Hey everyone,
Ive got an 88 Formula with 87 GTA wheels on it. The wheels on the metal (shiny) part have weird specks of white hard deposit/build up (magnesium?). I scrubbed the wheels with Mothers polish to try to remove the buildup but it just wont go away. The wheels are covered in these spots and I know they could look great with the spots removed. Anyone else have this problem or have any suggestions on getting rid of the spots?
Thanks

 

What you have is Corrosive Oxidation of the Aluminum material and the short story is there is noting you can do.

 

Well that sucks..

 

You can sand through it Im sure...?

 

Yea I was hoping there would be some way I could do that any ideas?

 

Theres a thread on it already. You can strip them and paint them or..

Sand using 300 grit then 400 then 600 then wet sand using 800, 1000, 1200/1500
polish and re-coat them with clear. Its a tedious process and will take a long time hours or more per wheel.

The problem with the old alum wheels are the clear coat on them wasn't very good and they tend to peel and crack. This lets the elements get to the alum and oxidize it.

 

Well Im willing to work hard on them as long as I can get the aluminum back to being shiny with no white oxidation blotches. Can you give me the link to the thread with the instructions on how to do it? (I searched before and couldnt find anything already on the site.)

 

It took me 20 hours to polish all four of my wheels up, which is basically what you'd be doing. Just gotta take 220ish grit and sand through all the clearcoat, and then move toe 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, polishing compound, etc.... on the face of the spokes and the outer lip.

 

Bah, it's no where near as tedious as you might think! I did all 4 of the wheels on my 89 Cavalier Z24 like that and the result was beautiful, let me grab some pics of before and after.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...g?t=1278966757
This was when we had first painted it like 4 years ago, and I hadn't bothered touching the rims yet. It isn't as noticable on the front left rim, but it had the same problem you're talking about. I took them off one at a time and used Aircraft Remover to remove the remaining clear coat, it made quick work of that old crap. xD Just make sure to cover the tire itself, or have it unmounted from the wheel. After using the Aircraft Remover (only took like 10 minutes), I spent a few hours wet sanding each one, starting at 240 grit or so, then going to 400 ish, 600 ish, 800, 1000, 2000. I went really high up because I wanted a perfect finish. MAKE SURE on the lower grits that you spend a LONG time doing the metal, or else you'll end up with small hairlines all over the place. The lower grits take the longest, and the higher ones take little to no time at all. Then use Mothers Metal/Aluminum polish and remember to polish them every now and then and they'll be fine.

The end result is really worth it.


Also! I had to do the same thing on my 15th's stock rims, mine have the shiny metal lip as well. Mine took MAYBE 3 hours each, and that was with me scrubbing out the insides of the wheels and all that. Wet sanding the lips on these rims takes little to no time, and it's a great improvement to the overall look.

 

Hey,
Thanks for the great/detailed reply man..youve convinced me that if its sunny this weekend the Formula is about to get its shiny wheels back. I looked at the pics of your Cavalier and your certain I can do this to the shiny ( not so shiny anymore) aluminum on my GTA wheels and get the same result?

 

I am practically certain it will. I made this picture as an example real quick. I'm assuming you have the cross-lace GTA wheels, so I would actually NOT recommend the Aircraft remover unless you do a really good job taping off your cross-laces, otherwise you'll probably lose the paint on them and they'll be hideous. Anyways, I threw this picture together. If you're talking about the large trim lip that goes around the edge on the GTA wheels, then it should shine up really well. I posted a picture showing the front right wheel of the 15th Anniversary T/A from the day I bought it, and the wheel I have is the fancy 16" 20 slot. It has a similar outer lip that is a straight up aluminum with clear coat on it.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...g?t=1278999992
As you can see from the arrows, the lip I'm pointing to on my rims is a bit smaller than the GTA ones, but since they're just clear coated aluminum (as far as I know, at least), removing the clear coat and WET sanding them will give you a great shine. I recommend buying those sets of assorted wet-sanding paper they sell at most auto-zones, since it gives you like one paper of most sizes. You may need to buy the lower grit pack too, there should be one for like 200 through 600, then another from 800 to 2000 or something like that. If not, just make sure the ones you buy aren't terribly far apart in grit or you'll get those nasty lines in the aluminum and you'll have to start from the beginning again.
I had a ton of sandpaper left over from when I did my Cavalier's rims, and the grits I had were like:
240 320 400 600 800 1000 2000 3000
or something along those lines. I forget exact numbers, but you get my drift. Make sure to keep the paper wet as well, and to get clean water every now and then. The first few lower grits will turn that water gray in no time at all. xD

