What's best for magnesium?

[Stoner]

Got me a set of magnesium spindle mount 12 spokers. Anyone know the best process for polishing these things?

I don't wanna mess up.

Stoner

[four-thirteen]

are they previously unpolished? i have a pair that was polished, maybe you just want to trade? david

[old beet]

Give um to a pro with yer checkbook!.......OLDBEET

[Stoner]

Is it difficult to polish these things? I thought I could just find the right kind of polish and go to town with a rag and some old Christy Canyon flicks, garlic pizza and a bottle of Rebel Yell.

No?

[four-thirteen]

are you just talkin the outside of the rim or the spokes too?

[Broman]

PM Roadsters.com

He was just talking about this recently.

I don't think they are a big deal to polish up. Just use the standard polishing compounds in the right order. It's what you do AFTER the polishing....

[Stoner]

Yeah, I'm talkin' about polishing the entire wheel. So what kind of compounds should I use and how do I treat them after the polishing is done?

I didn't see what Roadsters.com said, although I surely do love his site.

Any help?

[Broman]

look here

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=374719&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1&vc=1

[Broman]

It's the tenth reply down the list on page one....

[Stoner]

Thanks, boys. I gotta order some of that Gibbsbrand shizznit. Anyone buy this stuff?

[L B]

Don't polish em.....leave em dark grey and with light crunchies on em. Oolala traditional Patina

[Roadsters.com]

Sorry I'm late. Thanks for the mention, and the appreciation of the Web site.

I've sold Gibbs to dozens of hot rodders, but as far as I know, none of them are involved in any message boards. Russ Meeks (builder of AMBR 1972) saw some of what I had done with it and he bought a case of it.

Here's a link to the page about Gibbs Brand: http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

Please read that page that I've written about Gibbs. It's all true.

After that, if you buy some of it from me and then for any reason find that you're not happy with it, just send it back to me and I'll refund your money minus the shipping. Gibbs has been sold like that since the '60s and as far as I know, nobody has ever returned it.

Gibbs will revolutionize the way you work with bare metal.

Some day, one of you will actually try the stuff and see for yourself.

Dave
davemann@roadsters.com
(602) 233-8400
http://www.roadsters.com/

[Brootal]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it difficult to polish these things? I thought I could just find the right kind of polish and go to town with a rag and some old Christy Canyon flicks, garlic pizza and a bottle of Rebel Yell.

No?

[/ QUOTE ]

Mmmmmm.... Christy Canyon... Oh Yeah.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

What were we talking about again?? Oh yeah... wheels. Wheels are good.

[Stoner]

I'm glad to see there are other Christy Canyon fans out there. I didn't want to be the only one.

Dave--thanks for the advice and check your email.

Anyone else have any magnesium tricks up their sleeve? I'm super stoked to finally own a pair of these and I want to treat 'em right. I'd be down with the patina sickness if the car wasn't going to be "finished."

I really do like the crust that works its way over them in time...

[Upchuck]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm glad to see there are other Christy Canyon fans out there. I didn't want to be the only one.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was kind of partial to Barbara dare

[polisher]

You can't polish mag, it's way too porous, looks ugly.
Plus the dust is highly, and I mean you don't want to be there, explosive.
If they are alloys, use a top quality pH. neutral polish.
Stay away from anything that contains ammonia, acids or anhydrous.

[quickrod]

i disagree with polisher.magnesium looks very brillant when polished[almost white]but it is VERY hard to maintain,and does'nt keep its shine as long as an aluminum wheel.if you do decide to polish them,be very careful,as he said the dust and material removed is highly flamable....i have a magnesium wheel of a jap drag bike we partially polished to see what it was like,looked great,but did'nt feel it was worth all the maintaince..you decide http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Stoner]

Y'know, the fact that magnesium is so dangerous to polish make them even better.

Anyone wanna come over to the GARAGE hq while we play with matches and polish some wheels?

[Broman]

That's funny I was thinking the same thing....

