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Well I used the Sonax wheel cleaner and Chemical Guys metal shine the other day. I noticed the Sonax didn't really clean much because my wheels and brakes were pretty damn clean already but it did get in some hard to reach places. As for the Chemical Guys metal shine it worked pretty good. I think it would work better if I were to do another application or 2 because I still have some water spots although much smaller than before.
Only complaint I have is with the Sonax wheel cleaner. You really have to wash the **** out of the wheels afterwards because I guess I didn't spend enough time on the first wheel I did and the next day I saw where some had pooled up at the bottom of the rim and stained it a little. Hoping another application of Sonax will clean it up and then polish it out.
Side note, I have (2) Mothers foam like powerball's here. Is it safe for polished aluminum uncoated wheels and will I get better results from this on a drill as opposed to applying the polish and rubbing by hand?
Only complaint I have is with the Sonax wheel cleaner. You really have to wash the **** out of the wheels afterwards because I guess I didn't spend enough time on the first wheel I did and the next day I saw where some had pooled up at the bottom of the rim and stained it a little. Hoping another application of Sonax will clean it up and then polish it out.
Side note, I have (2) Mothers foam like powerball's here. Is it safe for polished aluminum uncoated wheels and will I get better results from this on a drill as opposed to applying the polish and rubbing by hand?
I'm a big fan of Optimum Power Cleaner undiluted for wheels and tires and under the hood. Best cleaner I have found for wheels. You can even dilute it for leather and vinyl. A alot of people dig the Sonax but I don't believe in spray on wash off products. If I'm going to scrub and agitate it I might as well just save buying a separate product for it. I am going to try the 3D degreasers next the gallon sizes are alot cheaper compared to the Optimum.
I have a set of polished ZR1 rims I'm doing now. I used the Flitz pre cleaner(which I was very impressed by)
I used the Flitz ball w/ the Flitz polish. Took the defects out but left a lot of marring.
So I tried the mothers power cone with the aluminum polish and it still left marring.
I used the mothers mag aluminum paste on a microfiber and that yielded the best results. I don't know how I'm going to get them looking any better. I don't know if the aluminum on these wheels is soft or what.
Just my experience with in the past few days.
I used the Flitz ball w/ the Flitz polish. Took the defects out but left a lot of marring.
So I tried the mothers power cone with the aluminum polish and it still left marring.
I used the mothers mag aluminum paste on a microfiber and that yielded the best results. I don't know how I'm going to get them looking any better. I don't know if the aluminum on these wheels is soft or what.
Just my experience with in the past few days.
Edit: I didn't read the thread this time lol. That's what happens when you drive from Socal to Norcal @ 2am and had zero sleep lol.
Well I did another round of polishing with Chemical Guys metal shine. Came out good and got some more water spots out. I did notice it is much easier to do the Sonax and wash and wait til the wheels are completely dry before polishing or you will just get pissed off having to soak up water drips every 2 minutes on the wheels you already finished.
Well I did another round of polishing with Chemical Guys metal shine. Came out good and got some more water spots out. I did notice it is much easier to do the Sonax and wash and wait til the wheels are completely dry before polishing or you will just get pissed off having to soak up water drips every 2 minutes on the wheels you already finished.
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Verdad Gallardo Wanted to update. I figured what the problem was with the powercone and marring on the rims.
It was me.
After messing around with it tonight and still not getting the results I went in to the, "WTF am I doing wrong" mode.
I found out that I was using to high of speed and not enough product which was causing the marring. The foam was beating against the rim too fast and didn't have enough lubrication.
I was stuck in paint correction mode and had never fully researched how to use the powercone/ball correctly.
So I tried it again, this time with the battery drill set on low speed and used more polish. What do ya know, no more marring. (insert face palm here)
The results are much better but still not to the level I want. I did some reading tonight and I'm going to pick up a jar of the Mothers Billet polish as it seems to be finer than the aluminum/mag polish. I also ordered some Adam's metal polish #1 and #2 tonight.
Just wanted to share my screw up if it could help someone out reading this.
Added------------------
I love paint correction but I absolutely hate polishing wheels. Just so happens two of my friends have polished aluminum wheels and polish them once every three years. There is a reason I have chrome rims on my Firehawk.
It was me.
After messing around with it tonight and still not getting the results I went in to the, "WTF am I doing wrong" mode.
I found out that I was using to high of speed and not enough product which was causing the marring. The foam was beating against the rim too fast and didn't have enough lubrication.
I was stuck in paint correction mode and had never fully researched how to use the powercone/ball correctly.
So I tried it again, this time with the battery drill set on low speed and used more polish. What do ya know, no more marring. (insert face palm here)
The results are much better but still not to the level I want. I did some reading tonight and I'm going to pick up a jar of the Mothers Billet polish as it seems to be finer than the aluminum/mag polish. I also ordered some Adam's metal polish #1 and #2 tonight.
