I am thinking this...


Looking for advice on something that will not scratch the rims, but would be able to get the majority of gunk off.

Here's the victim...

 

1st thing you need to do is wash the wheels with a good strong cleaner and high pressure. Use a pressure washer or self service coin car wash and something like purple power.

Then use an acid based alum wheel brightener/cleaner. I use white lightnin' http://www.huntersales.com/index.php?categoryID=102

That will do A LOT, then you can see what you really have and what needs to be done after that.

My '78 trans am WS6 snow flake wheels looked worse than yours, and just using the above mentioned products made them look almost as good as new. That white lightnin' is some really good, really strong stuff

 

Agree with Night rider.

Valvoline also makes a White Lightning product. I use this and it works FANTASTIC! Neighbor is a vendor

 

You guys are awesome! What do you think of the drill scuff pad idea?

 

That's a lot of work if ya ask me. This white lightning stuff is applied by a brush/spray bottle (it's an acid, so wear eye protection and gloves) let it sit about 30 seconds and rinse or brush with a brush lightly. Its soooo good, it will make exhaust pipes look like brand new galvanized pipe.

 

Wow. What about the rest of the under side? I.e could I use it on the rear end? After I degrease it?

 

I don't know, that rear is pretty dirty. You might just de-grease it and paint it.

Aluminum runners,intake, wheels ect, but it is caustic. Works wonders on Aluminum.

Do not use on clear coated items..dulls the clearcoat

 

Be sure to scrap the tires......

 

Hard to get in my area. I bought this

http://m.oreillyauto.com/mt/www.orei...0454&ppt=C0209

Will let you know how I fare out!

 

Purple power stains aluminum so I would not advise that product for the task at hand. It makes a great degreaser.
It stained an intake manifold of mine slightly purple. I was super pissed because the only thing that would remove the stains was having it blasted.

 

Yes purple power will 'soak' into porous rough cast alum. like an intake. Heck everything seems to stain or soak into intakes, but I have never had any staining probs with machined/smooth alum. like wheels.

Knighte... That Superior Products - Aluminum Brightener should be about the same thing as white lightnin' and car brite. It should work real well on your wheels.

Like Bob88 said, the drill and pads are a lot of work unless you need/have to do it. Start with a good cleaning and alum. acid and go from there. If they do not get clean/pretty enough with a couple of washes with that stuff, then look into the power *****, drills, scuff pads, sanding rolls, etc

It will NOT work on the rest of the underside of car, rear end etc. It will only work on unpolished alum, stainless, and chrome.

For your rear end housing, suspension, floors, etc (steel with heavy grease and rust on it) use purple power, brake parts cleaner and wire wheels on a drill or grinder.

 

Cool thanks for the info dude, I'll keep all this in mind when doing the work.

 

Alright.. this stuff is INSANE - i tried it on my 14's - I think i got great results.

I mean just look at the distance shots...

Whats left looks like brake dirt or something else, it comes off with a brush.

I'll tackle that tomorrow.

 

FYI - I used a 1 to 5 mixture, each wheel was sprayed with a spray bottle and then power washed after about 20 seconds. I did each wheel 5 times.

 

Lime Away does wonders on stuff like that.

 

Going to tackle the 15"s today. Wish me luck!

 

Also - Do you mean Lime Away on the cleaned wheel to get rid of the rest of the stains?

 

Ok did the 15" - they didn't come out as well. No amount of power washing could get the remainder off even with full concentration acid.

 

Eagle One Aluminum etching Mag Cleaner (not for Clear Coat) is what I used... works great on turbocast wheels...

https://www.google.com/search?q=eagl...w=1360&bih=627

Use to come in grey blue bottle, may have new one...

 

k. Here is the updates for the 15"

The crud just would NOT come off in the end. This was as good as i could get them. I spent $20 at the coin-op car wash lol.

Please someone tell me what that stuff is and how to get it off!




This stuff just would NOT come off.





Weird crap on the edge that wouldn't budge.





Front Wheel - Dirtier





Rear Wheel - Less Dirtier





The other two with Tires on.

 

Media blast, edges polished, clear powder coat...

Had mine done 10 years ago, still look new, cleans easily with mild soap n water.

 

You'll need to blast the wheels to get that as-cast look back - really no cleaners can get them that good. I had my Cragar Fan Star Wheels done a few years ago for my TA - clear coated them afterwards and had some vintage rubber mounted (with tubes) - they came out nice.

 

A stronger acid and a small wire brush works wonders

 

That is aluminum oxidation and can only be removed by blasting (with the correct media) or polishing. With all the fins, polishing is not going to be feasible - so have them blasted and then paint (or clear).

 

Yeah that don't look like stuff stuck on the wheel, it looks more like aluminum oxidation (kind of the same effect of rust on steel)

The cleaners and acid got the wheel clean and the alum. bright white everywhere that did not have oxidation..

Now you can clean that up with a die grinder and sanding/polishing rolls or have them media blasted

 

Godammit - was trying to avoid blasting :-)

Such a pain, the rims are mounted to the car, having them blasted might be a bit of a pain at this point :-/

 

Sandblasting them takes away a lot of the natural casting surface and makes it smooth.

 

That would be a bad thing right? or am i wrong.

 

An experienced blaster will know how to deal with them - different media will provide different results. Mine were done with glass bead & came out looking like virgin castings.