My pugs have probably 4 layers of paint on them and I want to start over but I want todo it right and I'm not sure about using a sand blaster. Bead blaster or paint thinner or a wire wheel or what to strip the precious paints off. I was reading earlier avoid Sand blasters damaging the structural integrity of the rim and I've tried weak paint thinner before and had no luck. Another problem is the rims are so soft if I use anything hard to scrape the paint off it just dents the rims. Has anyone had any luck getting paint off of those things without too much time and damage done to them? Thanks

paint stripper. they have it in rattle can and it works well on most paint. If you can wire wheel the surface first to ensure good penetration of the stripper.

 

No pun intended

Bead/media blaster.   So, a sandblaster that uses glass beads/walnut shells/etc.  Most any powdercoating shop can do this.

lick it off......

I have always used aircraft paint stripper. It is safe on aluminum where as alot of them you can't be too sure.

they make media for stripping alluminum that you can use in the blaster, just check into it.

I have a set of 1980s Subaru option alloys (UK spec, UK wheels) and it took many coats of paint stripper, many hours of wire brushing followed by lots of time in the blast cabinet to get a nice finish - I think there's no substitute for hard work unless you have a tank you can soak them in. I've seen vids on YouTube where people soak them in a tank of molasses - not sure if that is actual molasses or a slang name for paint stripper!

 

 

 

 

 

I think I applied the stripper over 4 times and wire-brushed at each stage. Here in the UK the old-fashioned strong and effective paint stripper is now considered too dangerous to be sold to the public so we have to make do with weak stuff. - anyway it took a long time. It was a cheap way of doing it though.

if you use a wire brush use a stainless one.  steel can embed itself in the aluminum.  not a huge deal overall, but if you can theres no reason to contaminate the aluminum with rustable stuff.

thanks for the tip djellum - but it's not been a problem for me in 4 decades of using steel wire brushes on alloy castings! I'm not saying it can't happen but I've never seen it. I suppose if one used a very stiff wire brush on very soft alloy it could happen but one would not choose to do that because of the scratching. But I'm always happy to change my mind so please do post some pics of the problem.

its not specifically relevant to wheel cleaning, but the problem is that the aluminum oxide on the surface is harder than the steel, so it wears away at the brush, but the aluminum underneath is softer than the steel, so its worn away from the steel.  so while your wirebrushing both items are getting worn away and mixed together (though far less steel is used up and mixed in). the stainless is harder so the aluminum oxide wont erode the brush.  were not talking 50/50, or even 90/10, but the oxides will cause some of the steel brush to wear into the softer aluminum.

 

I dont know if its relevant to wheel cleaning, but if you have to weld aluminum then you can have contamination problems if you don't use a stainless brush.  

yes, for cleaning prior to welding aluminium I agree - but for just cleaning alluminium, not really relevant; steel is fine - If i was going to weld the wheel there would be a very, very slight risk of minor porosity in the weld but the fact I've bead blasted the surface would be much more worrying than the steel! But point taken.