I know DONT !!! Well I have one that has had something on it that has caused some damage. I white crusty mess that ate into the wheel. I have lighty sanded that area and would like to clean the entire rim and let it age back to natural again. Walnut blasting maybe ??? Thanks !
Find a shop that has a Water Blaster that mixes Glass Beads with the water stream. The finished job will resembles a Harley Davidson crank case finish.
The white OR grey spots are just normal magnesium corrosion. Just like the red/brown color is on steel, the white is on aluminum. Mike
Mine is more that just light spots I think. Figure if I could blast them somehow the damaged area would fade away.
moisture in the air attacks magnesium. so think about it blasting them with water is the worst thing you can do. mag corrodes period. the white spots after dry glass beading will come back. they may take a while to come back or during the summer if its humid may only take a few days. glass beading will remove stains and return a uniform finish. the white powder will also be removed. as the corrosion is removed the damage gets revealed. the little pits can become craters. the corrosion will come back. how fast is determined by the moisture they come in contact with. the damage wont fade away. you cant put back whats not there. I own several sets for my car. its a constant battle to keep up with them.
I've owned a number of American 5 spokes; I love them, but frankly they are more trouble than they are worth. I've used just about every wheel cleaning and preservation method possible but they always prove that nature abhors a vacuum. I have some clear coated 17/18" late Corvette magnesium wheels that seem to survive well as long as the powder get stays good. But, like most rodders doing that to vintage magnesium just doesn't look right.
Back in the '60s a friend had a set of mag wheels on his Anglia bracket racer. They would polish them prior to going to Lions for Saturday night drags. With the moisture at the beach by the time the night was over the wheels were back to dull gray. Not worth the effort to keep them shiny.
I had 4 , on my 32 for years polished , when my neighbor’s dog peed 100 yards away my wheels went green . I should have allowed them to go gray and sprayed with Gibbs . My sold they because of maintenance issues . When you live where the humidity rarely ever gets below 45 % and most of the warm months is 90% polished mags are not your friend
That's funny, seeing that the o/p is known as the resident Gibbs dealer https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/gibbs-brand-is-back.1171309/
Eagle One makes a product called Magnesium Cleaner and Etch which you spray on let sit and rinse with water. Use gloves and eye protection. Agree glass beading or water vapor blasting is the best solution with best result. Magnesium corrodes quickly so a coat of clear coat will keep them looking good for a while.
Yes I use the GIBBS on them when they are clean..Just that it would be nice to have a clean suface that looks the same all over. Don't want them polished. heard EASY OFF will clean with no damage.
There should be a sticky on what not to do to magnesium. I spent six years as a machine shop manager in a helicopter overhaul facility specializing in 1960's Shikorskys. Blasting them with beads, water,sand or anything abrasive opens up the pores in the metal and makes corrosion worse! Trichromium pickle solution or alodine is the only thing that will neutralize this. And alodine only works on some alloys. If you sand or blast mag you need to coat it with something within an hour or so. Oil of anysort will help to stop the white crap from coming back once it's chemically treated. Jet A works better than most shit, but diesel fuel will work as well. You need something that doesn't wash off with water.
mine are all polished. nothing shines like polished mag. I swear at them as I poish them then swear by them when the job is done. dow-7 treats mag and provides a gold ish tint.
https://www.wenol.com/ Wenol to polish...a rag to wipe the sweat away and the tears you’ll cry as they turn grey again in a couple days....ya gotta pay to look that cool!!!
Dow-7 is not something you will find at the local hardware store. You need to find a industrial chemical dealer in your area. A friend of mine has a few 50s era indy cars. The wheels needed to be treated. A call was made to alldredge chemical in Milwaukee. They set him up with all he needed. He used a plastic 55 gallon drum to put the solution in. The finish will depend on the surface. A polished wheel will be brighter than a cast finish. I don't know how much it cost to do it. I know he did it in his shop.
I just got turned onto a new product that does a great job reducing the corrosion. It's a flitz product. I will get a pic posted. I have a product code that I will post to get 20 percent off all of their products.
Order online at flitz.com in the discount area enter code 3132 to get 20 percent of the entire order. The pic of my wheels were polishedwith flitz. Nothing shines like polished magnesium.
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