Before/After pics of rim restoration

[killerpickle]

Hey guys,
Well, my new rims got put on hold for a month or two. I decided to try to restore the old stock 15's to make them look pretty until then. Eventually these will be my winter rims. They were covered in rust and corrosion and brake dust-with rust over top of that....
I used spray oven cleaner, rubber gloves, fine steel wool, 000 i think.

-First I wet the rims and the area around them.
-I then sprayed oven cleaner being careful to only spray the rim, not the rotor or body.
-I sprayed all four.
-Waited 5 minutes, then with a wet steel wool, began to scrub (more like buff its very fine) all the surface on the first rim, rinsed and used soap and water solution and rinsed again.
-Then I went to the next wheel and so on.

Anyway left is before right is after, I forgot to take a before pic of the first so theres only 3. Be careful with the oven cleaner its not recommended for aluminum, and use only if your rims are bad like mine were.
Oh, and check out the nice damage on the last one....yikes...
<img src="http://home.cogeco.ca/~mx3/host/Before% ... 20rims.jpg" alt=" - " />

<small>[ April 29, 2004, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: killerpickle ]</small>

[mitmaks]

last one can be repaired at most wheel repair shops, look for one near you cause it would cost too much to ship it if you dont have one locally

[SIXPACK]

wooha I'll go buy some oven cleaner tomorrow haha. I use those rims in the winter and they almost look worse than yours did. thx for posting this

[killerpickle]

no problem. Just be careful when you do it, that stuff is pretty strong.

I was thinking of getting that rim fixed when I buy my new rims. i know a place in hamilton called wheel wizard, they do repairs...

I think Im going to post my engine restoration pics next. few days or so maybe...

[kr]

Good job on the rims!

Now how's this for a coincidence. I'm repairing my 17's right now. They're 3 years old, so to get them looking brand new wasn't harder than washing, wiping down with alcohol and two coats of wax.
Two of'em have had a close encounter with the curb when parking though so I had to repair some dents along the rim and spokes with chemical metal (that's what it's called in Sweden) and repaint.
I'll post some pictures if anyone's interested.

<small>[ April 30, 2004, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: kr ]</small>

[killerpickle]

so what kind of wax did you use? did you apply just as you would on your car?

[kr]

Originally posted by killerpickle:
so what kind of wax did you use? did you apply just as you would on your car?

I think it was Turtle wax, hard shell shine. I'll have a look at the bottle when I get home.
Applied just as on car - wax on, let dry, polish.

[Ehpl]

You might also want to go get some clear spray paint after you do this to your rims ,There is a factory clear coating on the rims, the oven cleaner will also remove the coating along with the dirt an crud, what will happen is that the alum will start to corrode an road crap will stick to it makin it look worse with time. new clear coat will seal the alum from corroding an when washing dirt doesent stick to the clear coat like bare alum.
My neighbor used this asidic rim cleaner on his new mustang rims every weekend,in 6 months they were hidious,he had to get them resurfaced an clear coated.

Eugene L
1.6DOHC
N.S.canada
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/552384

[killerpickle]

I totally agree. I was thinking of clear coating them after, maybe when I have use of a garage I will. Even if it does take a layer of the coat off, its better than what they looked like before.