Spit and Polish

One of the things that became a source of irritation on the old MH were the wheels. We had hub caps which made them look okay but somewhere in Maine, many years ago, we lost one off of the left rear. This, of course, exposed the ugly steel wheel and, with the peeling decals on the sides, added to the emerging trashy look of the rig.

We (I) half-heartedly looked for a replacement but just never found one and didn't feel like paying for a whole new set.

Well, on the new rig, one of the many subtle selling points was that it had aluminum rims that gave a certain classy look that I had always admired in other people's rides. Unfortunately, the rims had not been cared for over the years and they were seriously tarnished and oxidized so I set about the task of shining them up.

I had some spray-on, wash-off rim cleaner in my arsenal of car washing goop that I figured would do the trick.

Sprayed on. Washed off. Nuttin'.

Hmm.

Back when I had the Goldwing, I had gotten some metal polish called Bombs Away that was highly recommended so I found that, grabbed some rags, and started polishing a spot. I started rubbing which brings up black "residue" which I swirled around for a bit and then buffed off. Wow, getting shiny but still a little dull. Another round of polishing and buffing in that small spot. Oooh, now we're talking. One more time and it was like a mirror - practically blinding me when the sun hit it just right.

Awesome! - except that I had just spent about 20 minutes on this and completed about 5 % of one wheel. At this rate, it would be winter before I was done.

Time to bring out power tools!

Well, time to drive to the auto-parts store to find something to put on my drill to add some mechanization to the process. This is what I got. Yes, it looks more like something you might use for an entirely different purpose but trust me, it's made for polishing rims. Oh yeah, this is going to be great!

I get home, attach it to my drill and get ready to buzz through this job and make these rims sparkle in no time. I bet you can guess where this is going can't you?

Well, it spins. It brings up the black residue, but it just doesn't bring out the shine very well. I try it again and again but the rim just doesn't have the full polish effect that I got when I hand-rubbed it. Plus, although it's designed to get into the nooks and crannies of the rim, the wide taper prevents that from being all that effective.

My conclusion is that the material is too spongy to be able to put enough pressure on the rim to really get all the oxidation and tarnish off. It will probably be good for on-going touch ups but for now, I have to go back to hand polishing.

This, of course, is agony.

• I have to hunch over or sit on the ground to get to the rims which kills my back.

• I jammed/broke the middle finger of my right hand a week ago playing soccer so now it aches whenever I use my right hand to polish.

• I continually ram said finger into the holes and the lug nuts on the rim - causing the neighborhood animals to scurry for cover on the ensuing diatribe of curse words.

I stretch this process out over many days. Polish a section. Hobble back inside and consume Ibuprofen and rest for a day or so. Go back out and do another section.

On the rears, which are concave, the bottom half of the rim is easiest to work on since I can press *down* to polish. One the fronts, which are convex, the top half is up. So, I go around doing the sections I can press down on and then move the MH forward to bring another section facing up.

Through it all, the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that the rims are looking really good. I wish I would have taken the before pictures but this is what they look like after.