What's up guys? So about a month ago, following having totaled my first car, I found myself searching for a used car under $2000 to get me by for the foreseeable future. I ended up finding a 94 CD5 auto for $1500 with an oil leak, almost 200k miles, and some fucked up paint. Oil leak turned out to be the VTEC solenoid, so we made a homemade gasket for now to stop the leakage until I get around to finding the actual replacement gasket. We also went ahead and switched over to M1 full syn oil for longevity's sake, replaced the distributor, spark plugs, upper and lower rad hoses, one of the heater hoses because it blew, installed my speakers and stereo, and some custom-made floor mats, cleaned the car up, and could definitely sell if for more than 2k around here. Anyway, I'm working on getting it to look as nice as possible, cause I'm starting to like the thing . Only thing is that, like many older Accords, the rims are horribly oxidized, and have basically lost all sheen. How can I get them to look good again? I saw a YouTube video that suggested buffing with headlight restore solution, so I gave that a try, but it's not giving me the results I want. Any suggestions would be great. I attached a pic of before and after with the headlight restore stuff to give you all an idea.

 

wet sand and polish could work if you have the patience.

 

Thanks for the response. Wouldn't that get rid of the machined finish? Would that be the only solution; completely polishing them?

 

To get the scratches out you have to go deeper than the machining.

 

there really aren't any scratches that I care about, I just want to get rid of the dullness and get them to shine, without getting rid of the machined look, if possible.

 

I was under the impression those rims are clear coated. If that is the case have you tried a product for oxidized paint? Most of those headlight restore kits are pure crap. I use Mothers Mag wheel polish for headlights that are turning yellow, but headlights that are really foul need a much more aggressive compound such as a paint polishing compound.

Try the Mothers Mag stuff first, if it does not bring back the shine, go for a paint polishing compound.

 

That's what my uncle was telling me, that they have a clear coat. I'll stop by O'Reilly tomorrow and check this stuff out, thanks for the tip.

 

Yep, I dealt with this same issue. Those wheels are clear coated. To truly get them 'fixed' I'd send them off to a wheel refinishing company. I know there's one near me that goes to all the car meets advertising it.

If you start sanding them you'll end up tearing up the clear coat and messing up the finish on the aluminum. I'll second MAD_MIKE's suggestion on the paint polishing compound if they're just hazy. I ended up just painting mine with like some Rustoleum stuff IIRC. Looked decent enough to where I didn't mind and it actually matched up pretty well with the center cap (that I didn't paint)

 

Once the clear coat starts to chip and flake off, there is no other means but to have them refinished, painted or powder coated. Or you could DIY and sand down the clear coat and keep polishing and waxing them yourself.

 

Get some paint stripper to get the clear coat off. It will make polishing yourself much easier.

 

No need to strip them if the haze is only in the clear coat and it isn't chipping or cracked though.

 

I ended up just going for it, and finishing all four rims with the Meguiar's PlastX stuff that I started with (I only did 1.5 rims the first time), and I think they turned out pretty well. I came to terms with the fact that they'll never be as nice-looking as the 5-Spokes that were on my 04 Civic, so with that mindset, they look pretty good. My center caps are in my dorm, which I won't be able to access until the 27th, so I have yet to see what they look like with them on, but the improvement is pretty immense IMO. It was well worth the $6 or so for the PlastX, and about 1.5 hours' work. Attached is a comparo, as well as a crop of the rear driver's side rim and its dullness before I did anything to it, directly after washing the car.

 

Good job! Nothing like a bit of the ol' elbow grease.