I keep aluminum and wire wheels as far away from each other as possible. They can do an absolutely horrific amount of cosmetic damage. It may be possible to find something really "soft" that does not gouge, but I don't know what. You can get a pretty presentable finish with coarse glass beads followed by walnut shell blasting, but it isn't shiny like polishing, and I would not do that if I was going to polish. Just to avoid confusion, I am talking about actual coarse glass beads as apposed to any number of other glass blasting media. The real thing leaves a very smooth, fairly bright rinsable surface. 60 + grit. Counter intuitively, finer grits make a dull more porous like surface. the media is expensive and does not last long at all, so I save it for things like carburetors (I know, everyone is gasping) which I like to look as out of the box new as possible.
Maybe someone else can advise some specific wire wheel/brush type that can work, but I just wanted to offer the warning.
For me, hub interiors boil down to this: They are very hard to make presentable with the wheel disassembled. Virtually IMPOSSIBLE to do anything meaningful when assembled, so it is one of three (or four) finishes for me. 1) Polishing - looks great at first, dulls with age, (and my money says you will NOT be polishing it up as maintenance!) but still looks presentable years later. 2)Coarse glass beads and walnut shells. much the same as polishing but starts off 10 years old. 3)Glass beads and paint for inside, polish for outside flanges. This is without question the most bang for the buck, and has long life and is comparatively easy to maintain. If you don't have a media blasting cabinet, you could mask off the outsides and get someone to blast it for you. should be cheap, and surface finish does not matter because you are painting. The fourth option is as I think I previously mentioned, re-machine the hub smooth and polish. Changes the look of the hubs a lot, which may be disagreeable to some. (for the record, my OPINION is there is no structural issues in doing so, and removing the cooling fins just does not matter, for whatever it's worth. Opinions vary!) You can actually maintain this assembled if you have enough dedication!
Maybe someone else can advise some specific wire wheel/brush type that can work, but I just wanted to offer the warning.
For me, hub interiors boil down to this: They are very hard to make presentable with the wheel disassembled. Virtually IMPOSSIBLE to do anything meaningful when assembled, so it is one of three (or four) finishes for me. 1) Polishing - looks great at first, dulls with age, (and my money says you will NOT be polishing it up as maintenance!) but still looks presentable years later. 2)Coarse glass beads and walnut shells. much the same as polishing but starts off 10 years old. 3)Glass beads and paint for inside, polish for outside flanges. This is without question the most bang for the buck, and has long life and is comparatively easy to maintain. If you don't have a media blasting cabinet, you could mask off the outsides and get someone to blast it for you. should be cheap, and surface finish does not matter because you are painting. The fourth option is as I think I previously mentioned, re-machine the hub smooth and polish. Changes the look of the hubs a lot, which may be disagreeable to some. (for the record, my OPINION is there is no structural issues in doing so, and removing the cooling fins just does not matter, for whatever it's worth. Opinions vary!) You can actually maintain this assembled if you have enough dedication!