Just wanted to share my screw up if it could help someone out reading this.
Added------------------
I love paint correction but I absolutely hate polishing wheels. Just so happens two of my friends have polished aluminum wheels and polish them once every three years. There is a reason I have chrome rims on my Firehawk.
Wanted to update. I figured what the problem was with the powercone and marring on the rims.
It was me.
After messing around with it tonight and still not getting the results I went in to the, "WTF am I doing wrong" mode.
I found out that I was using to high of speed and not enough product which was causing the marring. The foam was beating against the rim too fast and didn't have enough lubrication.
I was stuck in paint correction mode and had never fully researched how to use the powercone/ball correctly.
So I tried it again, this time with the battery drill set on low speed and used more polish. What do ya know, no more marring. (insert face palm here)
The results are much better but still not to the level I want. I did some reading tonight and I'm going to pick up a jar of the Mothers Billet polish as it seems to be finer than the aluminum/mag polish. I also ordered some Adam's metal polish #1 and #2 tonight.
Just wanted to share my screw up if it could help someone out reading this.
Added------------------
I love paint correction but I absolutely hate polishing wheels. Just so happens two of my friends have polished aluminum wheels and polish them once every three years. There is a reason I have chrome rims on my Firehawk.
It was me.
After messing around with it tonight and still not getting the results I went in to the, "WTF am I doing wrong" mode.
I found out that I was using to high of speed and not enough product which was causing the marring. The foam was beating against the rim too fast and didn't have enough lubrication.
I was stuck in paint correction mode and had never fully researched how to use the powercone/ball correctly.
So I tried it again, this time with the battery drill set on low speed and used more polish. What do ya know, no more marring. (insert face palm here)
The results are much better but still not to the level I want. I did some reading tonight and I'm going to pick up a jar of the Mothers Billet polish as it seems to be finer than the aluminum/mag polish. I also ordered some Adam's metal polish #1 and #2 tonight.
Just wanted to share my screw up if it could help someone out reading this.
Added------------------
I love paint correction but I absolutely hate polishing wheels. Just so happens two of my friends have polished aluminum wheels and polish them once every three years. There is a reason I have chrome rims on my Firehawk.
EDIT
Polish them out and have them cleared, no more polishing.
Last edited by FASTFATBOY; Sep 25, 2012 at 01:06 PM.
Gofast, have you ever wetsanded stainless exhaust tips? When I got mine, they have what seems to be sanding marks or something on them. They are corsa clones. I want a mirror shine without those damn sanding marks. I'll try to snap a picture, but it's hard to tell from pics.
Gofast, have you ever wetsanded stainless exhaust tips? When I got mine, they have what seems to be sanding marks or something on them. They are corsa clones. I want a mirror shine without those damn sanding marks. I'll try to snap a picture, but it's hard to tell from pics.
If they have sanding marks on chrome thats hard to get out.
I polished some on a 50 Merc streetrod that is setup to throw flames out the exhaust and the tips had turned gold from the heat, White diamond took it out.
I would try the 0000 steel wool and the polish of your choice. White Diamond is my fav.
Not taking any of GoFast's thunder as he has helped me immensly.(Jeff please answer my PM).
If they have sanding marks on chrome thats hard to get out.
I polished some on a 50 Merc streetrod that is setup to throw flames out the exhaust and the tips had turned gold from the heat, White diamond took it out.
I would try the 0000 steel wool and the polish of your choice. White Diamond is my fav.
If they have sanding marks on chrome thats hard to get out.
I polished some on a 50 Merc streetrod that is setup to throw flames out the exhaust and the tips had turned gold from the heat, White diamond took it out.
I would try the 0000 steel wool and the polish of your choice. White Diamond is my fav.
For sake of saving room, I won't upload this picture. I am planning my 5.3 S10 swap and was curious about the best way to clean the 5.3 before I put it in. In that picture, they leave all the connectors exposed and exhaust ports open. Is this ideal?
I actually love CG metal polish, in my opinion its better than Adams, I really liked adams but CG cut threw my dirty tips like a boss, and its not as messy as adams. Never tried white diamond but Cg def try it out.
Not taking any of GoFast's thunder as he has helped me immensly.(Jeff please answer my PM).
If they have sanding marks on chrome thats hard to get out.
I polished some on a 50 Merc streetrod that is setup to throw flames out the exhaust and the tips had turned gold from the heat, White diamond took it out.
I would try the 0000 steel wool and the polish of your choice. White Diamond is my fav.
If they have sanding marks on chrome thats hard to get out.
I polished some on a 50 Merc streetrod that is setup to throw flames out the exhaust and the tips had turned gold from the heat, White diamond took it out.
I would try the 0000 steel wool and the polish of your choice. White Diamond is my fav.