I have a crome aftermarket wheel on the front of my 07 FLHX. I don't want to spend chrome wheel money on the back wheel. You can hardly see it! I must admit, being able to see the bottom of the wheel with black powder on it is starting to bother me. I am going to take the wheel off and try to polish it. Has anyone tried to polish one of these cast aluminum mags. I know it won't be perfect polished billet aluminum, but I was hoping to get some pointers on how to get at least decent results. Are decent results even possible? If ending up with a silver wheel is as good as it gets I will still be happier than I am now, but if someone has done this and had success I would sure appreciate some tips.

thanks,
hog

 

Check out the BUSH product web site. I have had very good results with there products on polishing alumimium surfaces.
Good Luck,
Mr_Bill

 

I use Mother's aluminum polish. (liquid) Apply with the foam ball that you put in a cordless drill. Walmart has them or Auto Zone. Might take a while if they're really bad. When you get it cleaned apply a good coat of wax. Or several.

 

The cast wheels on my FLHT were pretty crappy when I bought it. I bought some of the abrasive pads that plumbers use on copper pipe fittings and started with those,then Autosol and LustrLace...Hard work,but worth it. To me,nothing looks better than polished alloy, especially when I've done the polishing.

 

You may want to check out Caswell Plating, they have nice aluminum polishing products (compounds, polishing wheels, etc...) and a polishing instructions booklet. Using their products, lots of sandpaper, and tons of patience, I managed to polish this rough cast aluminum intercooler with pretty decent results.
before

after

 

I can't recall what they are called, but all grocery stores have a green colored scrub pad for aluminum and stainless pots and pans. They work absolutely wonderful on alumimun mags, instantly removing oxidation and leaving a nice finish, which you can then buff with any aluminum polish.

They will scratch chrome, however. (Voice of experience)

A lot of aluminum parts have a clear coat over them, to prevent oxidation. Over time, it starts wearing off, looking like crap. The above mentioned scrub pads will easily remove the rest of the clear coat, so you can buff the aluminum.

 

Try the Metal Gloss.

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