Once you get to the higher grits, it's mainly just to add a nice shine. I personally recommend Mothers Aluminum and Mag Wheel Polish, I bought one can like 3 years ago and still have half of it left. As for the polishing itself, clean terry cloth towels and microfiber towels work great.

Hopefully that will get you the same result I got with my Z24 rims and my T/A rims.

EDIT: In all honesty, it MAY NOT be a good idea to use aircraft remover on those specific rims, only because the stuff sprays really far since it's aerosol, and even if you tape of the cross-laces it may seep in under the tape. It'd be best to use just the sand paper to remove the clearcoat from the aluminum.

 

Wow I think I just found a new best friend on these forums lol. Thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty in your reply. You covered pretty much every base on how to get the wheels back to shiny. Ill be attacking them with the sanding and polishing this weekend. Ill let you know how it goes.
Again THANK YOU

 

Baha, it's no big deal man. xD that's one of the few things I've done myself quite a few times and the way I did it seemed to work just fine. Like I said, be sure to post some pics of before and after! The difference is gigantic. I'll probably take a pic of my front left wheel (I've been lazy and it's the last one I need to wet sand. Lol) and then one of my right rear wheel eventually. Mine weren't too terrible to start off with, but the difference was immediately noticable.

One last thing, if you end up having a somewhat tough time taking the clear coat off with the sand paper (I doubt you will, since it's already chipping and 20+ years old lol), you can try Brake parts cleaner, carb/choke cleaner, or even paint thinner if I remember right. Maybe it was acetone, I forget. But either way, that stuff is not as strong as the aircraft remover but will still help take off any stubborn clearcoats. A wirebrush can be useful too, you just would have to make sure you do really good with the low grits of sand paper to get rid of the scratches it would leave.

EDIT: OH! I almost forgot! What can also be really useful if you are having a hard time getting that corners right where the cross laces begin, you can buy some of the wet sanding sponges they sell. Since they're sponge-material on the inside, they conform really well to the grooves/creases in the wheels.

Good luck!

 

Hey man, just checkin' in on how you've done, or if you have started yet. I just bought myself a set of 4 15x7 High tech Turbo wheels off an 85 T/A, since I've always loved the straight up aluminum rims with no paint. I'm going to be making a thread soon and I'll have plenty of pictures of the process I went through. The difference is already stunning, and I haven't even gotten over 220 grit sand paper. Good luck with the edges on your GTA rims bud.

 

Hey man I actually havent even started them yet..but! this weekend I will make sure ive got all the right sand paper and go for it. Ill definetley be checking out your thread on your new wheels too and will post pics when im all done. Good luck with your wheels!

 

I getcha man, like I said they should sell the packs of assorted sized of wet-sand paper at Autozone, one should be a lower grit, and the other a higher grit. Walmart has sandpaper for pretty cheap as well. If you end up having any really tough spots of oxidation, spray some brake cleaner or carb cleaner (carb cleaner is a little stronger) onto a workrag and wipe at the spot, then use like a wirebrush or something along those lines. It should help. The rims I just bought had some REALLY bad oxidation, and all I did was just 220 grit sand paper, water, and elbow grease. I'll probably start that thread tomorrow, since I just got home from my first job and am heading to my second one in like 40 minutes.

 

So how did it go? Any pics yet?