I just picked up a pair of 15X12 Halibrand rear wheels. Said to come off Dyno Dons 65 Comet. They are really nasty. Just wonder how to clean them without doing any harm to the material. Im wanting to use them on my 66 Cammer powered Pro Street Mustang fastback car. Thanks for any info. Jack in Ga.
Try Gibbs penetrant and fine Scotchbrite and go easy. It will leave a dark patina and protect the surface from future corrosion.
You might have to go to a fine sand paper, mine got "goose bumps" and I went to 400 paper and worked up. There is a thread on this board about coating them, polishing is never ending and gets old quick. I used to polish before a show and before noon they were oxidized.....
Please a pic of the cammer would be Great. I just got these for my cammer build they need cleaning aswell.
Not to rain on your parade but I was just looking at some pics of Dyno Don's Comet and didn't find any pics of it with Halibrands on it. Doesn't mean that it never had some I just couldn't or didn't find pics of it with halibrands on it. Also pro street cars are from an era after magnesium wheels. now on to your dilema, can't tell from the pics, are whe wheels raw or have they been polished at one time, if previously polished then the proper cleaning mtehod is going to include polishing wheels and jewlers rouge. Buff the hell out of them and plan on doing it at least once a year. If the wheels are raw and you don't plan on polishing them then I would just get a good strong detergent ( I like Tide), a nylon cleaning brush and a power washer. If you use Tide get the powder and make a sloppy past out of it, get busy with the brush, scrub all the nooks and crannies and then take the power washer to them. that discoloration is sought after on a mag wheel, it is oxidation and it protrcts the wheel from further oxidation.
This is it in a nutshell. Only thing is they don't last a year, in one week they dont look like they did when you polished them, in two weeks they don't look like they did the first week, etc. etc. I know because I have been doing the same wheels for 50+ years and thats no BS. I was just out at the Syracuse Nationals inside the building as a guest of "Arties Party" and the wheels on my MG where done on Sunday before you can see from the pictures that they don't shine like chrome anymore while I was there I cleaned the RR wheel with "simichrome" (haven't found anything better) and it shined right up like chrome again. In the vendors building a guy selling metal polish was shining everything from beer can bottoms to fire extinguishers and guaranteed his stuff or your money back. Well I'm sending the stuff back. People all around tell me how to do it, foam balls, micro cloths, snake oil etc. I tell them to go right ahead use whatever you want and I'll give you $20. per wheel but you have to finish what you start and only get paid if it looks like one I did with Simichrome and a soft towel. I have never paid out any money and a few people have taken the challenge and none are mad at me.
Thanks to all of you for the replys. As you can see I added more pictures. I have Magnisum 5 spokes for the front. Like a old style american. They are black. The rears as you can see are dull gray. I know they will never match but I don,t care. I just want to get the nasty off the rears but did not want to use some thing that will eat at them like a acid. I really don,t want the polished look. I know a prostreet car was not around useing this type of wheels. But with a blown cammer.I just want the old look. The guy I got these from is 78 years old. He did own Dynos old Comet at one time and his brother own Bonners Falcon at one time. I have the front Halibrands I got from the one brother 30 years ago . But one has a crack and bent. Again thanks to all.
Also looking for a blower intake. That will give me every piece to start back on it. I have the blower and blower pistons. Im also going to use a magnisum Doug Nash 5 Speed. Thanks again. Jack in Ga.
Ever tried Flitz metal polish? Or Metal Glow? Both seem to work like Semichrome when I've tried them.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422367&highlight=clean+magnesium+halibrand A lot of info in this thread^^^^^^^^^^^right up there^^^^^
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