I was thinking you should save the dust and do some old school Hotwheels burn-downs....Many a toy were destroyed by hammer, flame and fireworks. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I mean you can really relive your youth by getting injured in some really creative way right?

Seriously though when Mag. burns it CAN'T be put out by any means, so be safe. I don't think the flame is so terrible it's just that you can't put out the fire - no way, no how. Yikes.

If it were me I'd polish the rims right next to one of those deep fat turkey fryers....BE A MAN!! Oh, and let someone use a plasma cutter nearby as well. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Jeem]

I really dug the the polished mag Halibrands I had. They were 8.5 wide but with a deeper offset, they looked like 10 inchers. Anyway, it was worth polishing those wheels twice a week, wasn't too hard to keep them nice as long as you didn't let them go. I don't know what modern drag race wheels weigh, but those old wheels were LIGHT!

[Jeem]

BTW Stoner, you'll probably screw 'em up, better just send them my way.

[Roadsters.com]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone wanna come over to the Garage HQ while we play with matches and polish some wheels?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm in, but we gotta do it really drunk.

I'll bring some exclusive miracle polish, with lots of sand, ammonia, acids, and anhydrous.

If anything blows up, we should donate 10% of the fire to Ryan.

Dave
(602) 233-8400
http://www.roadsters.com/

[Broman]

Roadsters.com
When ever I see your avatar I get pissed off at my brother.

A couple years ago he had a complete set of the old Ansen 5-Slot type mags that he ebayed for next to nothing 'cause he thought they were ugly!!!!! He said they were too "outdated". OHH MAN!! I coulda killed him. I was like - Hey idiot, I LIKE outdated!! I told him they were worth a bunch of money just to make him feel like a sap.

...they were perfect too, bigs 'n littles all the way.

Last week he found a really well maintained "project" car that he thought would look good with a straight axle and a gasser stance. He calls me up and asks me what kind of rims he could put on it to give it the right look.......dumbass.

[polisher]

Ok, Let's straighten this out.
Magnesium CANNOT be polished, it is so full of pores, it looks ugly at best.
90 percent of what is on the market is mag alloy.
About 10percent magnesium.
A pure magnesium rims weighs next to nothing.
As for the heat of a magnesium fire, it will boil water enough to make a ceramic shitter explode and blow the door off the wall, which was why my high school education came to an abrupt halt, so I can assure you it burns HOT. and is more volatile than aluminum when mixed with water.
No if you want to talk about alloys that's different.
But don't rule out Zinc when you by alloy wheels.
They are heavier than aluminum and will polish out exactly the same, if not better because they are less porous.
Aluminum zinc alloys will oxidize three times as fast as regular aluminum wheels and if you use a polish like mothers will become dull almost over night, they can't handle any polish that contains ammonia or anhydrous.

[Stoner]

Damn! I didn't realize these wheels weren't all magnesium. They weigh almost 10 lbs. each, so I guess they have some aluminum in them? They sure do feel like what I would imagine mag to feel like. And they definitely have a porous feel to 'em. But then again, that may be just the "oxidization" or whatever it is...

And I'm sittin' here in front of the computer in a pink satin thong and a sombrero trying to flick my Bic under one of these wheels and it just won't catch. How do you light these f--in things up, anyway? What do I have to do, douse 'em in gas first?

Stoner

[DeadFast 33]

Dan those wheels gona go on that car I sold ya? If so send me some pics fooo!! Progress? last I saw was at Keith's when the motor mounts were made.

FLIP

[Roothawg]

What kinda wheels are they?

[Stoner]

Flip--

Yeah, these are going on the '27 coupe. It's gonna look real neat. I'll have some pics posted soon.

And these are American Racing 12 spoke spindle mount magnesium (I thought) frontrunners. They're 15"x3.5" and I'm looking for the right tires at the moment. AND how to polish them.

So can I just take some Scotchbrite to 'em and see where that gets me before anything else?

