Polishing wheels and other metal parts
04-25-2004, 09:24 AM
#1
Polishing wheels and other metal parts
Alright guys and girls. I am hoping you can help me out with this one. I ran into a DIY a few months ago on how to polish metal pieces using a dremel with polishing wheel attachment, and a few other tools. I didn't really think it was something I wanted to do, but now I decided that I would try it on my factory wheels as an experiment (I will be replacing them very soon). If I like the way it turns out, I may do it to other metal pieces on my car. But, now I can't find the site. I am almost positive that it was on a Maxima site, but have looked everywhere and can't find it. And, since we can't search this site right now 
, I don't know if there are already any threads out there with this info on it. If any of you have seen anything like this, please post the links. It may be a nice alternative for those of us who aren't big on chrome, but still want to shine.
, I don't know if there are already any threads out there with this info on it. If any of you have seen anything like this, please post the links. It may be a nice alternative for those of us who aren't big on chrome, but still want to shine.
04-26-2004, 09:55 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 750
RyanTaylorClark
I haven't seen the DIY thread so I can't tell you where to locate it. But I have polish many a metal piece in my day & can give you some pointers. My first suggestion is to not attempt to polish your wheels. I like your energy, but I highly recommend your first attempt at polishing be done on something alittle less visable just incase polishing isn't your cup of tea. I say not to try your wheels because there is a clear coat on them that you would have to remove before you can even sand the aluminum. I would be willing to bet that if you started doing a wheel it would take you forever to get it looking right & by then you wouldn't feel like doing the other three. If you really want to try & polish something I would say first start with your vavlecover. The valvecover is aluminum & is a perfect first project for you. What you want to do is start sanding by hand with some 600grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then you will step up to 1000 grit, then 1500grit & finally 2000grit. You should also pick up a jar of Mothers aluminum polish to bring out the shine. When ever I polish anything I always check my progress by rubbing the metal with the Mothers product. After I have used the Mothers on the metal I'm trying to polish it shows me exactly where I need to keep sanding. So periodically use the Mothers to check where you need to sand alittle more. What your trying to accomplish is to get the metal as flat as possible. This is what brings out the shine, a good sanding job will make the piece you are trying to polish come out looking like a mirror. Another thing you want to do when you sand is be smooth, don't just start scrubing the metal with the sand paper. You want to sand in long smooth strokes. If you sand in a cross pattern it will cut the aluminum down faster. Remeber the key here is to get the metal as flat as possible, no pit's. Your dremel will work great in the round area's where the valvecover bolt's down & aroung the oil fill cap. Other then that I would not use the dremel on any of the larger areas. It will only make the finally product come out looking wavey, not flat!!! You hand will actually do alot better job & it will even be quicker then using the dremel. Good luck!
I haven't seen the DIY thread so I can't tell you where to locate it. But I have polish many a metal piece in my day & can give you some pointers. My first suggestion is to not attempt to polish your wheels. I like your energy, but I highly recommend your first attempt at polishing be done on something alittle less visable just incase polishing isn't your cup of tea. I say not to try your wheels because there is a clear coat on them that you would have to remove before you can even sand the aluminum. I would be willing to bet that if you started doing a wheel it would take you forever to get it looking right & by then you wouldn't feel like doing the other three. If you really want to try & polish something I would say first start with your vavlecover. The valvecover is aluminum & is a perfect first project for you. What you want to do is start sanding by hand with some 600grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then you will step up to 1000 grit, then 1500grit & finally 2000grit. You should also pick up a jar of Mothers aluminum polish to bring out the shine. When ever I polish anything I always check my progress by rubbing the metal with the Mothers product. After I have used the Mothers on the metal I'm trying to polish it shows me exactly where I need to keep sanding. So periodically use the Mothers to check where you need to sand alittle more. What your trying to accomplish is to get the metal as flat as possible. This is what brings out the shine, a good sanding job will make the piece you are trying to polish come out looking like a mirror. Another thing you want to do when you sand is be smooth, don't just start scrubing the metal with the sand paper. You want to sand in long smooth strokes. If you sand in a cross pattern it will cut the aluminum down faster. Remeber the key here is to get the metal as flat as possible, no pit's. Your dremel will work great in the round area's where the valvecover bolt's down & aroung the oil fill cap. Other then that I would not use the dremel on any of the larger areas. It will only make the finally product come out looking wavey, not flat!!! You hand will actually do alot better job & it will even be quicker then using the dremel. Good luck!
