aluminum sealer???

[lilredtdi]

Hey all. First post, just registered. This site kicks ass. I am refinishing a set of BBS 2 piece rims, and have some questions you all may be able to answer. I have already disassembled them due to clearcoat failure and have chemicialy stripped the CC off. I have also removed the powdery corrosion that existed in a few spots with a brass wheel chucked in a hand drill. The wheel centers of have suffered some minor scratches and are painted. I will just feather theese imperfections and repaint.

My questions are: I plan on keeping the lips of the wheels polished aluminum. I really do not want to CC them again, as it will be just a matter of time before the CC will fail again. After polishing do you just wax with carnuba, or something else?

Second question: if I do want to CC aluminum, what do I prep with before spraying? I am guessing just mineral spirits but will let yall school me.

BTW- I found caswells because I destroyed a cheap ryobi kit from home depot. I am buying the aluminum polishing kit and the grinder/buffer attachement to do this work. I have a 4 1/4in. grinder and a 6 1/2 or 7" makita grinder/sander as well. I am hoping the adapter will fit so I can retire the hand drill method as i do not think it has enough RPM's.

[FigureLLC]

i've had good results with zoop seal. i think it's a silicone/ceramic sealer. supposed to protect aluminum against dulling for 2-3 years, and the sealer doesn't affect the polish (i.e. dull it). i won't lie, it's a pain in the a$$ to use. takes a lot of elbow grease. it's similar to conventional waxing a car. stage 1 is the sealer that you wipe on and let dry. stage 2 is the final sealer that you wipe on and rub and rub and rub to remove the haze from stage 1.