I used some Muriatic acid.. hehe.
Talk about some serious stripping action!
Cleaned them up nicely.. Just REALLY REALLY don't get it in your eyes or on your skin. It will melt you.
Hey....when I was a kid I worked for a plastering contractor. I thought I'd do a real nice job cleaning up the tools. The plasters always kept a bucket of water/acid mix for washing their hands and arms at the end of the day, seemed to work great. Well, I took my boss's tools and hit them with the acid thinking it would remove the old plaster. Sure enough took off the old plaster and half of his tools!
DON'T USE MURIATIC ACID ON ALUMINUM OR MAGNESIUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can use Muriatic acid on aluminum but it has to be diluted and you can't leave it on very long. Make sure you clear coat afterwards because with that original clear coat gone the rims will get bad real quick.