what wheel cleaner?

[LSpec]

I have this wheels, in front are very good, not perfect but good enough.
what you can see is bare aluminium, not polished, the "clean" one was clean with a lot of work, APC brush, and also wire brush with the help of a steel wool.

I was doing it for about 2 hours and still not perfect.

Do you think meg Hot rims cleaner can do the work? or will be better with Wheel brightener?

I know there are a lot of options but my problem is I dont have access to all this products, I found Hot rims in a store close to me, but not wheel brightener and I cant buy sonax or iron-x or something similar.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/96/n30u.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/n30u.jpg/)

[Setec Astronomy]

It looks to me like those wheels are bare aluminum on the inside, which means that what you've got is less brake dust and more corrosion. I'm afraid the wire brush/steel wool/sandpaper approach is what is going to be required rather than WB. That's IMO, other members may differ.

[HateSwirls]

OMG this will take a lot of work but possible to get good results but many hours will be needed.
Please post after pictures.

[LSpec]

here are more pictures, closer

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/845/x2nf.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/x2nf.jpg/)
http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/401/jbu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/401/jbu1.jpg/)


as you can see is corrosion, like setec said.
Advice? I was trying to avoid the hard work ..

and what can I do next to protect them? clear coat?

[parttimer]

Check out Eastwood and their aluminum polishing supplies. Just need a drill. Harbor freight has a kit too.

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

[Setec Astronomy]

I just got my wheels like that repainted. I don't understand why they can't paint the barrels, and the stupid part is it seems like the expensive cars don't have them painted and the cheap cars do (sometimes). Anyway, from the factory mine weren't painted in the back but I got them repainted all over and then Opti-Coated them.

[Vegas Transplant]

I agree with Setec.
I'm also thinking that I see patches of oem paint on those wheels.
EDIT: are the fronts/spokes painted and or cleared?

[Setec Astronomy]

I'm also thinking that I see patches of oem paint on those wheels.

Yup...you're right. I guess the paint got eaten through.

[LSpec]

Check out Eastwood and their aluminum polishing supplies. Just need a drill. Harbor freight has a kit too.

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

thank you


I agree with Setec.
I'm also thinking that I see patches of oem paint on those wheels.
EDIT: are the fronts/spokes painted and or cleared?

are painted, and the paint is in good shape, dirty but nothing damaged.
I really cant say if they were painted because of the corrosion I would say not painted because everything else is good

[LSpec]

I dont have them close, but they look like this

http://www.pajerio.com/sites/default/files/u18/DSC04392.jpg

actually a little better because the center is in the same color

[Vegas Transplant]

I see that these wheels suffer from the same issue as that of my chrome plated OEM wheels. They were surely painted. But thinly so on the barrels. If you use wheel acids to clean the barrels you're not going to get them 100%. Rust, pitting and contaminates ate through to the alloy. If you must do so, then you must take precautions that what you spray and work into the barrels doe not drip or run onto the face where it may find itself causing issues.
If they were mine, I'd clean them to the best of my ability, then tape off and paint the interior with an enamel paint closely matching the face. I posted a thread recently where the back side of the polished al. rims were painted grey enamel nearly 14 years ago by the rebuilder and serves its purpose well.

Setec said it best...
...I'm afraid the wire brush/steel wool/sandpaper approach is what is going to be required rather than WB.

[Crispy]

I too have refinished a test wheel just to practice before I do my winter set. Here is what I did on the inside to prepare for paint. First the clear coat has to be removed (I used paint stripper but be careful it doesn't get on parts you don't need it on). I test sanded to see if gone with 400 grit (if it's white it's paint , if it's black it's Alloy). Next I applied Original Easy-Off oven cleaner (same precautions as the paint stripper) and only leave on 3-4 minutes. Wash and rinse throughly. Next comes the sanding part. I used 400 grit Aluminum Oxide sandpaper on a 2" and 3" pad hooked up to a flexible drill shaft and a rotary buffer at 1500 RPM. No need to get rid of the machineing ridges as the primer will mask them.On the forged sections I used brass wire wheels to remove black marks only. Sprayed with Zinc Chromate Primer, block sanded with 400 grit and painetd it with GM-WA9967 GM Sparkle Silver Metallic (Wheel Color) and final clear coat.