polishing lugnuts (yes, lugnuts)?

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Is there some trick way to clean up aluminum lugnuts and keep them looking good? Mine look lousy and it's something I probably have to live with, since I use an impact wrench and am frequently switching between road and track wheels/tires, but I wondered if any of the concours experts have advice.

(Yes, I know Pelican sells a "soft" socket for aluminum nuts, but it got real old using it by hand, so I buried a PVC air line leading out to the driveway and switched to an air wrench.)

Stephan

[75Carrera]

I shined my up with a drumel tool in a vice after screwing them onto a treaded post to hold them in place. Mine had been painted and had a few dings from dumb-ass tire shops.

[Dantilla]

On the black ones, I've touched them up with a Sharpie pen.

[Joe Bob]

You can wire brush with a table unit....then a polishing wheel and heavy rouge.....I screwed the nuts onto a used 100 mm wheel stud so that I could hang on while the wheel heated them up....also they don't fly off and hit the wall of the garage....they stay cleaner than the dark anodized ones.

[Zeke]

I thnk one should be using steel nuts at the track anyway. However, Stephan didn't indicate that he did not use steelies at the track, just that the AL ones were suffering from the abuse of a non-protective socket and an air driven impact gun.

To that, I say there is little defense. And, surely the time spent doing what Mikey details would eclipse any time savings gained by the use of an air gun.

I think the best solution in this senario is to consider the AL nuts to be expendable and buy a case of them.

[Joe Bob]

I was bored and wanted polished nuts....had a drawer full of scarred up anodized ones....so....WTF....not like I've ever wasted time before....

[JeremyD]

Originally posted by mikez
I was bored and wanted polished nuts....not like I've ever wasted time before....

That's quote material there...