A friend sold me some wheels and tires that may be off a Rodeo. They are aluminum, clear-coated.

there are some blemishes, and I want to know if I can soften and smooth out the clear coat (and have it look good) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />...or if I need to do something more drastic like hot tank them and then re-coat them.

Anybody have experience with this?

if i'm rememberin correctly there was a posting about this a while back....use the search feature at the top left hand corner of the page and type in polishin aluminum wheels, or somethin of that nature, i'm pretty sure there was a good thread on how to's for that type of wheels



[EDIT- i'm pretty sure this is the hook up you're lookin for: http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showf...in=126660&Search=true#Post126660 ]

Looks like those suggestions are to completely strip and re-coat the rims. Any suggestions to fix pitted spots? I have some small pits on my rims, all smaller than a quarter. Should I grind them out with an air rotary tool and try to limit spraying clearcoat just on the small area? Should I just clearcoat over the pits? I don't want to use a big wirebrush because then I'd damage a larger spot than what's bad now!

[Edit]
BTW, the aircraft cleaner is great stuff. That's what people use when they polish the frames on their bikes (we ricers do that kind of stuff). They use aircraft cleaner to completely strip the enamel off the frame then polish the living crap out of it!! Polish, polish, polish 'till your arms fall off. They don't spray clearcoat over it because it removes the glossy chrome look, which makes maintenance crucial! I don't know how bright the luster would be without the polish, polish, polish and what effect the clearcoat would have to dull the finish.
[/Edit]

i dunno man, someone should chime in, i just remembered the link, i got alloys and should prolly be askin some ?'s on 'em myself

If the clear-coat is dinged all the way to the aluminum, you're kinda hosed. If its just scuffs and scratches, try Macguire's auto polish. Mac's is my friend for scuff removal from branches and stuff. I bought some nasty wheel cleaner once and it fogged my rims, but Mac's brought it out. Clear coat safe! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />