread I started the other month. It has bigger pics of what's in my sig. Enjoy!!!https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...&highlight=BAY