How long will it take to polish the visible portion of a set of wheels on a car that sits outside?

Assuming I polished every 2-4 weeks, Zoop-Seal, keep a fresh coat of wax on the wheels, and use the right products to polish.



These are what I'm looking at. They look like a simple design that should be really easy to polish.



On a side note, what is the best (fastest) way to polish wheels.

 

Well I can tell you it is a lot of work and I would not get a set of polished wheels if my car sat outside, but thats just me. I had enough trouble with mine and it almost never saw rain, let alone snow and salt.

 

How often did you polish them?
And how long did you spend on each wheel?

 

My car is my daily driver and it sits outside in rain, sleet, snow, whatever mother nature throws at it! Now that I think about it, it should work for the post office! Anyway I have polished TT2's that are a year and a half old and I polish them maybe once a month and they still look new. I don't even use wax or Zoop seal to seal it. I just recently started using Master Formula to seal it and noticed no real difference, I believe if you use a quality polish to clean them it leaves a seal behind anyway. This summer I used Wenol to polish them, no sealer, and then my car broke and sat for 2 months in the driveway and NEVER got washed the whole time. It sat in rain dirt and everything just marinating into the wheel. But once I fixed it I went and washed it and the wheels shined up nicely!

 

Thanks,


How long did you spend on each wheel?

 

I spend maybe 10-20 minutes a wheel depending on how much detail I want to go into. Let me also say I never take them off and do the inside of the wheel. Keep in mind this is by hand because I absolutely hate the mini powerball I bought!

 

The powerball didn't make the job any easier?

 

It does on the actual rim part where it is flat but other than that the TT2 has too many rounded edges and small parts where the mini powerball couldn't reach. I was always ripping at the spongy part of the ball where it would catch on the wheel. Also cleaning it was a total pain in the *** because it would absorb all the polish as I put it on and it was sooo hard to wring out the ball. If you don't clean it it will get all hard with the polish and debris on it then you won't be able to use it.

 

Thanks, the wheel I'm looking at doesn't look like it will have the hard to reach problem your TT2s do.

But I was going to look into Wenol and better buffers anyway.

 

Your right the rims above look more flat in the spots my TT2's have troubles in, around the center cap. Wenol was very good but I also really like Master Formula products. They even have a sealant you can use on the wheels and the car itself.

 

Did you find a better buffer than the Powerball?

Never heard of Master Formula. I was going to use just one of the sealants or waxes I have sitting at home on the rims.

Did using a wax help prevent oxidation?

 

My hand is the best buffer! The mini powerball or the Flitz should work good on your wheels. All the other buffers I have seen are disc shaped and won't work.

Master Formula has a real good reputation, check around and search and you will see. Like I said though Wenol is good too! They are easily the 2 best polishes I have used and I have used a lot. I have never used a wax/sealant on the wheels ever until this past August when I bought the Master Formula kit. The only reason I use it now is because it came in the kit so I use it as a wax on the car and a sealant on the wheels. Works good for both.

 

Did you notice any difference when using the wax?

 

The sealant/wax from MF is the same product and used for both the car and wheels. It does help a little because I can just rinse them with the hose and they look pretty clean afterwards since break dust and dirt doesn't stick as easily.

 

I use a mini air buffer. Comes in a kit from either Matco or Snap On. I prefer the snap on one.


Comes with pads, hook pads, etc.

Zoop Seal sucks, been there, done that. Mothers Billet polish is the ONLY way to go. Apply lightly by hand and buff on. Mothers powerball works ok, but the buffer with a real pad is the way to go.

The only other polish I've found to work as well (I've tried them all) is called "Brooklyn Ball Buster". Made in NY of course.

Hope that helps. As far as the pads not getting into the wheels easily.... Take a look at my wheels, and then yours. If I can use it on my wheels, you can do it much easier on yours.

Another trick is to cut up compounding/buffing pads into 3" circles, and use them on the hook pads.

 

Your wheels definitely look like a chore. How long does it take to polish each wheel?

I have an air compressor, but its kept very far from where I keep my wheels, and lugging it around is a pain. If it works that much better than a drill I'll do it though.

You found Billet to be better than Wenol? I've heard the opposite to be true.
I have Mother's billet and it did an amazing job on my stainless Steel exhaust tips. I just figured that some boutique polish had to be better than any Mother's product.