Best Way To Clean Up Faded Aluminum Slots?

[69DodgeCharger]

I was wondering what some of you guys have used to clean up your dirty/faded old school aluminum slot rims. I just spent an hour and a half on one rim and it still gets the rag black each time I "rub" it down. Not looking for Barrett Jackson results but I would like to save some time!

[rt green]

the best way to do it, is to go to a big rig dealership. see if they sell the acid they use to re do truck aluminum rims.  have them put it in a spray bottle. i did. spray it on[off the car ] wait 15 secs, spray it off with water. i had to do mine twice.  when i was done i could see the machine marks from the manufacture. then, you polish from there.  or, some times they will do the whole redo and polish for you. they can get them to look like chrome if you want.  good luck!      bruce

[terrible one]

I was wondering what some of you guys have used to clean up your dirty/faded old school aluminum slot rims. I just spent an hour and a half on one rim and it still gets the rag black each time I "rub" it down. Not looking for Barrett Jackson results but I would like to save some time!

It may seem time consuming, but this is what I did:

1. Powerwashed them.
2. Scrubbed down real good with an SOS pad in some warm soapy water
3. Rinsed off in warm water (used my shower haha)
4. Sanded the whole thing with 600 grit sandpaper
5. Repeated step 1 twice.
6. Applied Eagle One "Nevr-Dull" polish (I would have rather used Mother's but I already had this)
7. Buffed into a great shine with a rag. There wasn't much black residue at all.

Before:


After (one wheel):

[TruckDriver]

the best way to do it, is to go to a big rig dealership. see if they sell the acid they use to re do truck aluminum rims.  have them put it in a spray bottle. i did. spray it on[off the car ] wait 15 secs, spray it off with water. i had to do mine twice.  when i was done i could see the machine marks from the manufacture. then, you polish from there.  or, some times they will do the whole redo and polish for you. they can get them to look like chrome if you want.  good luck!      bruce

Hey Bruce... Save your self some money. You can buy that stuff at a big truck dealer, but if you go to most farm supply stores (around here Fleet & Farm OR Farm & Fleet stores, we have both) and just buy muriatic acid, for $2 or $3.00 a gallon, and dilute it 50%, and it does the same thing for a lot less. Just don't do it in the house, and don't do it down wind cause it will take your breath away. You can dilute it more too if you want.

It may seem time consuming, but this is what I did:

1. Powerwashed them.
2. Scrubbed down real good with a scotch-brite pad in some warm soapy water
3. Rinsed off in warm water (used my shower haha)
4. Sanded the whole thing with 600 grit sandpaper
5. Repeated step 1 twice.
6. Applied Eagle One "Nevr-Dull" polish (I would have rather used Mother's but I already had this)
7. Buffed into a great shine with a rag. There wasn't much black residue at all.

T.O.'s way works good too. I have used steel wool though instead of a scotch-brite pad and sand paper. No matter how you do it, it is time consuming and a pain in the

I need to do mine, and I'm not looking forward to it............... any offers to do them for me?

[terrible one]

T.O.'s way works good too. I have used steel wool though instead of a scotch-brite pad and sand paper. No matter how you do it, it is time consuming and a pain in the

I need to do mine, and I'm not looking forward to it............... any offers to do them for me?

Wow, I did say scotch-brite! Haha I meant an SOS pad; steel wool. I did try it with a scotch brite pad but it didn't do much and got torn up really easily. I'll edit my post. And Wi. Charger Guy is right. It's a huge pain. Took me a few hours per wheel, and they could still use some more polishing.

[dkn1997]

the best way to do it, is to go to a big rig dealership. see if they sell the acid they use to re do truck aluminum rims.  have them put it in a spray bottle. i did. spray it on[off the car ] wait 15 secs, spray it off with water. i had to do mine twice.  when i was done i could see the machine marks from the manufacture. then, you polish from there.  or, some times they will do the whole redo and polish for you. they can get them to look like chrome if you want.  good luck!      bruce

Hey Bruce... Save your self some money. You can buy that stuff at a big truck dealer, but if you go to most farm supply stores (around here Fleet & Farm OR Farm & Fleet stores, we have both) and just buy muriatic acid, for $2 or $3.00 a gallon, and dilute it 50%, and it does the same thing for a lot less. Just don't do it in the house, and don't do it down wind cause it will take your breath away. You can dilute it more too if you want.

It may seem time consuming, but this is what I did:

1. Powerwashed them.
2. Scrubbed down real good with a scotch-brite pad in some warm soapy water
3. Rinsed off in warm water (used my shower haha)
4. Sanded the whole thing with 600 grit sandpaper
5. Repeated step 1 twice.
6. Applied Eagle One "Nevr-Dull" polish (I would have rather used Mother's but I already had this)
7. Buffed into a great shine with a rag. There wasn't much black residue at all.

T.O.'s way works good too. I have used steel wool though instead of a scotch-brite pad and sand paper. No matter how you do it, it is time consuming and a pain in the

I need to do mine, and I'm not looking forward to it............... any offers to do them for me?

you can also get muriatic acid at a pool supply or marine supply.  the marine place might sell it under the brand "on and off"  it's made for getting the crud off the bottom after a season sitting in our salt water here.

[mopar_madman]

I cleaned them and sanded with 600 grit wet then used the mothers power ball and polish

[Argos_Chargers]

For the polishing step I found that putting a buffing wheel on my drill was an easy and effective wayy of polishing.  I spent about three minutes a piece on the last three rims where I spent over 15 minutes on the first rim polishing by hand.  The result was better too!   o.k. maybe I'm just lazy, but hey it worked...