Rustoleum

TheGuyWho

TheGuyWho

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Hey guys,
So Im at a loss here. I have some serious rust build up on some offroad rims I just bought. Its obvious that the guy I bought them from pulled them off his truck and left them on the side of his garage for quite a while, uncleaned. The wheels are supposed to be aluminum alloy, which shouldn't rust "this bad." (see pictures) but they have. Im thinking that it may not actually be the wheels that started to rust, but rather the brake dust that was left on them when pulled off and stored. Anyways, ive tried cleaning them with soap, cleaner, WD40, a wire brush, etc… nothing is working. The WD40 and wire brush helped, but did not get rid of enough rust to be worth the elbow grease and time it will need to clean all 4 wheels. I was told that Rustoleum will work, but it will also damage my wheels. I really dont want to have to paint these after Im all done cleaning them, just to re-seal them. And if its more cost effective to just pay someone to fix them I will. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

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WOW! That looks like some impressive stuff. Thanks guys…
 
If it was me I would have the back sides media blasted with walnut shells or soda. Or if you didnt want to go that route try using Evaporust on it to remove the rusting.
 
Evaporust=Rustoleum, yes? That's what I was thinking about using until I was told it wasn't safe for wheel finishes. Apparently it will strip the wheels of everything, rust, sealer, paint, etc…

But since you mentioned soda. It was suggested to me to use Coca Cola… I thought the person was joking. Does it actually work? I mean I know if you leave a coin in a cup of Coke overnight, it will be clean in the morning. But would it work if I left my wheels to soak in a bin of Coke overnight? It could very well be the cheapest way to get this done. Media blasting is pricey…
 
"And a liter of cola. . ." Lol. Sorry just had to. Soda blasting, it's a small-grained powder.

Nothing short of a very strong acid (chemically) will do much good on those rims. I would definitely start with something abrasive.

If those were mine I might turn to some pretty aggressive abrasion on the back side.

As for the front, they just need a good polishing. Flitz and Mothers both work well.
 
You ready for this? Soak a area in vinegar it will remove the rust try for a few hours than wipe. Worst case scenario let sit overnight. We have been working on a Harley flooded in Katrina. We tried everything to get rust out of tank. Cut a long story short vinegar in tank over night the tank looks better than new! Than when you are ready for the polishing we will address that. As you can see from photo. :xyxthumbs:
 
aerogt01 said:
"And a liter of cola. . ." Lol. Sorry just had to. Soda blasting, it's a small-grained powder.

Nothing short of a very strong acid (chemically) will do much good on those rims. I would definitely start with something abrasive.

If those were mine I might turn to some pretty aggressive abrasion on the back side.

As for the front, they just need a good polishing. Flitz and Mothers both work well.
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I bought some Eagle 1 "wadding polish" I was told that stuff was awesome for small area's of rust, but even better for a restoring polish.


ExpressDetail said:
You ready for this? Soak a area in vinegar it will remove the rust try for a few hours than wipe. Worst case scenario let sit overnight. We have been working on a Harley flooded in Katrina. We tried everything to get rust out of tank. Cut a long story short vinegar in tank over night the tank looks better than new! Than when you are ready for the polishing we will address that. As you can see from photo. :xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...

Yeah, ive heard vinegar "might" work. I actually think I will give it a shot. Its a cheap experiment at least. Looks like ill be making a trip to Costco for the economy container.
 
TheGuyWho said:
I bought some Eagle 1 "wadding polish" I was told that stuff was awesome for small area's of rust, but even better for a restoring polish.
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From my experience this won't be powerful enough for what you need it for, but other people might say differently. It's great at cleaning the metal and giving it a light polish, but I can't seem to get it to really bring a good luster back from neglected metal.
 
aerogt01 said:
From my experience this won't be powerful enough for what you need it for, but other people might say differently. It's great at cleaning the metal and giving it a light polish, but I can't seem to get it to really bring a good luster back from neglected metal.
Click to expand...


I would have to agree. I love the stuff, but not on neglected metal.
 
TheGuyWho said:
Evaporust=Rustoleum, yes? That's what I was thinking about using until I was told it wasn't safe for wheel finishes. Apparently it will strip the wheels of everything, rust, sealer, paint, etc…

But since you mentioned soda. It was suggested to me to use Coca Cola… I thought the person was joking. Does it actually work? I mean I know if you leave a coin in a cup of Coke overnight, it will be clean in the morning. But would it work if I left my wheels to soak in a bin of Coke overnight? It could very well be the cheapest way to get this done. Media blasting is pricey…
Click to expand...

