Iron-X stained bare cast aluminum

**ShawnFischer** · 10-09-2016, 01:02 PM

Apparently, I glanced over the part of the directions where it says to not use on bare metals. After removing all the clear off of my rims, wet sanding, and polishing, I decided to give them one final cleaning with the Iron-X. Unfortunately, the product seems to have stained the rough cast section of the wheels that I did not polish down. Is there anyway to remove the staining? I've tried rewashing with just regular car soap and warm water, which helped a little bit. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The easiest area to see the staining would be at about 10:00 on the picture, the inset rough cast area on the wheel.

**GSKR** · 10-09-2016, 03:10 PM

Try some non abrasive compound or polish.

**ShawnFischer** · 10-09-2016, 05:09 PM

I used Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish on the face. The areas where the polishing wheel did hit the rough cast, where the staining is, turned a horrible black that is a pain to rub out...

**ShawnFischer** · 10-09-2016, 08:20 PM

Here is a better picture of what/where I am talking about...

Iron-X stained bare cast aluminum-img_2880-jpg

**GSKR** · 10-09-2016, 08:44 PM

Try rubbing it the best you can if its working.For removal use soap and water with a sponge or something.I would soak those rims in a mild detergent overnight then try to polish them.you can also try alcohol for mothers removal.

**Crispy** · 10-22-2016, 01:31 PM

I used Flitz Metal Pre-Clean for same situation (not sure if AG carries?).

Iron-X etched the alloy wheel (may have reacted with Metal Werks coating)..

It also worked last winter to remove salt stains in the rough casted areas of my winter bare metal rims.

**ShawnFischer** · 10-23-2016, 12:56 PM

So, after watching the inset portions on the wheels for a couple weeks, I noticed they started oxidizing pretty badly. Simple wash didn't remove it, polish didn't remove it, so I decided to paint them! Picked up duplicolor paint match to my truck; primed, painted, and cleared. Before primer I washed with soap and water and wiped down with duplicolors wax and grease remover...... Onto why I'm posting!

After a few hours I went to pull the tape and everything peeled off..... there was absolutely no adhesion to the wheel. So my question is, did I use the wrong primer? I didn't use a self etching, I used their scratch filler primer which does not say to not be used on bare aluminum.... Or did I just fail to clean them well enough? Needles to say I'm not using their wipe pad on the retry, it did leave kind of a slick silicone feel after it dried. I guess the only upside t this was that the paint peeled off easily enough.

Also, I still wasn't planning on spraying clear over the entire surface, just the painted inset portions. Anybody see a problem with this idea? I wanted the ability to still be able to touch up and polish the faces as needed, and cant do that if I clear the face.

I didn't get any pictures of the peeling as I was too frustrated to go grab the phone...

Iron-X stained bare cast aluminum-img_2889-jpg

**57BORNTORUN** · 10-23-2016, 02:23 PM

Many rattle can "Filler Primers" are meant to go over pre-primed substrates.Clean good with lacquer thinner and do a test spot with high temp primer then paint.

**ShawnFischer** · 10-23-2016, 08:01 PM

I cleaned them really well, twice, with hot water and dish soap. Dried and wiped down with denatured alcohol, then primed with a self etching primer. Paint then clear. I've peeled the tape off and so far the paint hasn't tried to peel. I still need to let it cure then I'll go over the edges with fine sandpaper to smooth them out and clean up the transitions.