I've spent a ton of time detailing my car but my rims are always an eye sore amongst the rest of the car. My rims used to look great but over time they've turned super cloudy and just look like crap. I've tried a lot of different things to shine them back up but no dice. Do these need refinished? My research has come up somewhat blank as to what the actual material these rims are made of.

 

I have some of those on my Car and when I bought them they didn't look very good either. As I recall I used 4 ought steel wool and a product called Super Clean by Castrol. and cleaned them all around even the inside.
This is what the result was. then I use a spray wax on them. I think I might try that new ceramic stuff too.

 

Wow, those look great, thank you sir! I'll try the steel wool. I've got a warehouse supply of Super Clean in my garage so I'll put some of that to work too.

 

I think the wheels are made of aluminum.

 

I'd also check to see if it looks like there is a clear coat on top. The approach for polishing up bare metal would be different than a cleared surface (especially since the clear is probably where the issue lies if they are).

 

I think there is a clear coat on top. I've tried using the Mother's mag & aluminum polish and it doesn't turn black at all like the Internet says it should on bare aluminum. I agree with you and think that the issue might be the clear coat. If that's the case I don't think I'll tackle this job and leave it the way it is.

 

You are right it is a clear coat on these wheels. The cloudiness comes from road grim and also cleaners that you use on the tires and wheels and sometimes when you don't get that off but only rinse it you start to build up the layers of film. The ones I cleaned up I got off of ebay and put them on a different Gen Monte Carlo so I contacted some of the detailers around and also saw an episode on TV where they cleaned up wheels I can't remember what show it was. It was on Motor trend. I had success with it just remember not to use anything more that the 4 - ought steel wool. (0000)
Once done make sure you wipe them down each time you wash the car. Years ago I had Chrome Crager SS wheels that got cloudy too. You got to wipe them down, like streaks in the windows. Good Luck.

 

So I finally got these done. I ended up skipping the steel wool as it was scratching the finish a little bit. I did the following on all four rims:

1. Clean and degrease using Chemical Guys Clean Slate/Super Clean
2. Clay bar
3. Compound and polish using Chemical Guys V32/V38
4. Wax

I realize there are better compound options available but it was all I had. I'm pretty happy with the finish. They are far better than how they started, but not 100% complete I don't think.

Excuse the crappy photo. I'll try to get some better ones when the sun is out.