I have a set of old mickey thompson 5 spoke wheels (looks like torque thrust). They are aluminum center/face on a steel rim. They were cabinet blasted, and are fairly clean now. I want to age them, to make them look vintage... that dull cast color. I'd really like them to look like aged magnesium, one of my favorite metal colors. Anyone have suggestions on how to do this? It needs to be able to stand up to disk brake dust, and animal urine. I'm looking at casting/art websites now, but haven't found anything. Ideas?
i know if you use some of the harsh wheel cleaning products for wire wheels and let it sit in the sun to long before hosing it off, it will dull those wheels real fast. i've done it, but not for the same reason as you. i don't know if thats what your after but it will dull them up.
Easy Off reallly fucks up the looks of an aluminum intake. My old torque thrusts on the rear of my roadster have good patina. But you have to be patient. The way I did it, I took them off my '68 Corvette in 1976, left them out in a pasture, in the open, until 2002, now they have just the right patina. Now if I could just find some 4 1/2 inch fronts to match............
Spray em with Castrol super clean it will dull Aluminum finishes Just make sure you rinse it off well. Then give em a good coat of clear. Dawg
I "patinad" my polished offy valve cover on my 6 on accident using "oil eater" degreaser at full strength. I was trying to degrease my head for cleaning/painting. Bought in a gallon jug at costco. Not the look I was looking for, but it was not too easy to polish it back up. I am in an aluminum/bronze casting class at school right now, and my prof. said there is little in the way of ways to patina aluminum. Brass is simple. I think I'll let her know about the easy-off and oil eater. Works great. Erron
I used Eagle One Etching Mag Wheel Cleaner to clean some aluminum motorcycle engines that were really corroded, it worked great to take off the corrosion, but left them the darker/dull gray you're talking about.
wow to want to make wheels look like shit whats next a post on making fake rust paint on fiberglass bodys................
Splatter them with mothers, blue magic or eagle one and leave it on there. Couple of months you'll have pits, patina and stain. Do it quickly with easy off, 10 ,minutes will normally make them grey and stained. Windex, or a drop of ammonia, they're good, Coffee can do a number, especially with milk if it's left on. Bit of bird shit here and there can add a few different colors. Pissing on them does a number too.. but not inside your own shop. Just think of anything you wouldn't want on your nice polish job.
Close but no cigar. Only works on bonafide magnesium, not aluminum. Sorry. I've heard of an allodine process for aluminum that might be similar but I've no idea what the color turns out to be. Might be bright yellow for all I know. I'm still surprised how many times I've been asked what I painted my wheels with. It's always fun to tell them they're not painted. Someday I'm sure I'll be sorry I'm running magnesium on the street though.
I got outstanding patina on a set of rims I had on a 76 F100 PU I had in High School. I cleaned the rims really well with 3M green pads, then 1000 grit steel wool, then 1500 grit, got them nice and shiney. Put them on the truck, they were nice and shiney, Drove the truck, they were dull in only a couple of months. Cleaned them up again, same thing. I put some polish on them the second time and they lasted a whole lot longer before getting dull. Did this a few times till I got tired of the whole mess, let them go natural. Time/driving/use. Im a freaking genius. I should sell this shit.
You're an fucking dumbass man. Go freshen up your pomp or something, the adults are talking right now. I don't want them to look like shit, I want the look of natural as-cast unpolished aluminum, like wheels that's been on the street for years. Thanks for the eagle one / castrol cleaner recomendations, i'll try that out.
The Jalopy Journal
