Has anybody ever attempted to do this? I know magnesium is soft so it can't be blasted. Is it possible to take the wheel down to metal chemically? What process needs to be followed to paint it? Can it be anodized? I can't find any solid information.
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Jan. 6, 2009 9:20 p.m. white_fly New Reader
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Jan. 6, 2009 9:49 p.m. jimbbski New Reader
I stripped a set of wheels years ago and i used normal paint remover. The paint was not a powder coat paint. Not sure if yours are? I would either powder coat them or if your going to paint them use an aircraft type primer (Zinc Cromate) Magnesium goes bad from the inside out. You can't see it until the part fails. Ask me how I know.
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Jan. 6, 2009 10:14 p.m. Coupefan New Reader
In reply to jimbbski:
I've got to hear this story. What happened? On another note, I had a set of magnesium Cromodora CD-30's refinished a few years ago. One had a small crack that was welded up and refinished. These wheels were powder coated in a nice warm silver. They were like art work after the refurb. I ended up selling them to a guy up in Canada.
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Jan. 6, 2009 10:30 p.m. m4ff3w Dork
CD-30s are beautiful.
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Jan. 7, 2009 7:38 a.m. AngryCorvair Dork
In reply to white_fly:
i believe there's at least one GRM / CM advertiser who does wheel restoration. that's where i'd start....
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Jan. 7, 2009 8:54 a.m. Jensenman SuperDork
A parts place I worked for had a machine shop and the machine shop guys stuck a set of Porsche magnesium wheels in the hot tank. They disappeared.
The only thing left was the steel lug nut inserts.
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Jan. 7, 2009 9:55 a.m. Gonzo_Bmod New Reader
You can blast magnesium wheels. Just not aggressively. There are special finishes for stabilizing magnesium without painting but you end up with like a dull gray color. Talk to Per at GRM, he just had a set of magnesium wheels refinished for his Legrand.
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Jan. 7, 2009 10:08 a.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director
Yea, I had mine media blasted and then since I wasn't sure how I wanted them finished ultimately, I did a light coat of lacquer just to protect the surface. Easily stripped if I decide to go ahead and polish them.
