Cleaning Shelby wheels

[anghelrestorations]

Im working on a 69 Shelby here now that was stored for many many years.  Wondering if anyone has used any decent products to clean the center of the wheels.  I tried something called Sonax and that did not do anything.  Thinking I need something that is acidic to clean in to the pores. 
Below is side by side photos of what I started with.  I dipped each wheel in Evaporust which made a huge difference but some of the wheel centers are not as bright and clean as others.

20231130_110126 by Marcus Anghel, on Flickr

20231129_160828 by Marcus Anghel, on Flickr

[pbf777]

   

I dipped each wheel in Evaporust which made a huge difference but some of the wheel centers are not as bright and clean as others.

     Please,  I'm curious as to whether the "Evaporust" had any effect, beyond just possibly cleaning, the aluminum; and for what period of time was the aluminum exposed to the product?   

     Have you (or anyone? It's an open forum, jump in! ; as I need all the help I can get! ) in utilizing Evaporust and exposing it to aluminum experienced any effects to the aluminum?   

     Thank you,
     Scott.

[anghelrestorations]

In the photos I posted here you can see the before and after of what the wheels looked like after being dipped in Evaporust.  Good results...but not perfect.  Im pretty happy with the results but still working to see if I can get these to look better.  Will be trying dry ice blasting next week on them and see what that does. 

[propayne]

How long did you leave them in the Evaporust and what effect did it have on any rust that was in the chrome rim?

- Phillip

[CSX 4133]

If the dry ice doesn't work, you might look into Lazar cleaning the rough surface areas.Here is a video of the process on various automotive surfaces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBYJ1bL5Gp8

[68blk500c]

Some years ago, I used a spray bottle product called Esprit wheel cleaner on bell housings and it worked great!  Found it at the auto parts store, but a search now doesn't find it.  It had some acid in it, for sure.

[Bill]

25 or so years ago, on a similar set of barn find 69 Shelby rims, I purchased a small childrens plastic pool and several cases of Coke-a-cola, left each rim in the soda solution (large box of baking soda added to mix with 1 gallon of simple green) for 7 days (in the shade), then several rounds of commercial pressure washing, and they looked as close to new as they would ever get under my ownership (as clean as the bottom left picture above). The person I sold them to in Virginia may still has the car today, I will see if he can take a picture of them so I can post it here.


Bill

[JD]

Has anyone tried this, or another similar, product. Yes intended to for brake dust but also to clean .  works best with some plastic bristle brushing for the imbedded dirt.

Meguiars G180124 Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner - 24 oz.

Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner delivers the most powerful cleaning performance that is also safe for all wheel finishes. This advanced chemistry blends road grime attacking surfactants with active brake dust dissolving agents. The deep cleaning gel formula turns brake dust purple and road grime brown as it gently loosens stubborn contaminants. Since it's acid free and pH balanced this wheel cleaner is safe and effective for ALL wheel finishes and painted brake components.

Directions:

*Do Not Pre-Rinse the wheels.

Ensure the wheels are dry and cool to the touch
Spray generous amount covering the entire wheel
Let the product dwell for 2-4 minutes. Do not let the product dry on the surface.
Spray off with a powerful stream of water (Agitation with a wheel brush will give you the best cleaning)
Dry wheels to prevent water spotting


Also, Easy-off oven cleaner the older formula was used by some.

[557]

That evaporust stuff is amazing,but it doesn't serve a cleaning function.Really important to clean/degrease the parts really well first.Removes ALL surface rust,but appears to not react with other material.I soaked some vintage skateboard trucks in it for 24 hrs. with the rubber parts and it didn't react with the rubber parts at all but made the chromedsteel  parts,hardware,etc.shine like new.

[anghelrestorations]

Yes, the Evaporust works really well on clean parts.  Have to clean and degrease parts first.  In the pictures I posted you can see that the wheels had been sitting for a long time.  Lots of dust and there was some rust on there.  Took about 90% of that off....great at removing any mild surface rust.  Anything deeper is usually a problem with chrome no matter what.