Flitz Metal Polish

[Ron61]

Somewhere on here I saw a thread some time back about this but so far I haven't managed to find it using the search feature. Do any of you know where that thread is? I want to find out if it will work on GT-40 wheels which are somewhat of a rough finish and it is hard to get brake dust and dog pee off of them.

Ron

[Alfa02]

Ron, if don't find that product, you may want to try, Blue Magic Metal polishing cream. $7.99 for 7oz. Smell's Awful, but I've tried all the others, over the years Mother's, Semichrome, Groits, Maas, Nevr-Dull, etc. For bare Alum. I find Blue Magic's the best. I collect vintage 70's home stereo's, with bare Alum. faces, and if you take the lettering off, they are worth zich, Blue Magic, is the only polish I use on them. It's worth a try anyway, Cheers Tom.

[Ron61]

Thanks Tom,

Do you think it would work on the wheels as they are real mags and have that kind of rough finish which makes it really hard to clean them.

Ron

[DanEC]

Dog pee - Ron, maybe you need to hook a hot lead from a battery charger up to the wheel for the next time he lifts a leg on it.

[Ron61]

Dan,

It wasn't my dog and I wasn't out there to run him off. I don't think Mags would conduct electricity to well. That is the one thing that I don't care for with these wheels. They are a pain to clean.

Ron

[Alfa02]

You know that's a great question Ron, real mag's (Magnesium) are a pain to keep up. Back in the day, I helped my dad's friend that raced a McLaren Mk.1A, and that was part of my job, literally the minute your done polishing Magnesium wheels they start oxidizing. And a rough surface doesn't help. Let me do some homework, with the vintage racer's that have real Mag's, and see what they use. I can't remember what we used on the McLaren (You know the old memory isn't as good as it once was ) Cheers Tom.

[spdbrake]

Ron, I take it you're trying to clean the rough sand cast center web area and not the polished lip.

If so and those are Magnesium I'd stay clear of Products like Eagle One Mag etch and or Lock-tite Alum brightener, Aluminum pre-paint etch cleaners as they will clean the wheel and remove material. (Wheel will foam like Alka-seltzer) and the polished lip will be dull and need re-polishing.
Strong Alkali cleaners like Simple Green and 409 (PH above 12) will have a similar result to the lip area and can have long term effects if not thoroughly rinsed

Safest is to mix one part dish soap (Not Dawn) to four parts water in a spay bottle. Spray wheel let sit 1-2 min and use a pressure washer off with water.

Simple Green is outlawed in aviation as it can cause Hydrogen Enbrittlement to metals (has caused catastrophic failures).
We do use Simple Green Extreme across the industry though as it will not have an oxidizing effect on Alloys.
https://cdn.simplegreen.com/download...ionCleaner.pdf

[ERA174]

I have used windex and a brush on clear coated aluminum wheels to remove brake dust, works well. Spray the cold wheel with a liberal amount of windex, scrub with the brush and rinse with water, quick and effective. Check out the following links, they may be helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF21eHUAwlk

https://stevekouracos.com/restoratio...l-restoration/

[Lou1119]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Somewhere on here I saw a thread some time back about this but so far I haven't managed to find it using the search feature. Do any of you know where that thread is? I want to find out if it will work on GT-40 wheels which are somewhat of a rough finish and it is hard to get brake dust and dog pee off of them.

Ron

Ron,
I have tried almost every metal polish that has been produced. I stumbled on a product that is heads and shoulders above all of them. I am a watch collector and used Cape Cod Metal polishing cloths to shine and correct scratches on stainless and gold on watches. One day getting ready for a show I got tired of using cream metal polishes and thought I might try the cloths on my side pipes. I was amazed at the results; more brilliant shine an they removed minor scratches as well. As for the rough finish on the mag centers, I am not sure but they work well on rough finished aluminum. It might be worth a try.

[CSX 4133]

Sonax wheel cleaner is safe for all types of wheels. Including aluminum, all alloy, clear coated and anodized. Use a soft wheel brush to agitate the cleaner after allowing it to dwell on the surface for two minutes, rinse with a strong stream of water and then dry.
I use it on my Torque Thrust wheels after track days and it works very well, to keep your wheels looking good try Gibb's Lubricant.

[RodKnock]

Find any magnesium wheel thread where ERA Chas posted about polishing mag wheels. He doesn’t post here any more, but he polished his mag wheels every year. Here’s one such thread:

Refinishing halibrands

[RodKnock]

Here’s another one:

Modern Magnesium Halibrand Wheel Quality