Started on the rims

I've got the stock aluminum rims that have sat for about 10 yrs.  Very dirty with a few curb nicks in them but in pretty good shape, no pitting.  I read a ton of advice on how to best approach cleaning them up so my daughter and I could get to work.  The best advice was to find a shady place to work.  I picked up som 400 and 600 grit paper along with Mother's power ball mini, the Power Metal liquid and Mag and Aluminum paste.  We sat with about 20lbs of cotton clothes and started using some elbow grease.

I did mine with a buffer, and rubbing compound first. Then went back over them with a polishing compound. Turned out really nice and shiny.

Those rims really "POP" when they're shined up nice.  'Sounds like you've got a good helper, too.

I put a little more time into buffing with thte Mother's mini ball and HOLY COW!! Man do they look great.  I can barely type at this point as my fingers are badly cramped and stiff but well worth the price.

Pictures?

Sounds like a good process - will have to keep in mind if the Lukester wants to put her old shoes back on...

My rims need some work but I need to check before I do this you used sand paper on the rims and you were able to get a good shine back on the rims??????You buffed with paste for 30min.???

I promise to post pics as soon as I can get my kid to do it for me. I wet sanded with 400 grit then 600 grit, you get a shine but lots of swirl marks, scared the heck out of me.  I then used the mother's polish and that got rid of the swirl marks.  It may have been longer than a half an hour but certainly not more than an hour.  I am sure I can get an even better shine if I was more experienced with a buffer and buffing compounds.  But, never take 1 guys word for it, you can try it out on the inside of the rim where you'll never see it.  I was going to do the back/inside of my rims but decided I had too many other projects to complete.

 I have used Mothers but get faster results using "Wenol" it's a paste much heavier than mothers. It gets really black when you work it hard, blacker the better. You can purchase buffing cones for your drill (higher the RPM the better) from Eastwood. I have done the rims without sandpaper but mine may not have been as bad as yours.