[old beet]

We used to paint the inside of real mag rims with that rubber stuff for tool handles, just to run tubeless tires. As without a tube they go flat fast. I've got a buyer if ya want to sell um!!............OLDBEET

[Stoner]

Hmmm. Tubes. Or no tubes. Is that the question? what are the right tires to run on these things?

[Roadsters.com]

The right tires would be what would have been used in the '60, which would have been bias-ply up to the early '60s and radials thereafter. In either case, you want the narrowest 15-inch tires you can find - what are sometimes called "Volkswagen (beetle) tires". In either case, you'd be wise not to try and run them without tubes.

As far as magnesium metallurgy goes, all magnesium castings contain some aluminum, and all aluminum castings contain some magnesium. The ratio determines whether the wheels are said to be magnesium wheels or aluminum wheels.

Saying that magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") castings can't be polished is of course incorrect, since looking at virtually any issue of Hot Rod, Car Craft, or Rod & Custom from the '60s will show several cars with polished magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") parts.

As I explain on my wheels page at http://www.roadsters.com/wheels/ magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") parts should never be painted or powdercoated, because oxidization can and will occur beneath it.

I've been carefully machining and polishing magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") castings since 1970, and have seen some very nice ones that were die-cast using higher pressure than some sand castings. While it's true that porousity is a factor in how successful the results will be when magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") castings are polished, regardless, any magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") piece I've ever worked with can be made to shine like a mirror once you use abrasives to get it really smooth. And once you've done that, short of storing it in a barrel full of oil, I have yet to find anything to protect it that works as effectively as Gibbs Brand.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

[Broman]

Period!

[polisher]

It's the dust that's really volatile, or if you've got a burr.
It's was 2 pounds of magnesium ribbon that caused my problem.
Seeing that john boil and glow red at the bottom was amazing.
It looked almost see through.
That was when I decided to leg it.
Cops picked me up on the way home.

[Roadsters.com]

I think you meant to say "two pounds of magnesium alloy ribbon".

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/


--------------------------
Rat Zinc

[polisher]

Nope.
It was pure mag!
That little escapade ranks higher than when I dumped a vacuum full of aluminum buffing dust into the garden burning drum to show the kids the pretty colors and white sparks.
I landed on my butt about four feet back from the drum, still holding the vacuum.
Kids thought it was great!
Wife didn't think it was funny.

[Broman]

lmfao....

...now that is funny.

[Morrisman]

I feel the same way, but I was the dork who sold them. here's mine on my soapbox racer I built in the Philippines. 12x15 slotmags, mirror polished http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Morrisman]

Polisher,
I think it has gotten to the stage where so many people know alloy wheels as 'mags' they they forget where the name came from, and probably don't realise that there is little or no magnesium in them.

[polisher]

You're right.
I have the same problem with a bar abrasives of here being called jewelers rouge.
But in England every vacuum cleaner is a hoover, the trunk of a car is the boot and the hood is a bonnet.
I guess we can live with it.

[Flexicoker]

Kinda late, but couldn't you polish and then use that zoop seal stuff to seal it?

http://www.zoopseal.com/zoopseal.asp

[Flexicoker]

Actually nevermind, I read the FAQ's for it

[ QUOTE ]
Can I use Zoopseal on Magnesium?
No, not yet, it is still being tested.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Brother Bob]

If is Mag....dont bead blast or sand blast em'
Yes I did it , the wheel was 26" diameter, Now that my friend was a fire brotha'
DONT BLAST EM" http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Roadsters.com]

Bead blasting with coarse sand (or even worse, sandblasting) is not only dangerous, it will be hard to avoid enlarging any tiny pores on the surface. Plastic media blasting has given superb results, and you may be able to do well by using fine walnut shells in a bead blasting cabinet.

To be safe, it's always wise to have a Class D fire extinguisher handy.

My Halibrand 16 by 13 wheels were plastic media blasted around the outside to remove the rubber residue that was left behind by the inner tubes, and the operator was able to get the surface very clean without harming the original Dow 7 coating. There's a picture of them on this page: http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/