cleaning realy nasty aluminum wheels?

Hrmmm... guess i shouldn't have used Purple Power on my wheels and/or head, huh?

93EXCivic wrote:

Javelin wrote: Oven Cleaner works ONLY if you are trying to get down to the bare aluminum for polishing. As mentioned, it will eat and and all paint, anodizing, clearcoating, etc. That said, it works great. (Look at my Profile for the Sold RX-7 and there's some posts on restoring the old wheels). If you want to leave any of that, it's going to be mild soaps and elbow grease. The "purple" degreasers will not only eat the same stuff as oven cleaner, but they will permanently etch the aluminum as well (ask me how I know ). Good luck!

On all the oven cleaners, it says do not use on aluminum or painted surface. Is this just cause it will eat thru any coating on the aluminum?

Probably. The "purple" cleaners though will actually attack and pit the aluminum itself. If you cleaned it off right away it probably won't hurt it, but leave it on the aluminum for any length of time (or let it dry) is asking for trouble. I've seen it ruin the flange surface on an intake manifold before as well, powerful stuff.

In reply to Javelin:

I took and sprayed just a little oven cleaner on a small sport to see what would happen.

Here's before and after shots of mine. I removed 24 year old Cosmoline and brake filth with green Scotchbrite soaked in mineral spirits. I used a fairly light touch and followed up with dish soap and hot water.

so try navel jelly it works fast it will clean all the grime brake dust and rust with little to no effort.

Zombie thread.