Removing plasti-dip reisude from inner surfaces of alloy wheel.

W

Washburn

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Jun 5, 2013
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So I have a set of alloy wheels that were plasti dipped at some point by a previous owner. The visible outside (painted) surfaces are completely free of plasti dip and it has been removed well, with no damage to the clear coat etc.

BUT, on the insides (non-painted rough areas), as in the inrer surface of the 'barrel', inside lug nut holes and on the barrels (the tire mounting surfaces), there's still some light/thin residue, at some points thicker 'blobs'. I have tried using Sonax wheel cleaner and and soap water and pretty heavy scrubbing with a household scrubbing pad/sponge and some of it came off, but not completely.

What product(s) and method(s) can I use to remove this left over residue of plasti-dip?
I don't have any special tools like pressure washers or anything.

I know that the surfaces that still have plasti-dip residue are normally not visible, and shouldn't really affect anything, but I want the wheels as clean as can be before getting them installing...
(The wheels are simple 5-spoke star style, so I guess if someone did peak, one would be able to see the stuff on the inner 'barrel'...)

Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
The dip dissolver is is a d-limonene based product. It will soften the plasti dip quickly. Plasti dip disolves in chlorinated solvents, ketones, turpentine. I'm not sure how those will affect the wheel finish though. A d-limonene cleaner would be the safest route to use on the wheels.
 
Shtexas said:
The dip dissolver is is a d-limonene based product. It will soften the plasti dip quickly. Plasti dip disolves in chlorinated solvents, ketones, turpentine. I'm not sure how those will affect the wheel finish though. A d-limonene cleaner would be the safest route to use on the wheels.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. I saw your post on the wheel weight adhesive residue as well. Is there Any specific product that you use that has d-limonene as base ingredient ?
 
I buy pure dilutable d-limonene from a company that produces it in St. Petersburg. I use it around 10% as an apc cleaner. For removing adhesives and tar and grime I'll go up to 50%.
 
Thanks guys - any links to these d-limonen products?
as i mentioned I will only be using the products on the non painted/finished areas only.
 
Home depot carries one called orange plus. It's one of the only d-limonene cleaners that doesn't have other cleaners added to it. D-limonene is fine on aluminum.
 
as what was said what dip dissolver "is". it works really well . I've only used the dip dissolver before , spray - soak - power wash off . with light overspray in door jams and such , wipes right off with naptha , xylene .
 
Thanks for the video of the dip dissolver - looks like that's what I need...but I can't find a link to buy the stuff...
where does one get a bottle?
 
Thanks!
Argh - website error on that site - perhaps I should try with IE instead of firefox...

EDIT - seems to be working now.
 
update:
- thanks everyone for the advice.

Now that I have acquired the necessary cleaner products, I have ANOTHER obstacle...

As you guys might recall, I am only wanting to clean the INNER surface of the wheels. (Inner ' barrels ') -
the 'Face' side of the alloy wheels are silver (Painted) and clear coated (and clean) ...

So How can I use (spray) this strong cleaner products without getting it on the outside/face of the alloy wheels? If I get this product on the business side I am afraid it will damage the clear coat surface of it...
or will it be ok as long as the amount I get on the 'face' of the wheel is only there for a few minutes? I am nervous because I REALLY don't want to mess up the face of the wheels...

Any tips/tricks/techniques you guys can think of NOT to get this stuff on the outside surface of the wheel? I do have the wheels off the car (no tires on them either)

Will I have to mask the outer surface of the wheel?
Any dedicated/special type of masking tape for alloy wheels? (googled, but can't seem to find any thing 'specially for wheels)

This is the type of wheel that's involved:

BMW-135i_Coupe_2008_800x600_wallpaper_17.jpg
 
You can cut a circle from a piece of cardboard that would fit inside the wheel. Even just doing the tried and trued method of tape and paper.

As to tape, I'd use painters tape (the blue stuff) or even 'standard' masking tape. The tape isn't going to be on for a long time and should come right off.

Bill
 
Xylene eats plasti-dip. Must be careful though as also can etch into fresh paint so only apply to plasti-dip areas.
 
CarPro Tar-X will turn it to liquid. We recently found that it will also aid in removing decade old clear bra. We get a lot of 90's and early 2000's porsche that have film on them. Tar-X will turn it to goo!
 
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