Hey guys, as most of you know I was in the process of ordering new wheels for my car. At long last they finally came in and I had them assembled and put on the car today. I chose to go with Billet Specialties GTX01s and they look fabulous! Pics will be posted very soon I promise...

My question is what should I do to the wheels to make sure that the polished aluminum remains mirror like? I have yet to call Billet to ask them what they recommend. I use Mother's wheel polish on my old 15" rims, but is that safe on highly polished wheels or will it scratch? Should I put some sort of wax or coating on the wheels to protect them? After investing over $1200 in rims alone I want to make sure they last a long time and look great!

Wax is what I heard works well. I too have brand new wheels and want to keep them shiny.

I strongly suggest using Wenol www.wenolusa.com (http://www.wenolusa.com)

I've used just about everything made on my personal cars and "Big-Rigs" to polish aluminum.Wenol might cost a bit more but a tube goes a long way.It's the best polish I've ever used.Very easy to apply and remove. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Did you watch TRUCKS on TNN last weekend ( http://www.truckstv.com/schedule/viewShow.asp?show_id=278&show_date=05042003 )? They had a big part of the show on shinny metals. One of the products featured was Zoops Seal ( http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp ). They claim it's a ceramic base coating that will last up to 3 years. They used it on some big polished aluminium wheels and they looked great. I was thinking of trying this stuff out, I coudn't find any post on this forum.

Dunno if any one here tried it?

A metal polisher told me not to use wax because it will get into the pores of the aluminum. Eventually, this will darken the aluminum.

Well I checked out the Zoops webpage and it sounds like a great product but $130!! geez. I guess if i never had to polish my wheels for 3 years it would br worth it. My wheels are brand new so now is the time to do this before I even mount them on the car.

I think the zoops is one of the best products out there for the polished rims, I have tried a lot of others and had used mothers for a while with good success but the zoops seemed to be better and lasts a lot longer, I have heard that billet specialities has a coating for there wheels that they recommend ,so you might make a call and ask a tech person about it, I have talked to a few guys at car shows who say its good also ,

I used Mother's on the Billet Specialties on my truck.... I didn't notice any scratching, but make sure your wheels and your towel are CLEAN before you rub them, I would think most scratches come from hidden sand or dirt from the procedure, not the product.
Good luck with your new wheels! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

on my new weld pro stars I use windex and a super soft rag.

I used zoops on my chevelle and camaro and my friends 32 coupe and love it. It's only been 4 months so we'll have a long wait to see if it really works for 3 years!

FWIW, There instructions claim one package will do one car so I mixed the A & B chemicals and went at the chevelle, when I was done I had hardly used 1/4 of the bottle so then I did the camaro including the engine, still only used 1/2 so I called up a friend and had him do his wheels and engine and there was still a bunch left...The moral of the story is ONLY mix 1/4 of the chemicals at a time so you dont blow $130 down the drain! If you need more then just mix more but this stuff goes a long way. Maybe get a few friends to split the cost.

Lee

67_camaro- Thanks for the first had experience with zoop. I think I will go for it and mix only a little at a time like to suggested. My new wheels are not mounted yet (still in the boxes) so now is the best time I guess.