Oxidized aluminum wheels

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bcgreen

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I have 4 oxidized aluminum wheels that I intend to strip out the clear coat, sand and then polish with buffing wheels.
My question, since I am not going to clear coat them but I am going to polish the lips every 3 weeks, what should I do with the barrels? It doesn't make sense that I should take the wheels off every time I want to polish the lips, because I have to polish the barrels as well.
I don't want to clear coat them because after a while oxidation will set in between the clear coat and the aluminum, and I am back to square one.
What issues will I have if I leave the barrels alone?
 
This oxidation is not just on the rim, but some of it is in the barrel of the wheel.

wheel1.jpg
 
Just02896 said:
Didn't you post a similar thread a few days ago?
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You're absolutely correct. I guess we can delete this posting, but no one answered my question about what to do about the barrels once I have taken off the cc and oxidation.
 
bcgreen said:
You're absolutely correct. I guess we can delete this posting, but no one answered my question about what to do about the barrels once I have taken off the cc and oxidation.
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Well I can tell you with a certainty that the barrels will definitely have corrosion in no time at all if you don't at least clearcoat them. The outside of the wheel will as well if you don't stay on top of the polishing and sealing. Even if you are OK with keeping the outside of the wheels polished and protected, You should still consider either leaving the barrel's clearcoat intact or have them re-cleared if you must remove it to take any corrosion off. You could probably opticoat the wheels inside and out once your done with the polishing and corrosion removal but I'm not certain if it's recommended for untreated metals.
 
This is what I have gathered from some old time restorers, they haven't gotten back to me about the barrel question:

well you should ask if it will yellow over time, and a big one is fitment after powder coating . have had many parts after coating that would not fit, bolts would not go thru etc. this is the one down side of powder coating. after you spent the cash for it you have to remove some for proper fitment.

Strip off the old clear coat, polish and leave naked. If you re-coat them you will end up with the same issues in a few years as you are seeing now. Leaving them naked gives you the opportunity to keep them polished.
The issue here is the aluminum itself. Coating it will protect it UNTIL that coating is either chipped or rubbed (as in your case) through. This lets air and water work it's magic on the aluminum and the oxidation will quickly work it's way under the remaining coating. That leaves you with the white powdery substance and a nice spider web "pockmark" on your aluminum surface. The "coating" prevents you from removing the oxidation and actually holds the moisture in the bad spot, just making things worse.
It's up to you of course but leaving the rim plain will save you a lot of money AND heartache down the road...
 
Sand blast them and then powder coat them. Harbor Freight sells everything you need to get that done
 
bcgreen said:
This is what I have gathered from some old time restorers, they haven't gotten back to me about the barrel question:

well you should ask if it will yellow over time, and a big one is fitment after powder coating . have had many parts after coating that would not fit, bolts would not go thru etc. this is the one down side of powder coating. after you spent the cash for it you have to remove some for proper fitment.

Strip off the old clear coat, polish and leave naked. If you re-coat them you will end up with the same issues in a few years as you are seeing now. Leaving them naked gives you the opportunity to keep them polished.
The issue here is the aluminum itself. Coating it will protect it UNTIL that coating is either chipped or rubbed (as in your case) through. This lets air and water work it's magic on the aluminum and the oxidation will quickly work it's way under the remaining coating. That leaves you with the white powdery substance and a nice spider web "pockmark" on your aluminum surface. The "coating" prevents you from removing the oxidation and actually holds the moisture in the bad spot, just making things worse.
It's up to you of course but leaving the rim plain will save you a lot of money AND heartache down the road...
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This information is misleading! If done properly with a good quality clearcoat, you will not get any yellowing or clearcoat lift unless the clear on the bead gets scraped during the installation of new tires. I had a similar issue years ago and decided to strip the clear and keep the wheels polished. After 2 months and countless hours of maintenance polishing, I did a final polish and dropped the wheels off for 6 coats of clear. They looked fabulous, required only normal cleaning, and still looked perfect 7 years later when I sold the car!
 
I'm not sure if it's just the clear coat lifting and bubbling, but it looks like it caused the same type of corrosion I saw on my boats window frame where it was poorly powdercoated. It left some serious pitting that I had to grind away.
The information you got from the old time restoration guys is pretty accurate. Your wheels are prone to little chips and scrapes, be it from rocks or changing the tires. Once there is a chip moisture will work its way in and start the corrosion, eventually lifting and bubbling the rest of the clear. Powder coating is always an option, but I'm not sure how well it would work on only the barrels.
 
I have uncoated forged wheels and they look as nice as new and over 7 years old. Polish them and use G-technics Wheel Armor annually.
 
I think I am going to give a good application of Opti-Coat, and this might eliminate the question of whether cc will last or create problems down the road.
 
You could try GlistenPc, it's a little expensive but it's holding up well on my boats aluminum. It's a 2 part clearcoat made for aluminum that you can spray or brush on, then takes 3 days to fully cure. It was $80 for a quart.
 
Yes you have to strip the whole barrel to remove all of the corrosion and the old clearcoat. If you painted over the old clearcoat where it hadn't bubbled it would possibly bubble later and lift anything you put over it.
 
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