I know that Eastwood sells a ton of weird paints that give certain looks (cast aluminum, cadmium plating, etc.). You may want to try their website. They make a paint that's used for restoring 'Cuda and Challenger tail light bezels that looks a lot like the original magnesium. Worth a shot.
Magnesium wheels discolor very quickly.... My wheels are ET's, which the centers have a very rough, cast finish, so just to prep 'em to get 'em smooth enough for polishing would be alot of work. Remember, these are the wheels you thought were worth alot, 'cause you thought they were magnesuim. Why can't guys UNDERSTAND that maybe, just maybe, we're not trying to FAKE a magnesium wheel, we just like the color itself. If a guy paints a steel wheel a dark grey color, don't ASSUME he's trying to pass it off as fake magnesium.....how do you fake a COLOR........jeez people.
only when you do not want them too....i had a pair of early mag 5 spokes polished , then bagged them for a year and half...the only discoloration was a couple pressure points where they were stacked on top of each other...by the same token , i scuffed a couple so they would darken at the same rate ....and they are still shiny...my skinny 5 spokes took almost 5 years to get dark.... no paint needed...
Magnesium is usually chromate treated to inhibit corrosion and corrodes very fast if not treated, http://www.finishing.com/faqs/magnesium.html Chromate treating aluminium is a done thing too, I don't know how the finishes compare but it's recommended for overcoating.
haha, yeah I should have clarified a bit I guess..... I can't afford real magnsium wheels...and if I could, they would discolor very quickly, as they would be mounted on my car and driven............alot.
Seeing that I was the first to type "fake it" on this post and it has been taken out of context: I was in no way instigating negativity or putting down anyone for attempting to do anything with their car. Do what you like, make you happy and build for you, is how I feel about it. The man asked a simple question Remember this from the original question above? To paraprhrase : is it possible to make my aluminum wheels look like magnesium without them looking like shit. If the question was : "how do I paint my aluminum rims dark grey like magnesium?" that would be a completly different question Right? So how do you "Recreate" the look of "Magnesium" wheels out of "aluminum" ones so they dont look like shit? I often thought about this my this my self. And I want to know too. So far we have: Alchemy and majic, deep pockets and just buy them, abrasion and paint, acid, spray grease, and variations of those. I really want these on my car, the one mounted is an original polished magnesium and just beautiful, the chrome ones are repops, chromed aluminum and most likely by the chinaman and also beautiful, but fairly priced. The other one is original magnesium, for anglia spindles only and a small fortune for one. That would be two small fortunes for the pair. I could have them cast new, machined and polished right hear in cleveland for what they go for if I had one to make a mold. ,
I'm not trying to be a FAKE as you would say. I'm still looking for for some mag wheels if I find a set in my price range.I just thought the magnesium color suits the truck. Also I will be drilling these wheels for rim screws to hold the slicks on because I dont FAKE IT and I will drive the shit out of it. So unless the wheels I find are drilled I don't really want to drill mag wheels.
I have never done anything as large as a wheel, but straight Simple Green concentrate will turn cast aluminium dull gray like oxidixed magnesium. I put small parts in a bucket for 2-3 hours YMMV.
I have a old set of MT wheels that were sandblasted. I can't recommend sandblasting, they looked and felt like chalk afterwards. I took a scotchbrite wheel on a drill to them, polishing them a little, and then wiped several coats of Gibbs on them. They turned a little dark, like older polished magnisum. I haven't driven on them, so i'm not sure how they'll age on the street though. But I too want that aged magnisum look, last time I asked on here how to do it, I got a lot of the same bullshit about being fake. It's just a color, like any other.
these were brand new and highloy polished, i had them blasted and titanium header coating on them loved em
i know those wheels. reasonably priced. now that i have seen yours, i'm sold on them. your rod, and the wheels look badass.
Hey tmacracin, just to clarify the mags I have seen that were not polished often look kinda poor. In your experience you saw they with that nice dark grey color and looked cool, I can respect that. Also, unlike some of the other guys I can understand trying to get that look. I bought a rear set of ET fuelers and wish I could make the centers look more mag like for a more period finish without the hassles and safety issues of old mag wheels. So, it would seem you did get good advice from plenty of people here. Good luck to your project, let us know how it turns out. Joe
triggerman, I agree with you on the saftey of the mag wheels. The dry graphite ideas sound good so I'm going to do that until I find a set in magnesium.