04-27-2004, 04:52 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,809
Originally Posted by nostrixoxide
RyanTaylorClark
I haven't seen the DIY thread so I can't tell you where to locate it. But I have polish many a metal piece in my day & can give you some pointers. My first suggestion is to not attempt to polish your wheels. I like your energy, but I highly recommend your first attempt at polishing be done on something alittle less visable just incase polishing isn't your cup of tea. I say not to try your wheels because there is a clear coat on them that you would have to remove before you can even sand the aluminum. I would be willing to bet that if you started doing a wheel it would take you forever to get it looking right & by then you wouldn't feel like doing the other three. If you really want to try & polish something I would say first start with your vavlecover. The valvecover is aluminum & is a perfect first project for you. What you want to do is start sanding by hand with some 600grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then you will step up to 1000 grit, then 1500grit & finally 2000grit. You should also pick up a jar of Mothers aluminum polish to bring out the shine. When ever I polish anything I always check my progress by rubbing the metal with the Mothers product. After I have used the Mothers on the metal I'm trying to polish it shows me exactly where I need to keep sanding. So periodically use the Mothers to check where you need to sand alittle more. What your trying to accomplish is to get the metal as flat as possible. This is what brings out the shine, a good sanding job will make the piece you are trying to polish come out looking like a mirror. Another thing you want to do when you sand is be smooth, don't just start scrubing the metal with the sand paper. You want to sand in long smooth strokes. If you sand in a cross pattern it will cut the aluminum down faster. Remeber the key here is to get the metal as flat as possible, no pit's. Your dremel will work great in the round area's where the valvecover bolt's down & aroung the oil fill cap. Other then that I would not use the dremel on any of the larger areas. It will only make the finally product come out looking wavey, not flat!!! You hand will actually do alot better job & it will even be quicker then using the dremel. Good luck!
I haven't seen the DIY thread so I can't tell you where to locate it. But I have polish many a metal piece in my day & can give you some pointers. My first suggestion is to not attempt to polish your wheels. I like your energy, but I highly recommend your first attempt at polishing be done on something alittle less visable just incase polishing isn't your cup of tea. I say not to try your wheels because there is a clear coat on them that you would have to remove before you can even sand the aluminum. I would be willing to bet that if you started doing a wheel it would take you forever to get it looking right & by then you wouldn't feel like doing the other three. If you really want to try & polish something I would say first start with your vavlecover. The valvecover is aluminum & is a perfect first project for you. What you want to do is start sanding by hand with some 600grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then you will step up to 1000 grit, then 1500grit & finally 2000grit. You should also pick up a jar of Mothers aluminum polish to bring out the shine. When ever I polish anything I always check my progress by rubbing the metal with the Mothers product. After I have used the Mothers on the metal I'm trying to polish it shows me exactly where I need to keep sanding. So periodically use the Mothers to check where you need to sand alittle more. What your trying to accomplish is to get the metal as flat as possible. This is what brings out the shine, a good sanding job will make the piece you are trying to polish come out looking like a mirror. Another thing you want to do when you sand is be smooth, don't just start scrubing the metal with the sand paper. You want to sand in long smooth strokes. If you sand in a cross pattern it will cut the aluminum down faster. Remeber the key here is to get the metal as flat as possible, no pit's. Your dremel will work great in the round area's where the valvecover bolt's down & aroung the oil fill cap. Other then that I would not use the dremel on any of the larger areas. It will only make the finally product come out looking wavey, not flat!!! You hand will actually do alot better job & it will even be quicker then using the dremel. Good luck!
Ant
04-28-2004, 11:28 AM
#5
Yeah, I have a lot of friends with bikes that use the sanding process. It's a lot of work, but a bike is quite a bit smaller than a Maxima. I was just trying to see if someone had seen the same DIY using the dremel. I was just going to read the process and see if it was fairly simple using the dremel, or just as difficult as the sanding process. Thanks for the info anyway. Definately a good explanation on how to do it.
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