"unpolishing" wheels

[Johnny Blaze]

My father has a set of polished aluminum wheels. He wants to get a satin or close to as cast appearance on them. Any suggestions?



Chemical?
Media blast?

[astroracer]

"As cast" will be difficult because of the texture but you can easily "unpolish" them with some grey Scotchbrite and a little WD40. Wear rubber gloves if you don't want black hands.
Mark

[brans72]

Scotchbrite and WD40 works another member on lateral-g told me about it and it worked great on a intake manifold!

[grenade inspector]

what about sand/soda or other media blasting?

[LS1-IROC]

Glass bead blast will make polished aluminum look outstanding. I've done it on a few pieces now. It gives it a very shiny dimpled finish, hard to explain but it looks cool. I was going to do that to the centers of my wheels.

[hifi875]

what does the wd40 do. i just used a red scotchbrite and had great results. maybe i am missing something.

[dontlifttoshift]

Blast with glass bead, make sure it is new media. Soak in Gibbs, done.

[nacnac]

I had some cherokee srt8 wheels that i sanded w 400, 800, then 000 steel whool. I was going for a brushed look though. Turned out great but time consuming.

[astroracer]

Wd-40 is used as a lubricant. It also helps "even out" the pattern. ScotchBrite will do all of the work in one step. No need to double or triple up on processes.
Grey is a finer weave than the red. The red will be a bit more agressive at first but it will calm down as it wears in.
Mark

[Johnny Blaze]

Thanks guys for the info!