Stripping paint from aluminum wheels

I have some GTA basketweave wheels that I'm refinishing (see polishing thread). I read on here about all kinds of paint strippers, what works, what doesn't.

I tried the yellow heavy duty easy-off oven cleaner. Not only did it do nothing to the paint, it did discolor the aluminum where it oversprayed. Not a big deal - I'm sanding and polishing them anyway, but it took a considerable amount of sanding to get the discoloration off.

I have used aircraft stripper before on cast aluminum, but not sure if it would discolor or etch the polished parts. I was also very disappointed with its performance. It took 3 or 4 applications and it still didn't get it all.

I want it down to bare nothing. I don't want discoloration of the aluminum but a small amount won't kill me since I'm sanding/polishing them anyway.

Suggestions?

I'll be curious for this answer as well. Have some wheels I can't get everything out of after many applications of aircraft paint stripper and a wire brush...

Have access to someone with a media blaster?

The last set I stripped took 3 coats of aircraft stripper and some sandblasting. It was miserable.

I just stripped the clear from the shells of 4 BMW/BBS Style 5 wheels to get down to bare aluminum. I used aircraft stripper, liberally applied and kept recoating until it was thoroughly bubbled. Once I'd scraped all the crud off with a stiff, sharp polypropylene scraper, the bare aluminum wasn't shiny, but it wasn't bad looking either. I'd planned on cleaning up lip damage and some discoloration under where the clear had lifted, so I filed/wet sanded/3M rubber abrasive wheel/buffed and they look excellent now.

Any chemical stripper will dull the aluminum to some degree, but if you assume you'll need to polish it, it's not bad.

Aircraft remover. Gel. In a jug like paint thinner comes in. Far superior to the aerosol type. Other than that, I had a guy blast some stuff locally. "The same plastic as light switch covers is awesome. This guy was very reasonable, but that doesn't help you. I haven't read your polishing thread-on my way- but rouge wheels on a drill polished aluminum motorcycle parts very nicely for me(apologies if a repost)

Do you know if it's paint or powdercoat? A lot of rims come powdercoated and trying to paint strip them is a miserable pain in the ass process.

I did a set about 12 months back, and still kicking myself for not paying someone else to just blast the things, with time spent and consumables would have worked out better to have them sand blasted.

Blast cabinet...

I've used aircraft stripper with success. A couple things:
1) slop it on, and minimize the amount of time you spend spreading it around with a paintbrush. The more you brush it, the less it will work.
2) once it's applied, give it time to do its work. It's tempting to start scraping it off too soon but be patient.
3) it won't hurt the aluminum. As you've found out, oven cleaner will.

Use walnut shells in the media blast cabinet. this will leave a shiny surface instead of the dull rough surface sand leaves.

When i was powder coating wheels for people i found that 80's era Porsche and bbs wheel clear coat was the toughest stuff out there. It would laugh at walnut shell and glass bead would just discolor it. Black beauty worked if you felt like spending two hours per wheel.

The procedure I came up with was to burn the clear off with an oxy acetylene torch (propane wouldn't cut it, it just heated the aluminum ) and then into the cabinet with glass bead.

I ended up buying a 1/4 drum of straight methylene chloride and soaking the wheels in it for an hour. Everything just fell off after that.

Jumper K. Balls wrote: When i was powder coating wheels for people i found that 80's era Porsche and bbs wheel clear coat was the toughest stuff out there. It would laugh at walnut shell and glass bead would just discolor it. Black beauty worked if you felt like spending two hours per wheel.

Porsche Fuchs wheels are partially anodized.

daeman wrote: Do you know if it's paint or powdercoat? A lot of rims come powdercoated and trying to paint strip them is a miserable pain in the ass process. I did a set about 12 months back, and still kicking myself for not paying someone else to just blast the things, with time spent and consumables would have worked out better to have them sand blasted.

Not sure if its paint or powdercoat. I would love to blast them, but I'm not sure I can do it without really messing up the lips. They're also basketweaves, so getting the media down in the holes might be tough.

I just need to get them to a point where they will hold paint. Not knowing what is on there (and what is baked into it) I'm a little hesitant to just scrub them and spray new paint.

