These wheels looked pretty bad when I first bought them with my 76. I looked into having them professionally cleaned but it end up being $200 a wheel. At that price I could buy new wheels so I decided to polish them myself. My wheels were in really bad condition. I did try several products but nothing seemed to work. My way of polishing the aluminum sounds harsh but it worked out for me. If rushed, this could end in a less than desirable finish so patience is necessary. There are many variables that could damage one's wheels in the methods I used so polish and clean using your own discretion.

I start out by cleaning with a bottle of wheel cleaner but soap and water would work fine.

Now the delicate part. I sprayed paint stripper on the wheel and let it sit a bit. I then gently and slowly took a wire wheel over the wheel making sure not to hit the back lip which would leave swirl marks. This is a very time consuming process but well worth it once you see the results. Whenever dealing with a paint stripper, make sure you wear safety glasses and other protective equipment to protect your skin. These chemicals are no joke and can lead to some serious damage over time.

After an hour and a half or so of wire wheeling, I started the polishing process with Never Dull. If you have never used this stuff, it works great and came be bought at Auto Zone. Next, I use Mothers Billet Metal Polish. You will begin to see progress.

Then I used this product from Eastwood. It wasn't that essential so if I didn't happen to have an extra tube of it lying around, I probably wouldn't have used it. In my experience, I did not see it as effective as the other polishes. The last polish I used is called Luster. This and Never Dull are my two favorite polishes that really work well.

It took me close to 3 hours to do each wheel but I am very pleased with the outcome. Since then, I have put 8,000 miles on the car and they still look good.

This is just my experience and how it worked out for me. I am sure some would look at this as being too harsh on aluminum wheels, but considering the condition mine were in, I don't think they could have gotten any worst. And besides, nothing else seemed to work.

Questions:

Who makes the wheels on your 76 corvette?

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