Magnesium wheel care

[abstamaria]

Manowar, the wheels were painted when I got the car, and I never had to repaint them. I did paint the Elan wheels.

If I had to paint now, I would follow the process I described in my first post and then paint, using a good chromate primer. But the best route would be to send the wheels to a specialist who knows magnesium. There has been some discussion on powder coating on car chat sites, with one camp not recommending that, so I would go with just paint.

Yes, I have seen these those white centers on Cobras. Yours look better, IMO.


Andy

 

[Manowar]

A brief update: I ordered the Nuvite products suggested by CarlB and did a very quick trial today.

I used the 'C' compound first and the 'S' after on the already polished face of the rim on a small area. (It's cold in the garage now!) I did the same on the back side which is light gray as seen in the above photos. I applied with the Nuvite spiral wound pads, which are softer but very similar to 3M gray scuffpads.

On the back, with a fair amount of effort, a shine appeared and left just a bit of the deeper gray porosity. On the face, the results are incredible-The finish looks plated-not polished. I improved even that with a final rub of 'S' applied with a soft toilet paper pad and removed with same. Nothing I have ever used in 2 decades has produced a shine like that. Literally looks like chrome.

Now the last test will take time. Carl says his results show it lasts at least twice as long as other polishes before the haze reappears. Humidity is about 50% here now so I will watch the polished area carefully for a few weeks. With Mothers, that's all I got before the cloudy changeover.

Thanks to Carl and the others who offered product suggestions.

 

[Carl B]

HI Manowar:
Glad to hear you are pleased with the Nuvite...I need to get out to the garage and polish my rims as well - but it's just been too cold.. got down to 68 degrees night before last.. LOL

FWIW,
Carl B.

 

[abstamaria]

They don't sell Nuvite here, but I will try to get some. Thank you for the tip.

Andy

 

[Manowar]

HI Manowar:
... but it's just been too cold.. got down to 68 degrees night before last.. LOL
FWIW,
Carl B.

You can be hated for that statement--24 here right now and 5" snow expected tomorrow...
BTW-you have mail.