Rustoleum

[TheGuyWho]

Hey guys,
So Im at a loss here. I have some serious rust build up on some offroad rims I just bought. Its obvious that the guy I bought them from pulled them off his truck and left them on the side of his garage for quite a while, uncleaned. The wheels are supposed to be aluminum alloy, which shouldn't rust "this bad." (see pictures) but they have. Im thinking that it may not actually be the wheels that started to rust, but rather the brake dust that was left on them when pulled off and stored. Anyways, ive tried cleaning them with soap, cleaner, WD40, a wire brush, etc… nothing is working. The WD40 and wire brush helped, but did not get rid of enough rust to be worth the elbow grease and time it will need to clean all 4 wheels. I was told that Rustoleum will work, but it will also damage my wheels. I really dont want to have to paint these after Im all done cleaning them, just to re-seal them. And if its more cost effective to just pay someone to fix them I will. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[ScottB]

P21S Polishing Soap ...

[TheGuyWho]

P21S Polishing Soap ...

What is that, and where can I get it?

[James K]

P21S Polishing Soap - State-of-the-art German metal-polishing technology is now available from P21S.

[TheGuyWho]

WOW! That looks like some impressive stuff. Thanks guys…

[Lasthope05]

If it was me I would have the back sides media blasted with walnut shells or soda. Or if you didnt want to go that route try using Evaporust on it to remove the rusting.

[TheGuyWho]

Evaporust=Rustoleum, yes? That's what I was thinking about using until I was told it wasn't safe for wheel finishes. Apparently it will strip the wheels of everything, rust, sealer, paint, etc…

But since you mentioned soda. It was suggested to me to use Coca Cola… I thought the person was joking. Does it actually work? I mean I know if you leave a coin in a cup of Coke overnight, it will be clean in the morning. But would it work if I left my wheels to soak in a bin of Coke overnight? It could very well be the cheapest way to get this done. Media blasting is pricey…

[aerogt01]

"And a liter of cola. . ." Lol. Sorry just had to. Soda blasting, it's a small-grained powder.

Nothing short of a very strong acid (chemically) will do much good on those rims. I would definitely start with something abrasive.

If those were mine I might turn to some pretty aggressive abrasion on the back side.

As for the front, they just need a good polishing. Flitz and Mothers both work well.

[ExpressDetail]

You ready for this? Soak a area in vinegar it will remove the rust try for a few hours than wipe. Worst case scenario let sit overnight. We have been working on a Harley flooded in Katrina. We tried everything to get rust out of tank. Cut a long story short vinegar in tank over night the tank looks better than new! Than when you are ready for the polishing we will address that. As you can see from photo.

[TheGuyWho]

"And a liter of cola. . ." Lol. Sorry just had to. Soda blasting, it's a small-grained powder.

Nothing short of a very strong acid (chemically) will do much good on those rims. I would definitely start with something abrasive.

If those were mine I might turn to some pretty aggressive abrasion on the back side.

As for the front, they just need a good polishing. Flitz and Mothers both work well.

I bought some Eagle 1 "wadding polish" I was told that stuff was awesome for small area's of rust, but even better for a restoring polish.

You ready for this? Soak a area in vinegar it will remove the rust try for a few hours than wipe. Worst case scenario let sit overnight. We have been working on a Harley flooded in Katrina. We tried everything to get rust out of tank. Cut a long story short vinegar in tank over night the tank looks better than new! Than when you are ready for the polishing we will address that. As you can see from photo.

Yeah, ive heard vinegar "might" work. I actually think I will give it a shot. Its a cheap experiment at least. Looks like ill be making a trip to Costco for the economy container.