How to clean rims with years of dust & grease buildup?

[untrueparadox]

I went ahead of myself and thought i was smart to use 409 on the stock i30 rims. well, it cleaned some of the gunk off, but still has stubburn spots. not only that, the clear coat on the rims got hazy and the rims got dull. i was using the 3m dish washing sponge along with 409 to clean it off and hosed the rims to rinse it. is there a better alternative? ive read around and most people dont seem to like those rim cleaners like meguires and whatnot, and simple green isnt available in my area, at least not that i know of. should i just use engine degreaser or paint stripper?

i think that after doing 2 of my rims and screwing up badly, im gonna repaint them anyways so look shouldnt be an issue. just need to remove the road tar and break dust buildup 100% so i can prep the rims for painting.

[loystock]

I've used Dawn dishwashing liquid, water and white cotton cloth (or old white socks) on both the standard and LE rims - works all the time. I occasionally used a toothbrush but never an abrasive. Dawn has a built-in degreaser.

Nissan uses lead-based paints on their rims which is not available in the US. Are the rims really that bad that you need to repaint them? I have done paint jobs but never repainted a rim. I can only assume that you need a paint stripper, base coat and a clear coat. Just make sure that children are not present when you are stripping the paint. And as always with painting job, surface preparation is very important.

[untrueparadox]

ya, i was being an idiot. the tar wouldnt come off so i used a metal brush to scrape it. and guess what..it scratched the rims pretty bad. i wasnt aware of it until hours later when it totally dried that the rims were scratched and the clear coat hazed up.

think im gonna use acetone to remove the old paint and just follow the standard procedure? sand with 320 grit, 2 coats of etching primer, and 3 coats of duplicolor black wheel paint? and while im at it, ill probably paint the brake calipers too.

the rims lost the factory shine, and looks like powered aluminum white. instead of spending hours refinishing the coat, maybe i can just repaint and start over? might be easier and better looking to paint it black with chrome lips?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Cleaning wheels is seriously tedious work. I intended to paint my wheels last summer, and gave up after seeing that I'd need some serious tools to get through the grime. Getting through PAINT is going to be nasty. See if you can rent a sand blaster. That'll save you A LOT of manual labor tedium.

[nafddur]

Cleaning wheels is seriously tedious work.

Not if you clean them regularly (like every week or so) with good wheel cleaner. I will have owned my 95 Max for 15 years next month and, even with 206K miles on it, the original saw blade wheels look great.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, I kept my original GXE wheels in good shape, too. But we're not talking about polishing well-kept wheels, here. We're talking about paint stripping.

[untrueparadox]

wont a harsh chemical like paint stripper or acetone get rid of the gunk too? i think sanding it would be the painful part. i do have an electric sander for sanding wood and stuff that i can borrow from my dad, but it wont do me much good for the thousands of spokes and the small places it needs to reach.

what do u guys think about a metal brush for electric drills?http://www.buyacehardware.com/...99737

i think its worth a try, only $3. maybe home depot will have it too.
Modified by untrueparadox at 8:13 AM 8/12/2009

[nafddur]

i do have an electric sander for sanding wood and stuff that i can borrow from my dad, but it wont do me much good for the thousands of spokes and the small places it needs to reachhttp://www.buyacehardware.com/...99737

i think its worth a try, only $3. maybe home depot will have it too.

Modified by untrueparadox at 8:13 AM 8/12/2009

Are you Spicolli?

[MaximA32]

Are you Spicolli?

My dad's a TV repairman. He's got a WICKED set of tools. We can fix this no problem bro...

To the OP, go check out Wal-Mart for Simple Green. I buy it by the gallon here in Riverside County. You could also have tried WD-40. It cleans just about anything and I've had a lot of experience with random gunk on my wheels and that's always done me well.

[loystock]

Be careful with Simple Green. Be sure you dilute it at least 50/50 with water. It's a strong degreaser and can cause the paint to become 'soft' and even peel off.

[untrueparadox]

Be careful with Simple Green. Be sure you dilute it at least 50/50 with water. It's a strong degreaser and can cause the paint to become 'soft' and even peel off.

i think thats what happened with the 409. the clear coat is starting to flake off and got really hazy.

you guys really think i might have a chance at redoing the rims? i tried goo gone and got off a small patch that i tested it on. unfortunately, i dont want to be using that stuff, says on the warning label that its bad for rubber (tire) and its easy to just accidentally drip a little. i cant seem to find the simple green degreaser. the only one i found was the general purpose cleaner, and its as difficult to use as the 409 ive already used and messed up my rims with. takes lots of elbow grease and still doesnt clean 100%. my 2 back rims have pretty bad curb damage and i really want to just spend some time and sand it out and redo them. ive already damaged the clear paint on the set of rims by using 409 and 3m sponge.

i went to walmart today looking for simple green and found an aircraft stripper that i think might work for the removal of original paint. i dunno what these rims are made of, but its safe for aluminum and alloys, and says it degreases and removes all junk. the directions said something like spray, wait 15 mins, scrape, rinse. if it works as it says, then i can just sand the rims with either a metal brush or sand paper and repaint. shouldnt be too difficult.

[ABNRML4U]

Have you ever tryed engine Gunk? Give it a try it won't hurt.

[Markc]

The OP's rims are too far gone for this, but I find Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works really well on alloy rims. Mine were pretty gungy with a lot of rusty coloured brake dust build up and some road tar. I washed the car and wheels and then got to the rims. With some elbow grease and a Magic Eraser, they came out looking very nice. No adverse side effects after 2 weeks. They are totally non-abrsive and work well.