FIRECHICKEN

iTrader: (3)

Do you have to protect polished aluminum with a clear coat or a wax or sealer of some kind? Like for polishing wheels or the intake?

MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

Try a search, people talked about it a lot. I polised two of my rims about 4 weeks ago and they still look fine, no clearcoat or anything.

TBI305Camaro

alluminum wont rust...correct? my polished TT IIs better not

StngKlr

Mine have been polished for about a month now with no clearcoat. They still look good, no clouding or anything.

I would hate to screw up spraying on some clearcoat and then have to start over. I still need to paint though, hope it goes good.

Morley

Incorrect. It will corrode and easily too, thats why the factory put clear coat on the rims. If you want to coat them check Eastwood, they have a nice product called "Diamond Clear" for bare metals, it comes in satin and high gloss.

~M~

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

If your car isn't winter driven, you can just buy some Maguire's Chrome/aluminum polish (or any other brand) and polish it once a month. That stuff leaves a coating on the metal, similar to how wax leaves a coating on your paint.

If it's winter driven, uh, no matter what you do, the salt will get to it eventually, but clear coating with that eastwood stuff will help.

Mark A Shields

Do NOT, put any kind of wax/polish on them when you're done. The abrasives in it will dull and scratch the shine. I just simply spray some windex on them like TPI383 told me to.

SUPER CHEVY66

iTrader: (1)

Aluminum wont rust it will oxidize so protect it some how.

Mark A Shields

Yeah, aluminum doesn't rust. But I think putting any type of clear on kind of defeats the purpose of polishing them. Just keep them clean, it's not that hard to do.

Dave_A

It undergoes the same chemical process that causes iron to rust (oxidation), but the effects look different on aluminum (a chalky-white coating on the surface)...

Nazzz28

Mark - You are refering to not using any types of waxes after you
have polished and buffed to a reflective shine with aluminum
polish correct. So after it is all polished you use windex to keep
it reflective and clean.

Mark A Shields

Yep, all I use is either windex or car wash liquid. So far it's still just as shiney.
It was mentioned that you could put Carnuba Wax on them to protect them, but someone mentioned that even Carnuba Wax contains some abrasives, so just stick with windex.

bbtaz97

iTrader: (3)

im considering polishing my wheels and then getting some glisten pc clear coat from por-15 people..

redbird_400

I stripped down my stock rims with paint stripper and didnt worry about anything to protect them. I tried some wax (the clean kind with no abrasives) and it seems to help keep the shine longer and makes it easier to clean.

88 WS6 TransAm GTA

iTrader: (1)

Brake dust will also corrode the aluminum. I polished my front GTA wheels a while back, and theyre now pitted, and need to be redone. I would suggest some sort of protection after you polish them... I will the next time.

Nazzz28

I was looking at tirerack.com the other day when I was ordering
my new tires and saw a product for protecting wheels. It's called
Wheel Wax and it says in the description that it contains no
harmful components that will harm the finish of any wheels. They
also say that it works well at protecting polished aluminum rims.
I think I may order some of this when I order my new suspension
components. By they way it is $15.99 for a wheel polish size
container (picture on their site) but it seems like it should last a while

NTChrist

Anybody have any experience with this product?

Js92RS

I use mothers alluminum polish once a month on my polished 17" IROC wheels.

MikeInAZ

Carnabu wax doesn't contain abrasives however it is possible to get "cleaner" waxes that contain abrasives and carnabu wax.

To NOT protect your wheels would be akin to washing your car and not waxing it. Yes it looks good for the time being but after a while your paint will oxidize as will your aluminum.

Meguiars makes a good pure (35%) carnabu. Aluminum polishes actually do more harm than good to a highly relective finish.

Mark A Shields

From my knowledge, no carnuba on the market it 100% carnuba, so I'd be careful in selecting a wax.

Morley

Johnson used to sell a pure carnuba wax, but it was very hard to work with.

MikeInAZ

Yes you are right Mark.. you and I had this conversation when you were buffing your stuff.

Pure carnabu is like a brick and is really not usable in that state. Thats why I added the note 35%.

The max amount of carnabu is 35% and that is combined with carriers and oils to make it usuable BUT that doesn't mean the other 65% has to contain abrasives even though some "cleaner" type waxes do.