Cleaning up old Aluminum wheels.

[Big_P]

I need to shine up the wheels. They look dirty and oxidized. What's the best way to clean these up?

Thanks dudes.

[turismolover22]

Some have media blasted or even sand blasted their wheels. The problem with this is that if you expect it to polish back up, you will have to sand them back down smooth.

I have seen amny use a high speed buffer with a coarser polishing compound with great results. Also (I do not know what would be best to use) you can use some sort of stripping agent (obviously with the tires removed from the rim) to remove all the old clear that might be remaining on the rim, then go at it with a buffer/polisher.

[Keito]

What about soda blasting?

[Polygon]

What about soda blasting?

That's what I would do. You're still going to have to sand, but it won't be as much. One way or another you're going to have to sand.

[spaceman]

i work for a printing co and we use dry ice blaster and it works great ,no mess like sand blasting and comes out like new .it eats off years of dryed on varnish and ink . just a thought ck it out on you tube

[Big_P]

I'll do that. Thanks!

[Keito]

I watched some of the dry ice blasting, that is awesome.
I like that after the surface is stripped, there is no media to clean up, the dry ice evaporates.

[dixiedodge7369]

I used those little scotch pads for a 90 degree Air grinder. And then polished then polishing takes forever but they turn out great. Eastwood co. Has great
at deals on kits

[Big_P]

Maybe I'll call my machinist and see if he can sandblast them for me. I don't mind paying someone to do the work, as going about it myself with sand paper would take a long time.

[bfarroo]

Paint stripper usually takes the clear off fairly easily. From there you'll need to sand. How scratched / Pitted the wheels are will determine what grit you'll have to start with. I usually start with 200 grit wet sanding paper and work up to 2000. I'v bolted the wheels up to the car with it jacked up and put it in gear and let the wheel rotate and carefully hold the sand paper up to the wheel. I usually take the valve stem out so it isn't in the way. You need to be really careful not to rip your arm off!

[wallace]

Paint stripper usually takes the clear off fairly easily. From there you'll need to sand. How scratched / Pitted the wheels are will determine what grit you'll have to start with. I usually start with 200 grit wet sanding paper and work up to 2000. I'v bolted the wheels up to the car with it jacked up and put it in gear and let the wheel rotate and carefully hold the sand paper up to the wheel. I usually take the valve stem out so it isn't in the way. You need to be really careful not to rip your arm off!

I used the paint stripper too with good results in removing the old clear coat off. I would avoid blasting if possible as then you will have to polish the entire wheel. I'd strip them first and then see how bad the wheels really are. May be you can just strip the clear and go right to the polishing phase. I used the Eastwood polishing compounds and buffing wheels too.

[cybershelby]

My 83 1/2 DSC has 4-bolt pizza wheels that were sand-blasted at some time in the past by a former owner. There was no clear-coat on them, so I didn't need to 'strip' that first. They looked ugly and were very rough to the touch, so I decided to clean 'em up today. I used an orbital sander, starting with 150 grit because of the rough condition. I worked up to 320, 800, 1000 and then used Mother's Aluminum Mag Cleaner. Overall result looks pretty good to me.


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[Rrider]

I think wallace is on the money.. you can just straight polish that. use the black clay then red.