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Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

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  • #1

    Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?





    I am not looking for a perfect wheel here, just the best most effective way to make the wheels look good. They all have defects which can not be removed, but as seen in the photos a little polysh by hand. and they were starting to come clean but that's time consuming.

    I'm looking to step my game up to power tools, what will make short work of this job on all 4 wheels?

    - Brett
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  • #2
    Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

    Looks to me like that is a chrome ring and aluminum spoke, but it also looks like there is a clearcoat over the aluminum. Clearcoat failure is what looks to be the problem. I'm not entirely versed on fixing that, but stripping the clear off may be your first alternative. Not certain if you could recoat them or just maintain them after stripping the coating with an aluminum polish. Maybe someone else will chime in with more experience in this.

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    • #3
      Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

      The wheels as far as I know are 100% aluminum, no original chroming on them, at one time they were uniformly polished and possibly cleared though overtime, as you can see they have never been cared for, sitting outside so the finish is toast.

      I found a photo to show what somebody did to the wheels, I'd like to achieve similar / better results:



      Thats the same wheel as in my photos, only it's been polished 100%, I'm aiming for that look.

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      • #4
        Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

        You would have to use a stripper to remove the clear coat from yours. It would be a long process but it looks like the results can be great.
        If its fast, loud, and runs on a flammable liquid...count me in.

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        • #5
          Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

          Your wheel appears to have some textured areas as opposed to the other persons wheels.

          The texture alone will make it difficult to polish, and you will have t osee if that texture is from paint, or the dirt is caked on that much.

          For instance, what is in the recessed areas down the middle of your spokes? Looks like gray paint from the pic?
          2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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          • #6
            Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

            Recessed areas, are semi metallic paint somebody sprayed in to beautify the wheels a bit, it was factory like that but that's been repainted as it looks pretty good compared to the rest of the wheel. The spokes themselves, appear to have odd scratching on them, not consistent with steel wool, or any other agressive abrasive the previous owner may have ruined them with.

            I may just end up buying some buffing wheels, and putting my drill to work with a few different cutting compounds black, red, white etc and see what I can come up with?

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            • #7
              Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

              It looks like some areas are clearcoated where the spider webbing is. It maybe oxidization or clear coat failure. You could try something like 105 by hand to try to buff it out. If its clearcoat failure than they need to be stripped.
              If its fast, loud, and runs on a flammable liquid...count me in.

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              • #8
                Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

                You will need to remove the clearcoating on the spokes and either reapply the clear of just buff it with aluminum polish. The recessed portions of the spokes are painted and would either need to be stripped or kept depending on your tastes. Aluminum wheel polish can be applied by hand or by a drill activated buffing ball (Flitz etc) to achieve the shine. The wheel is neglected but not a writeoff, some effort will pay vast dividends.

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                • #9
                  Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

                  thank you for the info guys, i didnt know clear coat could do that, I will definitely strip it chemically, and then buff it with some different compounds to remove any texture the wheel may have, and try to get them looking like the other guys, only nicer.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Most effective, way to remove oxidation from alum. wheels?

                    If they are not clearcoated, try a Mothers PowerBall and the polish of your choice.

                    Tom

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