Magnesium Look?

I would really like to have a set of magnesium wheels for my 28 pickup but all searches have some up short unless I spend $1500 on a pair. I picked up a set of 15x10 aluminum slots from another HAMBER and I would like to make them look magnesium. Is it possible without looking like shit? I have taken the tires off and bead blasted them since this photo.

 

Are you looking for magnesium that has been :
1. polished
2. as cast but new
3. naturaly tarnished

 

I think more natural tarnished like the wheels on the coupe in the pic

 

There's always powdercoating

 

I thought about that but if I ever want to polish them it will be a pain in the ass getting them stripped

 

I would think that you could paint them and be happy with a similar look from 10 feet away. They make that color paint. Add some air brushing for weathering irregularities.

New as cast would be easier to pull off with paints

But....

It is Goning be hard to fake it, and anyone who cares or knows magnesium wheels will know they are not. Everybody else will think they are just dirty.
JMHO

 

That Is one very cool photo Btw.

 

Ya I thought that was a cool pic of those coupes!
I think I will just spray the wheels with penitrating fluid
to darken them up a bit and leave them as cast

 

I've painted aluminum wheels with cast iron look gray paint and they looked pretty good. Here are some on my '66 Falcon:

 

This wheel is aluminum, coated with graphite spray lube from Napa.....make your own judgement.

 

looks good! How long does it stay on? Rub off?

 

I find it funny that you don't want them to look like shit but you want that oxidized magnesium look. Guess what, mag wheels look like shit when they oxidize heavily. 56NoBrakes has a set of mag Americans and we joke that they look like concrete when he doesn't polish them for a few months. I have seen aluminum versions that left unattended outside look remarkably like mag. Perhaps some mild acid etch on the alum wheels first and then the graphite lube may get you a look you are after.

 

My father ran a set on a Woody Gilmore dragster they had 15 years back
we kept them clean but they still had the grey color to them and I didn't think they looked like shit.

 

I'm actually a fan of the dark grey "looks like shit" magnesium wheels.

 

tmacracin hey I had the same idea but I am not that far on the projects yet....NOT ALL OF US HAVE 15 TO 1800.OO FOR A SET OF WHEELS..............I know where there is a pair right now but as I said 1800.oo................I will blast mine and then I'll use graphite on them, i'll run them and if it dont give me the look I want I'll at that time use a very mild acid to get the look I want........sometimes you have to do what you can and as long as your happy screw everyone else...............

 

It holds up very well. Takes more than just car wash soap to remove, although it will darken your wash rag.
I don't wash my cars much though.........

 

primer gray easy to take care of looks old and very nostalgic thats what im doing thinking about a flat or gloss clear though.for better protection

 

looks mean, cool color.

 

i am by far not an expert, and i dont know about in person, but those look like true mags in that photo. I think i'm gonna try that.

 

Fake magnesium, rusty cars, oxidation is cool; what's going on here lately? What's wrong with polished aluminum, timeless good looks. 50 years ago, hot rods didn't look 50 years old, they looked like they were recently built, and well built at that. Study some history.

 

you guys blow everything out of proportion. I said I like the look of magnesium I didn't say I wanted my wheels to look like they have been outside since 1960

 

I've got an old set of daisy's that I've had blasted. Can't decide on whether to polish the outer machined rim or leave it as blasted. This guy told me about an old trick that he used on his magnesium wheels that he also tried on Ally wheels, after cleaning them up to the desired finish he then applied timber burnishing oil, applied with a clean rag. He said it stopped the magnesium wheels from going black for a lot longer, and on ally wheels it stopped water stains. I haven't tried it on my wheels yet, and I'll probably try it on a test piece first, but it sounds plausible and cheap.

 

This before and after shot is just great.. too bad we don't get to see more photos like this. Trim down, add weight and increase performance! Gary

 

You might try using that cast paint for blocks and heads that they sell at napa. I can't tell you the name but I have used it on magnesium wheels to give them a fresh clean uniform look.

 

Its like the antique business,most antiques are not really that old,people go through a process of distressing them to appear as such. I can understand the period correct gig,,and survivors.

One idea take some brake fluid to a aluminum slot uglys it up real quick
leave out in the rain a week and you should have what you want

The whole "faking" thing is just getting out of hand i think,,theres tons of real parts still out there at prices one can afford,,your just not gonna find em sitting at the computer.. I dunno,,I myself would laugh at someone trying to pull off fake magnesium wheels ,,but thats just me

Not all cars are gonna be the cats meow with all the supper cool parts
thats part of what makes things cool,,so that not every car is a copy of the last or the next in line for the trend

 

Aluminum, submerged in muratic acid, will give a nice, grey magnesium look...just keep a close eye on how long the part is in the acid!

 

I couldn't agree more.

What's up with all the negative shit and pissing / moaning here on the HAMB?

tmacracin asked a "how to" question not "how do you like this?" I am betting he really doesn't give a shit what everybody else thinks of the look he is after, just wants some advise on the "how to" question.

Sand Blasting should get you the rough surface finish you are after and the NAPA spray graphite sounds like a good place to start. Post some photos when you are done, I would like to follow how this turns out.

 

I hear ya, but sometimes my inner rat fights my inner neat weasel.

As for history, well I just put down a couple of old hot rod books and have to say that you see both timeless good looks and backyard crude with whatever was laying around. And as for "50 years ago, hot rods didn't look 50 years old" - well I guess that'll be because they weren't 50 years old back then.

I have both a beater and shiny and enjoy both for different reasons. I see no reason to rain on somebody else's parade for doing what they want as long as it is safely engineered and constructed. I think that many of us are far too judgmental - me included.

The paint mentioned earlier is Plastikote Rebuilders Cast Iron - available at pretty much any automotive tagging supplier.

 

nu cast , i think is one of the names it goes by...i've used it on a few pairs to even out the natural process... lots of crazy talk lately... but who am i to talk....i went from old and grey magnesiums and surface rust to shiny paint and half way shiny mag halibrands.....