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IVC434

Standard XC wheel cleaning.

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Hello again everyone. 

 

It's been a long time since I've been on here (the black dog and an empty account being the main reasons).

 

I'm finally getting a bit of passion back, to get into working on Granddad's XC again and I'm wanting to clean up the original wheels. 

 

She's currently sitting on a set of chrome 12 slotters, so I have the time. 

 

I'm thinking of removing the light rust with a small wire wheel and then running a buffing wheel over the top, but would the stock wheels require any kind of treatment after that to prevent rust occurring? Paint? Lacquer? Or not? 

 

I know that I always get the best advice from the folks here, so I'm looking forward to hearing the answers before I get all gung-ho...

 

Thank you all once again. 

 

Andrew. 

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depending how rusty and how far you want to go? 

 

1 hour ago, IVC434 said:

I'm thinking of removing the light rust with a small wire wheel and then running a buffing wheel over the top, but would the stock wheels require any kind of treatment after that to prevent rust occurring? Paint? Lacquer? Or not? 

 

not sure what you mean about running a buff over them? is the paint in good condition? could just steel wool them and clear coat them even. 

 

if I've painted wheels black or silver in the past, i just wire wheel them for all the flaky rusty dust off, (hard to get in the tight spot between the wheel center and the rim edge, if you have worse rust in there, perhaps a rust remover would be worth doing, see below for rust remover ideas)

 

i just wire wheel them, then sand the paint smooth (feather the edges so the chips/scratches don't show as easy). you'd sand more if you wanted a better finish. 
if going black or silver, the killrust/white knight epoxy paints are the go.. will be pretty much 2 or 3 light coats and done.. 

 

if you are doing the "silver wheels" acrylic, or the steel blue same colour of the car etc in acrylic, then you'll need to etch prime etc for the bare metal etc. 

 

if you were going a bit further, then you can do your own vinegar water soak in a wheelie bin even or other container the wheels fit in. 

or if you have money to spare, there's plenty of places doing hydro blasting or sand/media/soda blasting.

 

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Assuming you have painted steel 12 sluts.??   Think they were Argent silver originally, not sure. Any wheel silver paint and a nice centre cap and/or a trim ring will do wonders for the look of the car. If it's a keeper, and you have the funds, get them soda blasted/sand blasted/acid dipped and refurbished properly, you'll only ever do it once. First time they lasted 45 years.......😁

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14 minutes ago, bear351c said:

Assuming you have painted steel 12 sluts.??   Think they were Argent silver originally, not sure. Any wheel silver paint and a nice centre cap and/or a trim ring will do wonders for the look of the car. If it's a keeper, and you have the funds, get them soda blasted/sand blasted/acid dipped and refurbished properly, you'll only ever do it once. First time they lasted 45 years.......😁

 

No Sir, these are just the bog standard Falcon 500 grandpa specs wheels. I've cleaned up one of them a little and it looks better already (apart from the rotten 40 year old Uniroyal it's still wearing of course) 

 

Thank you kindly for your advice. I'll definitely prep it for a silver paint job after I get the old tyres off. 

20250107_122133.jpg

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5 hours ago, deankxf said:

depending how rusty and how far you want to go? 

 

not sure what you mean about running a buff over them? is the paint in good condition? could just steel wool them and clear coat them even. 

 

if I've painted wheels black or silver in the past, i just wire wheel them for all the flaky rusty dust off, (hard to get in the tight spot between the wheel center and the rim edge, if you have worse rust in there, perhaps a rust remover would be worth doing, see below for rust remover ideas)

 

i just wire wheel them, then sand the paint smooth (feather the edges so the chips/scratches don't show as easy). you'd sand more if you wanted a better finish. 
if going black or silver, the killrust/white knight epoxy paints are the go.. will be pretty much 2 or 3 light coats and done.. 

 

if you are doing the "silver wheels" acrylic, or the steel blue same colour of the car etc in acrylic, then you'll need to etch prime etc for the bare metal etc. 

 

if you were going a bit further, then you can do your own vinegar water soak in a wheelie bin even or other container the wheels fit in. 

or if you have money to spare, there's plenty of places doing hydro blasting or sand/media/soda blasting.

 

Thank you so much for those tips. I'll definitely be painting them once I get the old tyres off. A quick blast with the wire wheel has made an improvement, but I'll get rid of the rotten 40 year old tyres and then finish them properly. 

20250107_122133.jpg

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