How do you get paint off of the 16" Anny rims? I have a purple pink red and plain rim (dont ask). I have break dust stain and other crap I dont even know what it is! So whats best and cheapest way (I have time)? It looks so ugly guys, please help!

 

my guess whould be paint remover. i think 3m makes some.

 

Yeah I got some paint stripper from 3M... It worked better than anything so far... But it still has crap on it for the most part... Any other ideas?

 

could u sand it?

 

There is a shape in the metal that you would never be able to get to with sand paper, and there are a ridges (a design) in the metal, so id imagine sanding it would mess it up even more...

 

My only other guess is to have them refinish if their worth it, or get some out of a salvage yard.

 

Anyone know what sand blasting is? If it would work and how much it would cost or could I do it myself?

Thanks for the posts bandit!

 

oven cleaner works just as well, slower process but cheaper, dont get it on your hands though, make your hands feel funny for days....

 

Aircraft remover in an aresol can you can pick it up at wal-mart in the automotive section for 3-5 bucks a can. It will even strip the clear and color out of a gta rim

 

this rim was stripped with aircraft remover

 

Sand Blasting would pit the metal. Even Glass Bead blasting will pit aluminum.

 

Aircraft remover is the BEST for stripping rims, but it will burn your skin like a ****.

I don't know about aerosol (i'd worry about it getting on the tires), but I know you can buy it in a can like paint thinner/mineral spirits/acetone comes in at most auto parts stores.

The stuff I used had a picture of an airplane on the front.

Again, this will burn a little if it gets on your skin, but it will take the finish off your wheels quick and with very little mess.

 

Walnut shells instead of sand or glass beads are supposed to remove paint and crap and not change the finish of the metal, not sure if it works though....

 

Let's just spit some sunflower seeds at it!

Just jerkin' your chain. I've never heard of blasting walnut shells. That's pretty interesting.

 

Not that you doubt me but this is where I have seen it Eastwood CO I cant remember where I heard it can work on paint though

 

Very cool. I guess you could blast just about anything you wanted that fit through the strainer. That leaves you open to all kinds of possibilities.

 

BLACKICE: Did you do it with the tire still on? It seems this stuff is really potent... I dont know if its the pic or what, but I think I see piant left behind. I did use the arosol stripper from wal-mart (the car kind), it was working well, it just made one hella mess and still left a film of paint behind. So Im assuming this stuff wont do that, am I correct?

GC: where did you get your can? How much?

Thanks for all the posts guys!

Now hopefully I can fix these ugly rims, been trying things for along time!

 

i have used both the aerosol can and the metal can of aircraft cleaner i think the metal can worked better but that is just me.

you can pick up both types of aircraft stripper at walmart.

ps some colors seam to strip ezer than others for instance my three gold irocs striped very ez but i am having a harder time with my one silver iroc wheel.

 

Funny the auto stipper pulled the silver right off of mine! Its the black, now purple one that Im having trouble with! I dont even want to start on the others yet, at least until I get a better way...


What about brake dust? I have layers of it along with other stuff caked on my rims!

How much of the stuff should I get? How far will one jug go?

 

to clean my wheels i use black magic wheel cleaner and a pressure washer

i wouldn't use that for a self painted wheel tho for self painted wheels i use the same soap and micro fiber wash mitt i use to wash the car do those last so you don't get brake dust on the paint.

 

I should mention that my goal is to have nothing on the rims... At all... No paint no dust.

 

then just experiment with wheel cleaners find what you like best. i have tried a lot of them and non have really stood out so far

 

What Im wondering is: Will the stipper get the dust off?

 

i don't see why it wouldn't

 

Auto Zone. Klean-Strip brand Aircraft Remover. Around $20/gallon. One gallon should do it.

I recommend jacking your car up, taking a wheel off, and laying it flat. I tried one wheel on the car and it sucked. It was much easier to take them off.

I would also recommend that once you have your wheel off, you clean it as good as you can before you try to strip it. Try to get all of the brake dust off before stripping, just so you don't make as big of a mess with the stripper. If the wheel is off, it should be relatively easy to clean. But the stripper will definitely get any brake dust that is left behind.

Try not to get this stuff on the tires. I doubt it would do much damage, but I wouldn't take a chance.

 

Sweet! Thanks guys!

 

Aircraft stripper and elbow grease.

sandblasting would work too...

By no means is it going to be easy or fun... but you will be happy you did it cause your wheels will look 900 times better when your done.

 

I know nothing about sandblasting... It would probably be out of my price range. $20 bux and some work sounds better. I just didnt know what to use because auto stripper just wasnt doing it.

 

Few things worth doing are easy. The aircraft stripper doesn't seem to get it all (even with repeated applications). I second the advice about rubber gloves and would suggest safety goggles as well. That stuff will burn you alive whenever you get it splashed on your legs/feet so I know you don't want it in your eyes. I've tried 4 or 5 brands of wheel cleaners and some are definitely better than others. I took a set of chrome wheels off my oldest son's Jeep awhile back that had not been cleaned in close to 2 years. The brake dust was trying to soak into the chrome. None of the 3 brands of wheel cleaners I have on hand would get the stubborn areas clean even with multiple soakings and brushings. I finally sat down with my trusty can of Never Dull chrome polish and found out that with a little bit of elbow grease it will remove hardened brake dust accumulations, dried ball joint grease drops and just about every thing else that had become stuck to the insides and outsides of those wheels in the last two years. I cleaned up one (of four) of the Z28 wheels on my old 83 Z28 2 years ago (just before it tossed the timing chain at 185,000 miles) and the Never Dull cleaned off the red tinting from the overspray when the car had been painted, it cleaned off the brake dust stains that dulled the gray finish and it shined up the aluminum part of the wheels as well. Even 2 years later that one wheel stands out from the other wheel on that side of the car even at 50 or 60 yards away. Try some Never Dull to clean your wheels.

 

Are you saying use never dull instead of stripper to remove everything, or just never dull for cleaning dust and use stipper for paint?

 

Nver Dull worked pretty good on my rims, but I had so much brake dust that it wouldn't get through it, but on my other rims with less brake dust it worked pretty good, but Im still going to use aircraft stripper just cause its faster, and easier

 

The best thing I've seen for stripping aluminum wheels is definatly Chopped toe nail blasting.







Yeah thats the way to go I used 100% alchohol to clean brake dust off my wheels but it wasnt that caked on...

 

sandblasting makes a lot of stuff look good but since their alluminum i would check into soda blasting its the same as sand blasting but instead of glass or sand they use baking soda ive done some soda blasting and it works good and makes everything smooth

 

what works real good for getting stubborn paint off is sanding all the painted areas with 320 grit to soften the paint up a bit thin use the aircraft stripper in the can and lay it on thick then spray it off with a pressure washer.

if you don't have a pressure washer you could always go to a car wash late at night