Removing wheel paint

albertct31

albertct31

New member
I am looking for information or advise on removing the paint layers on my 31 roadster wheels. I first though that they were mostly rust covered but on closer inspection its layers of dirt and old paint. I am looking for the lowest impact to clean up and the removel of the paint and dirt that anyone could has done with secess. Also looking for info on how to tell what the original paint coler was from the factory or were they all just black. Would be interested on any steps or restoration and painting sugestions.
 
I think our local powder coat place includes sand blasting (media blasting) in the price to powder coat them.

You can hand sand a small area on the back of the wheel down through the paint layers to see what is there. You want to form color rings as you sand. The inner-most color will be the oldest. You'd need to be sure that is the original wheel for your car.

Do you have evidence of what the original body color was? From that, you can use the Judging Standards to figure out what the wheels were for that body color.
 
Sometimes you are best off to remove old paint with a propane torch. A friend took his old frame with paint from a 50's era restoration to the powdercoater. They tried to bead blast it and the paint would not come off. They ended up burning it off and charging him extra for the time and labor. Rod
 
Rowdy beat me to it, as I was also going to suggest thick paint doesn't come off easily with sandblasting. I'd burn it off first, then blast.
 
First try electrolytic rust removal.

It is cheap and easy and can take rust, some dirt, and some paint off.

You might want to quickly get any of the loose stuff off. Then let them run in the tank for a while. I did mine in a rubber maid tub that could do a little over half at a time. Took me a week or two to get a lot of stuff off. Then I went an bead blasted the rest off. It probably saved me a bunch of cash cause it cut the amount of time of bead blasting to 1/4 what it was taking me with when I tried a none rust removed wheel. Wheel take a lot of time.

FWIW, I powder coated mine. I picked an oven from the trash and extended the back some with some duct work sheet metal from the trash. Then made a rig to hold the wheel in the oven from scraps. I was pleased with the results. I was using lab metal for the filler for the minor pits. Now I have been using JB weld.
 
I just had this done by a shop that does powder coating. They sandblasted 6 wheels for me for $150.00. I blasted the last set myself and in my opinion this is a bargain. They had many layers of paint and came out very clean!
 
A lot of us use foam spray on oven cleaner like Easy-Off, with very good results.

I tried a WalMart generic brand and it worked just as good as the Easy-Off. I let the wheels sit in the sun for a few hours, then sprayed on the cleaner, let it sit for about 20 minutes and then hosed it off with water. It took off most of the paint, several layers.

I repeated the process one more time and it took all of the paint off.
 
Chief & I stripped about 7 coats of paint on my intact '34 Chev coupe with Lye & water in a 5 gallon steel bucket. Swabbed it with a broom, wait awhile, & hose it off several times. Right down to the shiny metal & it even rejuvinated all the rubber window mouldings, with a little help from 0000 steel wool! Bill W.
 
Buy a large round galvanized tub that your wheels will fit in and fill it with water and 2-3 cans of lye. you can usually strip 3-4 wheels. in the solution. Be careful and use safety appliances as it is caustic
 
Look for a granular (Dry) product in the plumbing section of your local hardware store, such as Red Devil Lye Drain Cleaner. It will contain only Caustic Soda also known as Sodium Hydroxide.

Do not allow Sodium Hydroxide to come into contact with Aluminium, this can cause a violent explosive reaction, at a minimum it will dissolve Aluminium that is suspended in the solution.

Keep container tightly sealed, Lye will absorb moisture from the air and become liquid.

Works well to loosen paint, but it does work slower when solution is cold. Do some research prior to use and familiarize yourself with the handling and safe use of LYE.

Quite safe when used properly, and you may still be able to use the left over solution to open that clogged drain.

Darryl in Fairbanks

P.S. You can make your own Caustic Soda by burning Hardwood and pouring water through the ashes.
 
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Reply #16 is an old time proven method often used years ago, that requires extreme caution -- people that used it were able to safely operate kerosene lamps in their houses every day with no accidents.

Often wonder if the U. S. would experience a total black-out today in 2013, how many families could safely operate kerosene lamps & not burn their houses down.

As he carefully explains, please read instructions & be safe.
 
Thanks everyone.
BTW-should never be used on drains, it destroys the pipes.... only plungers and augers should be used.
 
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