Polished Riviera's - How do I keep Them Shiny?

[vesnyder]

I will probably have 4-5 hours into cleaning and polishing up my Riviera's, and for old, crappy, beat up wheels thay look pretty good, but anything I can do to keep them shiney? I wonder if it's the quality of the alloy, but they do not stay shiney very long - unlike the Fuchs on my 911!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Maybe a clear-coat? That tends to yellow a bit over time, though. I have heard that clear powder-coat can last pretty well and doesn't yellow much if at all.

Or you could just wax 'em regularly, I suppose.

--DD

[djpateman]

The Fuchs (with factory finish) are anodized, thus the gloss is protected. If you remove the factory finish on any aluminum alloy rim and expose the bare base metal, then it will quickly corrode. Iron rusts, and aluminum turns dark. If you want to polish to a high gloss finish, then to keep it you must continue to polish every week or so. Cast alloys don't anodize well, hence they tend to be painted. Painted rims have their own problems.

[vesnyder]

My 911 polished Fuchs only need polished about once per year to keep them looking nice (not once per week?), but the Riviera's are a different story - maybe monthly. They are a real PIA! Check these out - BLING BLING ...

[djpateman]

The polishing frequency was a WAG on my part and it really depends on the quality of the metal surface, the exposure it gets, atmospheric conditions and how it is protected. With lots of wax it may last a long time. Raw aluminum is attacked by whatever is in the air. Even a little wax will help prevent tarnishing.

[vesnyder]

I use this stuff called Speedy Metal Polish that has wax and silicone built into it. It works pretty good, but I am not sure it is much better than the Mothers polish I used. In any case, they sure look good when I am done, but the rate of tarnish does depend on the metal.