after seeing this thread i thought it was a good idea, so i went out and bought some stuff today and tried it out myself, heres what i got...

i got a spray can of Aircraft Remover by Klean Strip, and Mag & Aluminum Polish by Mothers. the remover works very well, in comes in a liquid form in a can and a spray form in a spray can, i got the spray can because the other one seemed to be MUCH more stronger and you have to take MANY precautions, and i didnt want to buy a pair $10 corrosion proof gloves just so i can use the ****.

anyways so i did it with the wheel on the car still, and just masked off the tire, and sprayed it on, it works instantly, it starts bubbling and then dries, once you wipe it off you can clearly tell that it took the clear coat clean off. you know once it took all the clear coat off when it doesnt bubble in that area anymore, it just remains a liquid type and sits there. as for the polish, mothers is a well known brand and it works pretty good, its nice and shiny now and i would recommend these 2 products. i only did 1 wheel, for the other 3 im going to take them off and have a flat surface to work with, it will be much easier.

however i DONT recommend sanding your wheels, because then you are merely taking off the finish of the wheel (the circle pattern across the whole surface) if you sand it and take off the finish it will just be a flat smooth surface and it makes the wheel look fake IMO.

thank you amur for the incouraging thread! you ALL should do this, make our 7's look NICE!

ill try to post up some pics asap.

 

Please do.

 

I am going to go that way too...the chemicals are nasty but it should take a lot less time than the sanding and it should be easier to get the results I want. Let's see those pics when you guys get done. I hope to have a digicam soon, and if I do, I will also put up the pics

 

Wow, Man. They went from crap to sexy real quick! Nice job! Now just a little body work, and you will be styling

 

Will this work for those us who choose (or are to poor) to keep the old skool lamborghini style phone dials on our cars.

 

I buy mine at shucks for about 5.50 per can!

 

It works on *aluminum.* As long as your rims are aluminum, it'll work.

 

Oddly enough, I was just thinking about ways to clean up my rims.

I'm unsure of what exactly I'll do, has anyone thought about sandblasting? Come summer I'll have access to one, but that woudl require taking off the tire from the rim, so it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Deltron, where'd you find the Aircraft Remover? An auto store or a hardware store or some other place?

 

i got it at Autozone its in the paint section.

 

ne one found a good way to fix the little spots where the *** that had the car before you hit a curb??? if so please share. btw looks damn sexy!!!


ej

 

you can use aluminum for thermite too

 

I am going to have to try this on my T2 rims, they look like ****.

 

yes but the aluminum dust coming from the wheels is no good for a sustained redox reaction. It goes too fast, and hence does not react fully. (makes a nifty fireball though)

And if you ever do make thermite, DON'T use lab grade materials


...don't ask how I know...

 

whoa.... just realized my car is thermite on wheels: aluminum and rust...

 

why not just sand blast the wheels

 

just curious, how'd you ignite it?

 

why would you want to take the clear coat off?

 

Good stuff! I wish more people would take care of these great cars!

 

I should have taken some pictures!

My girlfriends '90 Protoge had rims so caked with brake dust ( 4 wheel disc) that regular washing would even touch them! Yesterday we were doing a little bit of detailing before heading to the Madzda dealership to try and make a deal for her on a new Trubute.

These things were bad really bad!

We had nothing to loose so I tried Eagle one cleaner for non-coated mag and alumimum wheels, I couldn't beleive it they came clean with just a little scrub from a nylon brush, they look brand new!

Let's put it this way, the Ford dealer (Escape) offered her $1800, after our little cleaing session (1-1/2 hrs) the Mazda dealer offered her $3000!

 

I've used Eagle One on these rims several times to at least make them presentable (we're talking b4 the sanding.)

It seems that some people may not be clear on this - my rims weren't dirty, they were PITTED. Like Tommy Lee Jones' face. The ONLY way to get rid of the pits was to sand the face of the rims until I got 'below' the pitting.

 

i got some pics of mine, just need to charge the bat on the digi. cam and upload them... hopefully i will get it up soon.,

 

i do this sort of thing for a living. youd be surprised at some of the rims and parts that come in and what they look like when they go out

 

Figured I should throw in my contribution to the thread, although I went a slightly different route than most of the other people. This thread inspired me to get off my *** and actually do it.

I've wanted black rims for a while, I know people have mixed feelings about them but I like them. I picked up some metallic-black spray paint, primer, gloss coat and the aircraft cleaner Deltron recommended.

The cleaner worked really well, although it was a pain cleaning off all that brake dust. From there on out it was just regular painting procedure, nothing special. Anyways, here's the results (didn't post the picture in the thread since it's kinda big for 56k'ers):

 

In the lab, I use magnesium ribbon (sometimes used in welding, can be found at welding supply stores) ignited by a propane burner, and out of the lab, the glowing red part of a sparkler is normally hot enough to ignite it. If the sparkler doesn't work, you can make a mixture of aluminum (dust in this case works better..) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter, again powdered) and place that on top of the pile of thermite to ignite it. Also, if you do use high grade materials, it is a good idea to compress the thermite so it doesn't react to quickly. ...oh, and stand BACK when you light your first batch... mine made quite a fireball...

...and if you do this, I reccomend you do it in something like a (ceramic or terra cotta) flower pot filled with dry sand... otherwise it will ignite, well, everything...