Cleaning corrosion from Aluminum wheels?

[84GNTTYPE]

I have the stock aluminum wheels on my 84GN. I have already stripped the factory clear coat of them, now I just need to figure out how to clean up the corrosion. I thought of using a pneumatic grinder/polisher but I'm not sure if that would work well or not. I've heard of people using sand paper, but I can't find the old threads anymore.

Thanks for any help.

 

[urhstry]

A GM guy once showed me how "00" or "double ought" steel wool will clean up those wheels. I tried it, worked nice. Not quite show quality and lots of time but it did the trick. You could also try those blue brillo pads.

 

[Brad Zeidler]

Yes you can use sandpaper to clean the oxidation, if you don't mind smoothing out the surface of the spokes instead of trying to leave the machined finish on the face of the spokes. I did it on a set of Pontiac snowflakes, turned out very nice. Start with 150-200 grit to sand it down until the surface starts to get smooth and finish up with 350-400 to polish it up a little. It's time consuming manual labor( I'm sure yours will take just as long as my snowflakes did, lots of spokes) but they'll look good. Trying to keep the machined finish and getting rid of the oxidation(pits) without actually removing some aluminum is impossible so you might as well polish them up. And after you're done with the sandpaper get some Mothers Aluminum polish and a buffing wheel for a drill and go to town.

 

[Red Regal T]

Not sure what finish your looking for, but have you tried muriatic acid? Pretty good for cleaning corrosion and marks. When I had TType wheels, I painted them with bumper chrome paint.

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