Tips for rim clean up???

[petelardo]

If you want to see paint stripper in action, I found this photo online:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/eimoytiana/95%20GS500/499e3a7d.jpg

That will give you an idea of what you're faced with if you strip the wheels with a chemical stripper. Aircraft paint stripper WILL burn your skin and eyes, not to mention your lungs if you inhale it... Use it ONLY in a well-ventilated area, with good runner gloves, and whatever else you need to protect yourself (goggles / eye protection, etc.)... The guy holding the can worked with gloves on, but took them off just before the picture was taken...

Keep in mind that the stripper will RUIN any plastic surfaces it contacts; if you don't protect your eyes, and you're wearing contact lenses while you work, it WILL melt the contact lenses onto your eyeballs if you get careless...

Bottom line is, the stuff is effective but NASTY... you've been warned!

Other have suggested alternatives; choose wisely, and let us know how this turns out...

[Red Rocket GS1100]

I used brake dust cleaner

I used an off the shelf tire cleaner and it worked great. That and a choreboy (yellow cloth kind) and all the grime came off with no scratching.
The toughest spots were the spokes. But with the tire cleaner, which is basically brake dust cleaner, and some elbow grease they came out good. In the military they taught us to use the least destructive method first.
That's just my opinion

[renobruce]

My rims were pretty nasty, too:



I used hand cleaner to get all the gunk off (good tip, Tom).
Then I used aircraft stripper on the entire wheel to get the paint off the rim and the clearcoat off the bare aluminum. I then sanded and polished the bare aluminum ring. Then masked and painted the wheel. I used gloss black engine enamel. The wheels turned out great!

[mixongw]

I used an off the shelf tire cleaner and it worked great. That and a choreboy (yellow cloth kind) and all the grime came off with no scratching.
The toughest spots were the spokes. But with the tire cleaner, which is basically brake dust cleaner, and some elbow grease they came out good. In the military they taught us to use the least destructive method first.
That's just my opinion

I could go really political with that last statement!:-)

[renobruce]

If you plan on painting, use a primer first. Make sure the wheel is completely clean and grease free. I used acetone to clean the areas just before painting. I didn't have any pics of the primed wheels, but here are some pics of the rotors I painted:

[dennis roy]

I just had to clean 20something years of crap from my rims. I used simple green full strength and an aluminum bristle and brass bristle brushes. Took about an hour to do a rim. then I used some stuff I got at Bond. I don't remember the name of it, but it was in a metal tin. It's like a cloth thats soaked in soke kind of cleaner or oil. Tear a little bit off and scrub. It leaves a residue that you need to wipe off with a cloth but works great if the grime isn't to caked on. I hope it helps.

[planebuilder]

Steel wool and aluminum should not be brought together. The steel wool will imbed pieces of steel in the aluminum and will rust. Dissimilar metals cause galvanic reaction and thus corrosion.


Planebuilder

[Billy Ricks]

I don't remember the name of it, but it was in a metal tin. It's like a cloth thats soaked in soke kind of cleaner or oil. Tear a little bit off and scrub. It leaves a residue that you need to wipe off with a cloth but works great if the grime isn't to caked on. I hope it helps.

Nevr-Dull, it's pretty good stuff.

[txironhead]

Blue Magic and some cotton balls work better than Never Dull for me. Paste, not the crap that comes in the squeeze bottle, that seperates too easily.

Neat trick I've found for bare metal that won't polish up with regular polishes is hit it with rubbing compound first. If you have any swirls or scratches afterward, hit it with polishing compound then regular metal polish. A tub of each will cost you about $4 at Wally World.

Still want to try that Flitz Ball I've been seeing on Spike....anyone else tried it? Want to know if the magic is in the ball or the polish.....

[snark]

Black Magic Engine Cleaner worked great...left a nice shine too.

[mortation]

I have a brass bristle brush that goes on the end of my drill. I used it to clean up some bolts. Will that work or scratch to much?

[tconroy]

Scratch!!!!!

[mortation]

Scratch!!!!!

Yup, it did. But I can live with it :P

[J_C]

Little late to this one, but I had a very similar looking rim (But I did have some minor oxidation). I used an industrial degreaser someone on here recommended to me (Keith). It was only sold locally, but the general premise is that its a degreaser / descaler (Read: its a degreaser with a certain concentration of phosphoric acid.) I went at it with a scotch brite pad and it came right off. I then sanded using steel wool I believe. I then polished using a drill mounted buffing wheel and mothers aluminum polish.

I had a similar painting technique to bruce. I used engine enamel, but in hindsite would have used caliper paint just in case of brake fluid leaks. Here's mine:

Before:



After: