As an alternative to a polished aluminum finish why not try this;
- -Remove all traces of clear coat on the rim, oven cleaner works pretty good, paint remover too.
- -Using a pump bottle and a good toilet brush use a 50/50 mixture of CLR or other phosphoric acid based cleaner, scrub the rim clean, clean, clean. Essentially your etching the rim in this step.
- -Get a good pair of goggles or face mask and rubber gloves for the next step.
- -Mix a solution of Muriatic acid and water 50/50 to start (remember science class? Always mix acid to water not vise-versa). Fill a pump bottle with the solution and spray the rim and scrub with the toilet brush at the same time, slowly the rim will start to turn grey. Keep spraying and scrubbing until the entire rim is a flat greyish hue, pay attention to spots still shiny and concentrate on them.
- -After securing a uniform grey film on the rim rinse it thoroughly with water and use some baking soda as a paste to scrub the rim with the brush.
- -Let dry, baking is preferable (hydrogen embrittlement has occurred so a day in the sun usually works fine for a surface treatment).
Voila your rim is now coated with a conversion coating of aluminum oxide, not unlike one created when anodizing. The difference is you do not need to coat the rim to seal the coating although it doesn't hurt.
I have done this to numerous pitted aluminum rims and it looks good, kinda old school with the flat grey look. If you like you can sand and polish high spots to get a different look. Try it on a aluminum fan spacer to see if you like the colour, it's kinda like a battleship grey. Best part of the whole thing is you don't have to remove the tire to do this!
Chuckies cheap rim trick for the day.