Just for reference, here are the wheels in case you aren't following the polishing thread:

I don't usually say this but...pay someone

Woody wrote:

Jumper K. Balls wrote: When i was powder coating wheels for people i found that 80's era Porsche and bbs wheel clear coat was the toughest stuff out there. It would laugh at walnut shell and glass bead would just discolor it. Black beauty worked if you felt like spending two hours per wheel.

Porsche Fuchs wheels are partially anodized.

It was the stuff on D90's and 7 slots that I always ended up fighting with

In reply to curtis73:

Prior to re-re-re-painting them, I had mine media blasted. It was only $15/each which is totally worth it after all the times I've hand-sanded these spokey nightmares.

Here's how they looked after the black paint was removed:

In reply to Armitage:

How did they do it without hitting the lip. That's my problem. The lips on these just needed a sand and polish. If I have them blasted, they'll need a buttload of work to get them back to their former glory.

If I have them blasted (which I would LOVE to do) it has to be done without destroying the lips.

BTW... just called the local blasting place. They want $50 per wheel, no guarantees they won't destroy the polished lips, and more if they use extra media. There are two more in a 50 mile radius but they won't do them because of the polished lips

If I do aircraft stripper, what kind of chemical surface does it leave? I don't mean shiny or dull, I mean... is it a good surface for paint? What I'm thinking is; whatever the aircraft stripper doesn't take off, its likely stuck on well enough to paint over it, right? I need a good surface prep for paint.

My main concern is getting new paint on these centers. If I can do that with stripper, I'll skip the blasters for now.

If they are going in to a dry blast cabinet put a couple of layers of masking tape on the lips and blast away. I'd do at least two layers, and use different colors so if they blast through the blue the green underneath would be obvious before they get to the metal.

Actually, the top layer could be gorilla tape even, or aluminum tape, and stuck to a layer of masking tape it should still come off clean.

You could also plasti dip the lips. Couple of layers of different colors would be plenty for incidental blasting protection and probably not take very long to set up or remove.

I tried to strip the paint on mesh wheels like that one time. Never again. Getting inside the weaves well enough with scraping tools to remove ALL of the old paint was almost impossible, and was way more than my patience allowed, especially for $100 wheels.

I just ended up getting them sandblasted. I didn't care about the lip polish though, so I have no advice on how to protect it, just advice to expect a bit of a hassle if you go the aircraft stripper route.

edit: don't bother with the spray can stripper, you have to get the metal jug. Be sure to get plenty of safety equipment, gloves, respirators, etc, because that stuff is nasty.

I got some aircraft stripper. I'll try one wheel. I also have a cheapy media blaster that I might try, but I'm afraid of how much media ($$$) I'll have to use. I could use baking soda, but I have a feeling it won't be aggressive enough. Sand is cheap but might blast through whatever masking I used.

I guess I'll try one with stripper and one with some blast media and see what I get.

Find somebody with one of these, give them money and come back later. They will be nicely polished as a side benefit.

iadr wrote: Oven cleaner is base (like acid/basic base) and thus not what you need, as you found out. Aircraft stripper is organic chemical base (like a super strong turpentine). By definition, doesn't harm the alloy. Personally I am uncomfortable with the burning it off idea. I think to likely to push the wheels toward fatigue in the long run. I've thrown some numbers around, and it doesn't take much to weaken them. Did you know there are several aluminum alloys they would otherwise work great for making rocker arms, but you mustn't use because they lose strength at only hot oil temps. I'd think 325F plus to burn off paint. I had a friend with an IMSA GT3 car they had a bunch of used wheels break on him. Since some were brand name, he send one back, to I think Bogart? They said it had been overheated. I know he was fighting brake fade with more and more extreme pads, so it could be the wheels overheated? Don't hear too much about it, I admit... IDK If they are powder coat, or even if they are not, Eastwood now sells powdercoat remover. My experience with Eastwood product is significantly more miss than hit, but I'd try it.

and keep in mind that it has been brought up on here, that the temps for curing powder coating can reach levels that SOME aluminum (maybe alloy also) wheels won't like if put to high stress levels later (track/racing kind of stress)