how to remove scratches in rims clearcoat?

[mikeinaus]

does anyone know of an easy way to remove scratches in the clearcoat of a machined lip on an after market rim? i just bought some konig holes on craigslist and for the most part there in awesome condition. the only problem is there is alot of white scratches in the machined lip. does anyone have any easy ways of getting these out or is 20+ hours of sanding/polishing my only option? im thinking of trying one of those powerball polishers with some rubbing compound but i dont want to ruin the finish on the rims.

pics of damage:


pics of rims:



P.S. what colour lug nuts should i get? black, red or blue? its for a silver car...

[Sleeper6]

Green lugs, would look sick. And Ild run them for a bit to make sure I really like them before putting in polishing time.

[Daninski]

Power ball works real good. Start with a mild polishing compound nothing too aggressive. Depends on how deep the scratches are, if they're through to the aluminum then the only real solution is having them re-coated with clear poly.

[mikeinaus]

from what i can tell the majority of the scratches are not very deep. if i run my finger over them they still feel smooth.

are there any products you can recommended i try? have you ever tried the powerball mini MD? it looks like a more abrasive version of the powerball designed for removing scratches more then just polishing.

[Daninski]

The power ball mini is just a foam ball with no real abrasive at all. I usually just use any polishing liquid I happen to have around the house. Because the clear coat on your rims is indeed a plastic go and buy a plastic polish. Once the product starts to build up in the powerball after a couple of minutes of application (adding more compound as you go along) the scratches should disappear. No real chance of doing any damage. Don't use any aggressive paint oxidation remover as that's probably to coarse a grit for this application.

[Sisko182]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDiq8SUFAN8

[mikeinaus]

oh good old billy mays. ill have to put that on my shelf next to the chipotleway...

i grabbed the mothers cone polisher today along with some mothers california scratch remover and plastix polish. i couldn't find my drill so i didn't really have a good chance to try it out, but rubbing it in by hand didn't look like it did too much. ill give it a try with a drill tomorrow and see if i can get some better results. if not these rims will probably stay the way they are.