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Any tips on cleaning old school aluminum rims!

Try Metro Wheels in Marietta. They redid the OEM wheels on my 86 Bronco for $80 each. Blasted to bare metal, primed and painted. Looked factory. Well pleased with their work.
 
You could buy a small handheld like the snap on at harbor freight cheaper than you could come here. Get the baking soda from DG.

Im working on them now with Comet Cleaner and 1200 grit wet sanding. Might be all I need on this one (I hope)
 
I found the solution. Spray the rim a little, then sprinkle old school Comet on it. Start sanding with 1500 grit, use an emory cloth for any deep stains and rinse and repeat with the 1500 grit in the same direction to give it a satin look. I ran out of beer so I had to stop. But tomorrow I plan on hitting it with Mothers to shine em up. They look 10 times better already.
 
Flitz is da bomb for polishing
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Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish or Blue Magic Metal Polish.
I polished my engine in my Trans Am Show car. You can use really fine sand paper to cut through the oxididation. Then polish the hell out of them with Mothers. I had to start that 400 Grit so that the scratches aren't too deep that you can't get them out. And then gradually work your way up to about 3,000 Grit and then you can start with the mother mother's polish. There's really no simple way to it it's just elbow grease and time. Once you get them really shiny you're going to want to take him somewhere and get them clear coated or you'll be polishing them again very soon. Only clean them with really light soap and water. Don't spray that acid cleaner on it or you will ruin the Finish. Harbor Freight sells little kits of polishing wheels of different shapes that you can put on your air tools. Those will help a lot and believe me I went through a ton of them. Yours won't be so bad because they're already polished to a certain point. I had to start with rough cast parts and get them smooth and then polish them. I would just start with a really light water and soap bath and then let them dry. Go to Harbor Freight and get those air tool attachments with the felt polishing wheels and a big tub of mothers aluminum polish. And then start polishing. Work it in until it turns black and then wipe it off. Reapply fresh Polish and keep on going. It won't be a fast process but it will turn out really nice. You might want to avoid the 3000 grit paper unless they're really oxidized bad and have developed porosity on the surface.
 

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I’m going to try mothers or something tomorrow. Prob pick up one of those polishing ball things.
Those polishing wheels are okay just to keep up the shine on freshly polished Wheels. But you're going to have to have the really hard kind that sell at Harbor Freight. The high-speed air tools will get a lot farther than one of those polishing balls or cones. They're much too flimsy and soft to be really effective on a badly oxidized surface. That Scotch-Brite and lemon juice stuff look pretty good to start with but you're still going to have to polish with Mother's it's the best by far. You'll know when it's working cuz it'll turn black that's when you wipe it away and go back with fresh Polish.
 
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