Technical Magnesium Wheel Corrosion?

This guy has had his hands on a few mags....check out his resto article.
http://www.roadsters.com/wheels/#Mag


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1shot:
Man, that ad is AWESOME! Take a look at the calendar ... ahhh the days of past! Would never get away with an ad like that nowadays!

19eddy30:
Yeah, definitely rare pieces. Like I said, I am just thankful that I had the opportunity to purchase them. The seller was a great guy and treated me right. I have ZERO complaints, even if they never get mounted I would still be happy with them. Once you start getting into the skinnies it's crap shoot because they are so rare, not often listed and when they are they FLY!

Bigchief:
Thanks for the info. I read through that article a few times, unfortunately nothing was really discussed pertaining to the lip corrosion issue.

Come to think of it, maybe not much is mentioned because everyone runs tubes with magnesium wheels! I'm the only dumbass thinking that they can be ran tubeless! Lol!

I measured the pitting with some calipers and is appears that the pitting is .070 at the deepest+-.010 ... the bead seat gets me thinking, how much pressure is actually resting on them? Is it typically the weight of the vehicle? Some of y'all got me spooked now

 

Someone once told me that you could burn the corrosion off with a torch........I haven't seen him around for awhile so don't take that as gospel.

I'd run tubes and hope no one takes what I said seriously.

 

I run mine tubeless front and rear.

 

I hope not either. Keep the torches away from magnesium.

 

I can pretty sum up that these will definitely need to be ran with tubes, which I am ok with.

I wonder if anyone has ever taken the time/made the effort to weld up some of the corrosion to fix an old pair that have some corrosion? I have yet to see anyone mention this? What about that USC All Metal?

 

The magnesium burns. Throw an old lawn mower deck in a campfire then stand back. Mag needs to be welded in a oxygen free environment. It's not easy but it can be done. Most welders wont do it.

 

Sounds risky but, most importantly pricey!

 

I ran Mag Americans for many years , A dog pissin two blocks away would turn them green ! Tubes are your friend . Years ago you could find rubber seat washers to pad the stem where it enters the wheel . I used them but haven’t seen any in years . Always keep a spare tire and wheel handy when running Mag wheels . I always had one , never used it one time . But try to find a 4 in 5x5.5 BC wheel in you have an issue , you understand why I kept a spare with me .

 

I have 15 x 10 mag Americans and 15 x 4 Halibrands on my Austin plus a rack full of others for my other projects, thankfully none have that much corrosion. I run tubes in all of them. I get the inner tubes from Summit - not expensive at all. Gibbs seems to be good for bringing the color back on the spokes (in my case) and it seems to offer some protection. The Americans had holes from bead screws and (believe it or not) some lead weights mounted on the outer lip. No one would repair them. There is a Mag welding video on the HAMB somewhere that I watched and I found the correct welding rod on eBay ($149.00/lb!) After some serious cleaning and even drilling out some corrosion I TIG welded all the holes. After some filing and block sanding they look great. It's not that hard to do, I thought it welded nicer than aluminum. And don't worry they won't burst into flame while you're welding - at typical wheel thickness it takes a lot to ignite it but the sanding dust and chips are another story - be careful with them.
That's a cool pair of wheels but I would heed DREracecars' advise and be careful inflating them the first time. Also, I hope they are going on a lightweight car, I'd be leery of running them on a 4000 lb car that does wheelstands (I've seen 'em used like that). They are no longer new wheels, at their age they deserve to be treated with caution, care and respect.

 

Gonzo : I think it was rusty metal primer I used, but it’s been about 30 years... just for shits and giggles here’s a couple of mine. A pair of 4” in old Ford pattern and 6” in Chevy :

 

Thanks for the tip! I drive my car for a maximum of 45-1 hour at a time so, I'm "local" to say the least.

I did see that write up... Unfortunately I don't TIG... However, if I did I think that I would definitely consider bringing these guys back to their original shape. They will be going on my 55 Chevy. It's got a fiberglass tilt front end with a small block, tunnel ram, fenderwells, etc. So, needless to say the car isn't "heavy" per-se. I do intend on installing a straight axle in the next few months but, plan on putting my big block back in with aluminum heads which will probably put it back somewhere in the neighborhood of the IFS small block weight. Standing, I don't plan on ever taking it to the track, it's just a fun car that I take out here and there. I think that we all can draw the conclusion that with any of these old parts that we use, bodies included, we take a risk with it-it's just how much of a risk are you willing to take and knowing when you need to "call it". Personally, I feel better about using these wheels opposed to overseas manufactured cast aluminum wheels but, that's my preference. I suppose that I could have "waited" for another pair to come along my way but, I wasn't willing to take the risk of frantically searching for the next 10 years. I really feel like the odds of finding another set in chevy pattern are very slim. I'm sure there are plenty out there but the guys who own them aren't letting them go and I understand why. When they're gone, they're gone forever, potentially.

That's what I was thinking... On these, I reckon that I'm going to give them the same treatment as yours unless someone has something that has worked better for them. I'm really surprised that no one has commented on the use of that USC All Metal. I hear very good things about it, the only negative is that it sands like a bitch! I have a can but, am really hesitant to do anything with these wheels until I am able to gain everyone's input. Unfortunately these wheels are rare and I would hate to cause more damage to them unnecessarily.
LOOK AT THAT STASH! Thanks for sharing! Freakin' awesome! PM inbound for the 4's, ha ha ha! You may have sparked a Magnesium fire Bowie. Fellow HAMBers may start showin off what they got! Ever since I was a kid I have been absolutely infatuated with magnesium wheels. Unfortunately I didn't have the financial means to buy them.

Something else I was thinking about but, a little off topic. I'd really like to mount the tires myself as I fear taking these things to a regular tire shop. Are there any magnesium tire mountin' at home DIYers on here ? If so, techniques/tools used would be greatly appreciated!

 

Being serious........I've owned one set. I found them with the tires still on them. Hard to tell how long. I had the tires removed and somehow the things had survived in amazing shape. The lips were near perfect. The tires still were holding air when I found them..............they had tubes in them.

Good luck finding someone to weld them up. I'd have to think though that if you found someone that could do it, they likely know what they are doing.

 

[QUOTE="deathrowdave, post: 12992399, member: 249826" Years ago you could find rubber seat washers to pad the stem where it enters the wheel . I used them but haven’t seen any in years . [/QUOTE]

Get yer valve stem washers here: https://www.tireinnertube.com/tire-...adapts-tr13-stem-to-tr15-wheel-stem-hole.html

 

I found this video upon researching welding magnesium... Very interesting, and fitting given its oldschool cool...




What I can sum up is that welding magnesium isn't really all as "tricky" as most like to think. Obviously precautions must be taken, which is typically a non issue with other metals. Seeing as this is a large piece, it dissipates the heat rapidly, allowing a (I hate to say this) "safeguard" from ignition. I would be more concerned with the prep work of the metal as you will likely have the highest probably of ignition due to the shavings. My fear during the welding process would come from residual shavings on the metal.

 

These wheels are not "safety" as they do not have the bead lip. Since there is not one, the tires should not bang on. Since they are not safety I would use tubes. If it makes you feel good I would epoxy the holes up. JB would become the easiest to me.
I would and have "knocked down" the edge on the transition from the sunk area to the seating area to help with the mounting without applying too much pressure. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info! I am concerned on the use of the JB weld as it may promote corrosion under the applied areas?

 

The JB Weld won't add back the strength lost to corrosion. And it might harbor more corrosion underneath. You won't need to worry about air loss through the pits when using tubes. Just leave the insides of the wheel as-is and use them.