| The alloy wheels on my MKII are developing lots of small dark corrosion spots (only 18months old), can anyone recommend a good cleaner (purpose made or household) (2/00) |
| WonderWheels alloy cleaner, I too have MK2 and will be using it this week as Mk1 owners swear by it ( according to poll on list recently ) Halfords in UK have for around £7.99 on special and £9.99 normally. (2/00) |
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Yesterday I took all 4 wheels off the car (one at a time) to give them a proper cleaning. The inside surfaces of all the wheels were covered in brake dust (no surprise) which washed off easily enough with car wash, but there were also patches of black stuff (tar, rubber - who knows) and patches of brake dust that couldn't be washed off. On the first wheel I tried wonder-wheels on it - very little effect. Some of the remaining brake dust came off but the lumps of tar/rubber wouldn't shift. Tried car wax and all the remaining deposits came off very easily and resulted in very shiny alloys, inside & out. The rest of the wheels I just used the car-wash and the car wax polish. I'd recommend not bothering with the specialised alloy cleaners and just go with a bucket of soapy water & a sponge followed by car wax polish - excellent result, minimal effort. (2/00) |
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Further tothose comments, but the wax is only wise if the wheels are off the vehicle. I tried waxing my dad's wheels once in situ and got a roasting when he drove the car later on and found he had no brakes !! Once the pads shifted the wax from the discs they were fine once again. An oversight on my part possibly - or was I trying to bump the old man off ? Secondly, there are two types of alloy wheel. Polished or anodised. Anodised are more difficult to clean, although they should resist salt etc a bit longer. Polished you can use soap and water no problem but anodised might well need something like Wonder Wheels or Auto Glym's equivalent (I think it's called Clean Wheels) (2/00) |
| I hadn't cleaned my car's wheels properly for nearly a year, apart from washing them with car shampoo. They were really starting to get dirty, until a couple of weeks ago used Wonder Wheels. Couldn't believe how much better they looked (better then when I bought her!), but still left some patches where the brake dust had "eaten it's way" into the alloy. Have to give the wax a go. What sort of wax is it? (2/00) |
| I use a turtle wax wheel cleaner similar to wonder wheels on my mk1 alloys. It came with a brush and I started off following the instructions ( bad idea!) using the brush and it was doing f' all so I junked the brush that came with it and used a brillo pad - the wheels came up as new, got rid of all the black pitting and assorted junk. Highly recommended but I wouldn't do it on a lacquered wheel as the brillo pad is likely to scratch it etc. (2/00) |
| The stuff I used is called "Turtle Wax Instant Shine" or some such similar name. I didn't want to use any more expensive wax (such as the Auto-Glymm that I use on most of the rest of the car) and also has the advantage of coming in a spray bottle. The wheels look as good as new except for the bit's where they were curbed. (2/00) |
| I spoke to one of those mobile wheel refurbishers (who wanted £60 a wheel !!) and for nasty/stubborn deposits he said to try and get hold of a "mild acid wash for alloy wheels". Does anyone know where to get this stuff? Should I get this stuff? (2/00) |
| The turtle wax wheel cleaner is made from a mild acid - hydrochloric I think, It stings if you get it in cuts. (2/00) |
| Halford Wonder Wheels. If you catch it early enough (mine has done 17K) it really can work wonders. Don't forget to take the wheels off to do the inside. I also used smooth Hammerite silver to paint the brakes (not the bits that do the stopping!!) Looks much better through the alloys (2/00) |
| Wonder Wheels is 5% hydrochloric/phosphoric acid. Works wonders. (2/00) |
| Look for an alloy wheel cleaner which has a phosphoric acid base. (2/00) |
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I use the Autoglym one every time I wash the car. (Yes, I think it is called Clean Wheels, from memory.) Leave it to soak in for a minute and then all that is required is a sponge. If you have more stubborn staining try an old toothbrush. Doesn't shift tar spots though - they require the top scratching off (try other end of toothbrush) and then some elbow grease to shift. Polish or T-Cut would probably help here. I always use separate sponges for wheels and bodywork. Hate to think what traces of wheel cleaner would do to paintwork. (2/00) |
