got my rims looked at today to see about doing a professional polish on them. He said itd be better for me to do it myself, just becuase labor costs are high. He suggested cleaning the inner part of the rim with watered down acid. I know Ive heard of people cleaning brakes with acid, but ive never seen anywhere to buy it.

does anybody know where to get such a product?

I had some OEM wheels for a TATA I once had and the inner holes where a rough finish that was impossible to get clean. I used a spray bottle and misted them with sulfiric acid and let it sit for about a minute and rinsed. It took all the aged look off and left the rough finished areas look good. After a good polishing some clear coat will help yours look good for a long time.

3 questions...

where did you get straight up sulfuric acid?

What kind of spray container did you have that held sulfuric acid?

Should I have to clear coat polished aluminum rims?

You can buy the stuff. We had this at work and I used a random spray bottle I found. I just put a little in the bottle,just enough. Even if it ruins the pump in the bottle it will spray enough times to get it done.

Make sure you wear eye protection and heavy gloves. Acid burns can be pretty nasty. Dave

Try the new Mcquires stuff. I think it is called Hot Rims. That stuff took off 2 years or brake crud that most other chrome cleaners would not clean. All I did was spray it down, let it sit for a few minutes, scrubbed vigorously with a soft brush, and rinse. They looked brand new, except the pits from sitting so long, and stay fairly clean. I took one tire off to clean the inside and it was just as easy, only took three times to get it all and was not too hard.

Matt

a friend of mine brought a bottle of some sort of acid home from the radiator shop where he worked and it cleaned them up really well.
not sure what it was tho.

Yea, i still havent tracked anything down acid wise. Ive never tried that hot rims stuff, maybe ill give that a try...