Evaporust and rustoleum are two different things. Evaporust is a chemical that dissolves rust. Rustoleum is a brand that makes paints. Evaporust is non corrosive and safe on all metals and will not harm the finish of your wheels (your wheels are uncoated FYI.) Evapo-Rust Rust Remover Home

Media blasting with soda(baking soda) or walnut shells are is one of the safest ways of removing rust/paint without damaging the finish of the underlaying metal. I have no idea about using coke.

You're best bet if you are trying to do this cheap is to get a gallon of evaporust at Harbor Freight for about $25 and soak each wheel in the solution as it is guaranteed to work instead of wasting your time with homemade remedies that may or may not work.
 
Coke a cola might work.

We have restored some very old farm tractors, My grandfather collects them. Been a few times, we haved dumep coke a cole in a seized up engine. Let it sit for a few days and it will unsieze everything.
 
aerogt01 said:
From my experience this won't be powerful enough for what you need it for, but other people might say differently. It's great at cleaning the metal and giving it a light polish, but I can't seem to get it to really bring a good luster back from neglected metal.
Click to expand...

M.P. Cobra Fan said:
I would have to agree. I love the stuff, but not on neglected metal.
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You're both correct. And I did not buy it to use as a one step process. I knew I had to clean the majority of the rust off before I could polish them with the wadding polish. The stuff will probably work great once the thick rust is taken off.
 
Lasthope05 said:
Evaporust and rustoleum are two different things. Evaporust is a chemical that dissolves rust. Rustoleum is a brand that makes paints. Evaporust is non corrosive and safe on all metals and will not harm the finish of your wheels (your wheels are uncoated FYI.) Evapo-Rust Rust Remover Home

Media blasting with soda(baking soda) or walnut shells are is one of the safest ways of removing rust/paint without damaging the finish of the underlaying metal. I have no idea about using coke.

You're best bet if you are trying to do this cheap is to get a gallon of evaporust at Harbor Freight for about $25 and soak each wheel in the solution as it is guaranteed to work instead of wasting your time with homemade remedies that may or may not work.
Click to expand...

Ok, I know what you're talking about now. I was actually told that this stuff would not be good for my wheels. I was told it would strip whatever coating I have on my wheels. Honestly, I thought this was odd since the container clearly shows wheels and other metals being cleaned. For information purposes, if I were to use the evaporust, would I then need to re-seal or coat my wheels to protect them? The guy I talked to was saying I would need to repaint them, then clear coat them, etc… Im starting to think he was talking out of his ass now though.
 
I'm wondering why no one mentioned IronX. I've used it to remove rust streaks, it turns rust purple and it washes off just like it does with iron (rust is just oxidized iron). Thats not what it was designed for, but it works. I don't know if these wheels are to far gone for something as simple as a good IronX soak though. Also if your wheels are really aluminum IronX will not damage them at all, though they still might need a good polish since the rust might have roughed them up.

Note: IronX has a very strong smell, use it outside, wear gloves! Here's a link for the 500mL spray bottle, should be enough for that challenge, if it works at all.

Iron X Iron Remover, CQuartz IronX, Paint Cleaner, paint decontamination
 
maluminas said:
I'm wondering why no one mentioned IronX. I've used it to remove rust streaks, it turns rust purple and it washes off just like it does with iron (rust is just oxidized iron). Thats not what it was designed for, but it works. I don't know if these wheels are to far gone for something as simple as a good IronX soak though. Also if your wheels are really aluminum IronX will not damage them at all, though they still might need a good polish since the rust might have roughed them up.

Note: IronX has a very strong smell, use it outside, wear gloves! Here's a link for the 500mL spray bottle, should be enough for that challenge, if it works at all.

Iron X Iron Remover, CQuartz IronX, Paint Cleaner, paint decontamination
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Thats some expensive stuff though…


Im currently soaking one wheel at a time in vinegar. Got one soaking right now. We'll see how it looks in the morning. If it doesnt work, Im thinking rustoleum may be the way to go or the P21s polish. :buffing:
 
I hate to say it but start with acid! Go get some MAC's Aluminum Brightener from napa and start with that. The vinegar is doing the same thing but only MUCH slower. You will have to polish the wheels after you use this stuff but it works! I just used some on an aluminum tool box that was oxidized and almost drown in color. I could not believe how great this stuff worked!!! Then I polished the box with a mothers polish ball kit and the first person that saw it said "OMG"! Give it a shot on the back side of the wheels as you have nothing to loose.
 
I would get them blasted and powder-coated.
If you really must have polished alloy wheels, those need proper buffing. (Chech Caswells website.)
 
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