| My alloy wheels are 15 inch split rim , with a chrome rim and
a gold centre .They seem to have taken it hard over the winter and
the paint on the centres is flaking off, presumably due to water
and the cold. I am going to attempt to respray the centre of the
alloys myself and have a couple of questions which I'm hoping you
knowledgeable people can answer. . here goes : 1. What is the best paint to use ? should I also use primer ? 2. The alloys are split rim can I just undo all the small bolts and remove the centre to paint it ,with the tyre staying in place on the rim ? or do I have to remove the tyre then undo all the bolts ? 3. The small bolts have a torx head (star shaped) is it possible to buy a socket to match these , if so where do I buy one ? (5/00) |
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Not sure if they are 3 part or 2 part rims .. as a minimum let all the air out of the tyre .. then it probably does not matter if they are 2 or 3 part. Salt has killed them .. with the temperature rising it gets more reactive .. so this is a bad time of year. Torq drivers from any tool place including Halfords. Not sure on repainting .. I do have one car with Hammerite on it .. looks OK from 5' away .. but horrible there after... but cheap. Aluminium alloys require a special primer normally .. and this needs them to be sandblasted to get a proper hold .. so 120 GBP to get them professionally done is well worth it .. but off course down South this turns into 150 GBP .. still cheaper than new poorer quality rims. (5/00) |
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I refurbed my old alloys last year & am thinking of doing the same with the BM this year. 1. What is the best paint to use ? should I also use primer
? 2. The alloys are split rim can I just undo all the small bolts and remove the centre to paint it ,with the tyre staying in place on the rim ? or do I have to remove the tyre then undo all the bolts ? Not sure on this without seeing them, it is better to deflate the tyre, then its easier to mask. Theres no need to take them off completely. 3. The small bolts have a torx head (star shaped) is it possible to buy a socket to match these , if so where do I buy one ? Again Halfords have these type of sockets. (5/00) |
| I have a set of alloys which have suffered over time and have patches of corrosion on them. Can you simply respray them or do you need to treat the corrosion first? I was looking at the refurb route but at about 50 a wheel you may as well buy new wheels!! This is a temporary fix until I save up enough for some new alloys but I don't want the paint to fall off after the first week and the wheels to look even worse than at the start!! (4/01) |
| Try Solent Wheels, they do a fantastic job for about £30 a wheel. http://welcome.to/solent_wheels or tel: 01784 367746, they're near Romsey in Hants. Micheldever Tyres also do a wheel refurb service. Tel: 01962 774437. I've had a few wheels (Capri & Jag mainly) done by Solent Wheels and have found the finish to be at least as good, if not better than the factory. (4/01) |
| I got my alloys bead blasted and repainted for 25+VAT per wheel. They look really nice for it. (4/01) |
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I refurbished some Eunos alloys (same as the OEM alloys on UK MX-5's except for the Mazda logo covers) that I had bought from 'Elle' on the list. Like you I had thought about buying a new set of 15" alloys. However, I could not afford this route but my original alloys looked too far gone to reclaim. Tools used to refurbish wheels: Rotary wire brush on an electric drill, File and 'wet and dry' paper. First, I removed the scuffs on the rim edges from 'kerbing' with a file and then wire brushed the small corroded areas flat and cleaned up with wet and dry 400 grade. I then roughly wire brushed the back section of each wheel and the inner rim which is normally hidden by the tyre. I sprayed the whole backside of the rim with Hammerite Silver Hammer finish and the front and inner rim with two thin coats of Hammerite Smooth Silver. As my car is a UK MX-5 I just swapped the centre 'Mazda' logo cover onto the Eunos wheels after respraying them with Hammerite Smooth Silver. I then visited Prodrive in Bristol (about 1/2 mile from J3 of the M32) and had 4 Pirelli P6000 185/60 R14 's fitted for 165 Hey presto! My car now has refurbished wheels which have lasted well and withstand regular pressure washing to remove the Wiltshire mud. I now know that this job is relatively easy and will recondition my original alloys as well as spares. (4/01) |