I just bought my first set of vintage halibrands and I need to ask the best way to take care of these types of wheels? I guess corrosion is an issue! Any help would be awesome.... Thanks.
ShakeyPuddin55 is the magnesium king maybe he will chime in here.....good question that I need answered also.
are they polished?if so i herd of guys clearing them.the problem is they will always turn and you have to keep polishing them.it is a pain in the *** so i only polish the lips on mine.
I guess it depends on the look you want. I'm a fan of the natural aged dark look. If that's the case, I would just keep them coated with some Gibbs oil. On some wheels I just oc***ionally touch up the edges with some scotch brite. I do have a couple pairs that are polished but not currently on the vehicle. Here in Arizona, they dont seem to oxidize as fast due to very low humidity. Every few months, I just polish by hand with whatever I polish I have laying around. I have not experimented with any clear or coating. On some of my wheels that I run without tubes I have painted the insides with a good epoxy primer. It helps minimize corrosion due to the moisture in your air tank. What wheels do you have? Any pics?
Had mine powdercoated a nice industrial grey. Looks very natural. Of course, I managed to chip the coating, first time I put lug nuts on - doh!
Yep- Gibbs brand will do a fine job and they will look like they are supposed to. The stuff is really amazing as a cleaner and protectant. check it out here: http://www.roadsters.com look for Gibbs Brand under "other stuff" I think.
I swear a few people on here said that painting or coating Mag makes it corrode faster? Is that true? I have a set of twelve spoke spindle mounts that have been painted with thin spray paint by the previous owner. I'm planning on taking off the paint and using Gibbs to bring them to natural look. Hope they aren't corroding as we speak...they are in my house so I hope the dry enviroment helps them out. I know that currently BMX component manufactureres are using alot of Mag and they powdercoat alot of those parts....they don't seem to suffer any corrosion or damage.
I'll get some pics up soon ...I just picked em up over the weekend. Skinny kidney bean Halibrand front runners and 10 inch large window for the rears...all 15 inch and drilled once for ford 5 1/2 bolt circle....soooooooo stoked!
Magesium castings are used a lot in the aviation industry. A special chromic acid solution is used to "pickle" the parts to a dark gray color (near black) . Most of them are painted with specialy formulated epoxy primers and epoxy paint to withstand the paint stripping ester based oils that are used near them in wheel wells and engine naceles. The Chromic acid treatment will slow corrosion down but it won't stop it. Gibbs would be a dandy short term treatment. Salty sea air near the coastal regions will corrode magnesium rapidly.
If the wheels are polished and you need to store them, wipe them down with a coat of synthetic grease. ai have done this on mag wheels put away for years in Ohio. When you need them, wipe grease off and a quick easy hand polish and they look like they did when you put them away.
eveyone is talking about corrosion protection, but keep in mind, magnessium, if it gets too hot (too much brake use or whatever) can be very dangerous and destroy a car if it catches fire. i don't believe it will be a problem for most automotive uses, but in aviation brake temp is a very big deal so you don't catch the wheels on fire. you can't spray it down with water (it will explode) and most fire extingushers don't work either. whats mostly used is an aquious fire fighting foam.
I have had mine for over 45 years. The outside (flat part) is polished. They have been a ****ing giant pain in the *** for 45 years. But, I love em
Be careful with them. I just had to fix one of mine, as the stud holes became elongated. Had to weld them and redrill them, and then face the front and back in the mill at .020 each side to clean up the welds. This stuff is like ****er, and you better keep the lug nuts torqued and checked. As a racing wheel this was done often, but as a street wheel, you may let it go a whole month and it will loosen up. They are also a very pourous casting. Lots of bubbles inside the wheels, and some bubbles may be quite large. We lost almost a whole quarter of a welding rod to some unknown cavity. So hitting pot-holes with Halibrand mag wheels is always kind of dangerous, and not something you see at a race track. My opinion, I think Halibrand mag wheels are for looks (and they look great), and racing (they are really light), but are a poor wheel for daily duty. Just let them corrode. Hit them with sandpaper every couple of years. I had mine polished after 30 years and that cleaned off all the uneven oxidation, but the polished look died off within a month. Polishing is always a hold your breathe thing on Halibrands, because you might open up a casting bubble, and then you have to get the Tig out again... If you are going to keep these wheels for life, and most Halibrand owners do, then go get some magnesium welding rod. This stuff is getting very hard to find, and the prices are completely bonkers. Worse than gold prices, but your welding supply may have some and give you a deal if you also fill up your tanks, or buy a new mask. Also look out for, and buy broken mag wheels. This is an excellent source for welding supplies. You can cut pieces out and weld them in as plugs, etc.
We have used vintage mags extensively on many of our projects and Ive heard and tried all of the remedies to combat back magnesium oxide and my suggestion is give up. Larry Fator out southern California way, recipient of the 2008 worlds most beautiful hot rod award for his Chevy sedan delivery g***er has come up with paint that he applies to his mags that matches the magnesium oxide and a shiny polished silver schene that makes his mags maintain a timeless 2 tone beauty but hes using paint to do it and his talents as a painter are at a level most of us will never master. Weve used Halibrands, Americans, ET and Moto-Wheel mags and they all will return to oxide even with a rigorous polishing maintenance schedule. If you have them polished or partly polished as the picture Ive included of my MOTO Wheel mags on my Front engine they will quickly oxide back to more of a light grey or dull silver that lasts quite a while before the dark oxide takes over so you can still get a two tone effect. My wheels in the picture took 6 weeks to go back to light grey oxide. Its gotten to where we just use a very mild abrasive pad and touch up the outer edge and follow up with a scotch brite and that looks good but its still not the high gloss you can see in the picture of my mag(s). Of Course when you send them out to a professional polisher many of them wont touch magnesium and those that do spend some time talking to them as an amateur can really screw up a set of good mags. Even with the pro that knows what hes doing, each time you go for the high gloss buff there is a degree of magnesium that is being buffed off of the wheel. Enough times of this you not only will eventually run out of wheel but money too as this is not cheap. My polisher is an old pro and a good ally to me and the ***y reflective high buff on just the outer edge of the mags in my picture cost me $70 and in 6 weeks it was back to a light dull grey color and no more shine. I knew this would be the case going into it so Im not whining. We only high gloss buff mags for special occasions anymore and we also have come to love the serious business look of the magnesium oxide color. Additionally once a mag has gotten to the dark oxide color the magnesium degeneration effect quits and the oxide actually seals the mag and preserves it. One more reason to love the grey green oxide. If youre looking for shine it will be cheaper and easier all the way around to go with a set of aluminum rims otherwise you need to think that dull is cool. Good luck. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
The Jalopy Journal
