Photo Tutorial, How to Sand and Polish Chrome & Aluminum Rims

This is my first how-to so hopefully I am writing and explaining everything clearly enough for people to easily understand. If their are any questions, feel free to PM me at any time. I am not an expert and do not claim that status. Remember that doing any polishing work is at your own discretion. Damage done by improperly polishing can be costly, so please plan what you are doing ahead of time. On with the show.
This is a how-to that will explain the process I applied when fixing a polished wheel. The process is very similar to polishing something that has not been polished before. The roughness of the surface will determine what grit you need to start with.
Polishing is a time consuming process that will require determination and attention to detail to get right. Skipping steps or being lazy will definitely show in your final result. So, to save time, do it right the first time!!
Ok onto the main part!! For the application I’m involved with I used the following materials:
Sandpaper – grits 400-2000

Sanding block– not necessary but helps with first couple of steps. When you get into the higher sandpaper

, do it by hand!!

Bowls– Or something else to hold water for wet sanding:

Mothers Polish– or some other polishing agent

Soap and water– make sure to clean thoroughly with soap and water between each step. Some people may not do this, but I do to make sure I don’t get dirt scratches in the later high grit steps.
Non-abrasive towels– or cloths. For applying the polish.
Ok, here we have a pretty busted up rim. Theirs is no major damage to the rim, but the salt has eaten into the polished part of the rim. What can you do for $100 for a set with tires??

Begin by starting with your lowest number grit sandpaper. I started with 400grit.

After a little while of sanding and sweating you start to see what you are taking off the surface of the rim:



And here I are about finished with step one. I still need to wash the wheel and make sure it’s clean and ready to start with the next grit up.

All clean and ready for step 2 with 600 grit

Middle of step 2:

All clean again ready for step 3 with 800 grit:

In the middle of step 3:

Steps 4-6 are more of the same. By this point you should be noticing that the metal should be looking pretty shiny. And it should also be consistent. So if their are places where it seems the marks from the sandpaper are different then that means that you probably didn’t hit that area enough. So you will want to go back over it with the previous grit of sandpaper to try to get a uniform look to the entire piece.
After you have completed all the grits of sandpaper you should have a very smooth surface. It will not look completely shiny just yet. Look over your piece and make sure that everything is consistent and you don’t have gaps or differences in the surface. If you do, go back and correct them. When it’s completely polished imperfections are magnified and easily identified.
When your surface is all smooth and ready to go wash your piece. Wash it good to make sure you have all the oils/dirt, and debris off of the piece. Then with your terry cloth or other non-abrasive towel, start adding mothers polish a little bit at a time. You want to rub it in until it starts to turn grey/black. A little bit goes a long way. After it has a faded dry look to it, go over it with another clean cloth/towel.
I usually do pieces with 2 coats of mothers, but with this piece I have pictures taken with only one coat on them. It’s up to you if you feel it is necessary to put on 2 coats. I usually put on 2 cause I tend to get spots I may have overlooked the first time around.
And here’s what you should end up with:


The pictures were taken inside with artificial light. If done correctly, the polished piece will really stand out in real sunlight!!! It’s a long and tedious process. This piece alone took about 2 1/2- 3 hours. But if you stick with it you will be rewarded with a beautiful piece that looks much cleaner than it originally did. Thanks for viewing and hopefully this helps anyone looking to polish something.
Stay tuned for the how-to on painting the rest of this wheel graphite.

This article was submitted by a reader and was originally found here