What brand of wheels are they? I've been trying to find some 'nostalgic' wheels for a 64 Chevy truck project. I've always loved the gasser look w/the 10-spokes & magnesium slots. But, trying to re-create the look w/modern safety (disc brakes) & readily available wheels is proving to be a challenge. The only source I've found is Team-3 Wheels. Research says they're made over seas which makes me hesitant. I haven't found a manufacturer of wheels in the US that offer these styles. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Drew from Marty and Son's blue coupe that is pictured in this months Hot Rod in the Pileup article has front wheels he shot with Cast Blast from Eastwood.
I was messing around with the dry graphite spray and did one wheel to see how it would look. I think it will work until i can find some REAL mag wheels
Yeah, but what look are you after? If you polish them, they look really cool, but it doesn't last without constant upkeep. The mag on the left was polished but left to oxidize.
We used to just wipe the mag wheels on our front engine dragster with WD-40 and I really liked to look of them and took alot less time to keep the polished
Years ago there was a "How-to" in one of the rod mags about making aluminum slots into "faker" mags. Modifiying the slots and finishing were shown and discussed.
Sand blast or bead blast the wheels....Then lightly rub some "mag" wheel polish on them....once the rag turns black, that's the stuff that will do the darkening. You can also rub the rag with "mag" polish on some smooth aluminum to get more black on the rag, then rub that on the blasted wheel. Do a test spot first........good luck...it worked for me.
BTW, I really like the true mag wheels and for all those that say driving them on the street cannot be done I offer the following pics as proof. This is 56nobrakes driving down Skyline Blvd and parked in front of his house with nearly 50 yr old Firestone Gum Dipped slicks in the back mounted on ARE magnesium Torq Thrusts and same aged 'stones in the front with mag ARE LeMans rims. This is where I get my experience in magnesium by watching and helping him polish the concrete finish LOL. As you can see we like the "chiney" look.
You might want to check out Roadsters.com Dave is a HAMB member and on his web site, has a fantastic display and article all about magnesium halibrands....and others. OLY The cancer car lives Give to cancer research
Gassers did not usually run 12 spoke wheels (which is presumably what you are confusing with the E-T 10 spoke bolt ons, which have been a round for less than a decade), as they had to run front brakes and very few were prepared to engineer front brakes for spindle mounts. This was a Fuel Altered look. Gassers would typically run skinny Halibrand mags - kidney bean or big window Sprints or American Racing Magnesium Torq Thrust bolt on wheels - usually 4-1/2" wide. Cheaper aluminum slot mags were also quite popular on gassers. A comment on vintage magnesium wheels: magnesium out gasses or corrodes internally, like pot metal, and the damage and danger of catastrophic failure starts way before it becomes evident on the outside. I stripped own a set of nice looking Campagnolo magnesium wheels from the 1960s, to refinish them - they were cracked, stressed to hell and major porosity - almost junk were it not for help from an expert welder. If you really must run vintage magnesium wheels, for your own safety have them X-ray tested and crack tested before you run them.
For the Halibrand look, I would go with the darker color. I have sprayed all sorts of 5 spoke aluminum mags to turn them into early American look-a-likes. Add an American sticker on the cap and no one can tell the difference once they are on the car. Lots of cast iron colors out there. You can't mess up, because it's easy to just re-spray until you get the look you like. I have never used a clear coat after, but some guys do.
CZ dirt bikes of the 60s had gen-u-wine Elektron magnesium alloy hubs with steel ( or iron ?) liners for the drum brakes. Not pure magnesium, but something like 90%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektron_(alloy) When new they were kind of gold. Not paint, but the technically correct process of multi-stage chemical dips. https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/4j6iei5jgg6r9zsk/images/fileIRJXHNWR.jpg https://i.prcdn.co/img?regionKey=EMVgJ7JvivbzMFuvwU7yTA== =============. After "a while" they revert to a dark gray. https://img.scgpix.com/listimg/img1_0117/02/img_wHVoCqfvX7NQgfw_r.jpg ======. Most "restorers" lovingly paint 'em some shade of gold, right over the brake drum rivets and sometimes even the spoke heads ! http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/1PGgBp.jpg
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