One of my chrome wheels has spots of rust on it. I'd appreciate suggestions for 1- cleaning off the existing rust 2-stopping the rusting process 3- something to apply to the rusty spots that looks as much like the original chrome as possible. Thanks
Think of it as chrome on your rusty wheel. The best your going to be able to accomplish is cleaning the rust off the top of the chrome and sealing the rust from water, wax,wax,wax,,, then rechrome or replace the wheel.
I've decent luck removing the surface rust off with a br*** wire 'toothbrush'. A method that does a better job IMO is using a sewn cotton buff with red rouge compound on the rusty area, but you have to be careful as you can buff the chrome right off. If you start seeing any color change, stop. I like this method because it usually does a better job of getting the rust out of the pits and won't leave any scratches, something the other methods generally do. As far as disguising/stopping the rust, one or two light coats of silver paint over the pits, then hitting it with chrome polish to remove the excess paint is about as good as you can get. Nothing short of a re-plate will make them disappear, but this will minimize pitting. Then wax the snot out of it, regularly. One thing I found out is the reason these wheels rust is they're not triple plated. The copper base coat used in triple plating isn't used here, and that's the 'sealer' that helps prevent rust. It's not used because of weld contamination when the rims/centers are welded together. The 'better' wheels will have a nickel/chrome plate, the cheaper ones are chrome only and the plating can be porous.
Don’t hit it with steel wool or Brillo type pads until you’ve tried every other less abrasive method. Those will take the protective layer of chrome off, will look nice for a while then rust even faster later. A paste made with oxalic acid (wood bleach or barkeepers friend has it too) and a wet rag followed by a good rinse and wax can do wonders. Rust spots on chrome wheels are often “blooms” through small pits that look worse then they are and will clean up nicely.
Here is a pic of my bumper end that I did simply soaking in citric acid /water solution overnight. Before and after...I simply hosed it off, no scrubbing for the picture.....
I need to try both processes on my 41 Cadillac . it has lots of rusty chrome. and surface. (and rust period.)
I've seen a lot of chrome rims ruined by dog piss. Yes, rims aren't chromed like they used to. I had 4 chrome rims bought new in Australia (Vintique I think they were) that I used on a '39 Chev pickup during construction. I'd sprayed them with WD40 to protect them but after 2 years they were ******ed. Rust spots all over and chrome was dull as dog ****. No, I didn't live close to the coast.
If the stop is in the safety groove to help hold on the tire…. It’s just life. That groove needs to be wiped weekly and kept in a garage.
I use S.O.S. pads. They have polish built in and will really clean up a rusty wheel or pretty much anything chrome (do not use it on aluminum). I learned a trick from the low rider bicycle guys that works too. They use aluminum foil to clean the rust off of a chromed frame or other parts.
The Jalopy Journal
