Re: Cleaning a wire wheel
Posted by Joe Santana On 2013/4/30 13:31:41
I don't have wires on the Duchess, but I'm working on my youngest son's Jaguar that has had some pretty rough years.
The wheels were very bad. I soaked the wire wheel in spray wheel cleaner and used a tough nylon scrub brush to wash the wire wheel with hot soapy water. I sprayed some WD40 on it and kept brushing. I scrubbed the wheel with hot soapy water until it was fairly clean but stained in places. Repeated the process for the other side. Towel-dried it and brought it in to a work table.
I worked in Never Dull, the can of cotton soaked in metal cleaner, and then soaked the cotton in Meguier's chrome cleaner and worked it between the spokes with a wood skewer. I have different sizes of wood skewers. They come in handy for detailing, too.
I ripped some rag into 1-1/2-inch strips and fed them between the spokes, threading them with the skewer. I have some brushes similar to toothbrushes, but with stronger handles. I used a 4" polishing wheel on my drill to get the hard stains off on large areas of the back side and the front row of spokes. I used a Dremel tool to clean the base of each spoke that had surface rust in the back row.
The skewers work on rubbing out surface rust stains and road tar. Chrome is harder than wood. Wood is harder than rust. I can scrape with the skewer without scratching the chrome. And I use the skewer to put real pressure on the rag in the 'between' places. Still it's no picnic.
OK, guys, I know you're thinking What skill does that take? None, just four (4) hours of perseverance Per Wheel for a wheel in bad shape. In places on the last wheel I used some dabs of chrome/silver paint. The hub will have to be re-chromed. The spokes themselves (a few are broken) are $4 each, so not a killer. Also I used surgical gloves because of the metal cleaner chemicals.
Attach file:
(36.63 KB)
(184.67 KB)
(44.27 KB)
(37.04 KB)
(93.87 KB)
The wheels were very bad. I soaked the wire wheel in spray wheel cleaner and used a tough nylon scrub brush to wash the wire wheel with hot soapy water. I sprayed some WD40 on it and kept brushing. I scrubbed the wheel with hot soapy water until it was fairly clean but stained in places. Repeated the process for the other side. Towel-dried it and brought it in to a work table.
I worked in Never Dull, the can of cotton soaked in metal cleaner, and then soaked the cotton in Meguier's chrome cleaner and worked it between the spokes with a wood skewer. I have different sizes of wood skewers. They come in handy for detailing, too.
I ripped some rag into 1-1/2-inch strips and fed them between the spokes, threading them with the skewer. I have some brushes similar to toothbrushes, but with stronger handles. I used a 4" polishing wheel on my drill to get the hard stains off on large areas of the back side and the front row of spokes. I used a Dremel tool to clean the base of each spoke that had surface rust in the back row.
The skewers work on rubbing out surface rust stains and road tar. Chrome is harder than wood. Wood is harder than rust. I can scrape with the skewer without scratching the chrome. And I use the skewer to put real pressure on the rag in the 'between' places. Still it's no picnic.
OK, guys, I know you're thinking What skill does that take? None, just four (4) hours of perseverance Per Wheel for a wheel in bad shape. In places on the last wheel I used some dabs of chrome/silver paint. The hub will have to be re-chromed. The spokes themselves (a few are broken) are $4 each, so not a killer. Also I used surgical gloves because of the metal cleaner chemicals.
Attach file:
(36.63 KB)
(184.67 KB)
(44.27 KB)
(37.04 KB)
(93.87 KB)
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=122080