Re-finishing Solid Aluminum Wheels

My cousin has a set of 4 Mickey Thompsons that he's selling to me for $100 flat, for all four. I'm wondering what my options are for making them look pretty again. They are solid aluminum and I'm not too sure how powder coating takes to all aluminum metal. I also know there are ways to take off the finish coat and re-polish/finish them.
Also, if I'm looking to put OME 885s on my 5100s will 255/80/16 KO2s rub?

 

The best way to refinish solid aluminum is to have a shop do them. They will clean/degrease, sand blast them (they actually usually use steel shot at first for this), polish and then clear coat them. This is usually a minimum of $150 a wheel however.

You can DIY yourself by cleaning and degreasing them, sanding with power tools, using a good aluminum wheel polish and then sealing/waxing them.

I would personally clean and degrease them (ensure you get the correct cleaner or you can eat through your rims) and polish them then upload some pictures and you can see what your working with. You'll have to buy those products to upkeep them no matter what you do, so it'd be a good first step

 

Thank you very much for the response.
Do you have any products/brands in mind for me to grab?

 

@savethewheels

http://www.savethewheels.org/do-it-yourself.html

 

Sandblast them. You won't have to break the wheel down. It will leave them a rough/dull finish but easy to take care of and durable. Cheap

 

The article linked provides a quick how to.
This is an all in one kit, but fairly expensive. I do recommend wolfgang's polish for your paint, however. You can also just pick up wheel cleaners at any autozone or similiar. For the sealant, I would go with something from autogeek or similar specialty store.

Degreaser: Cleaner: Cleaner and Sealant in one. I love this stuff, keeps my rims clean for up to a month. Brake dust does not stick to it and I don't really do anything inbetween except power wash them clean.

 

The kit you provided doesn't look like it has any type of sanding involved. Wouldn't I need to take down any residue build up, or the degreaser would take that and any type of oxidation off as well? The price is high but the rims are only $100 so I'm still comfortable spending $150 on the kit.

 

@Julian @Larry Dangerfield @RedEmpire why 265 and not 255 for the tires?

 

It depends on how bad it is, similiar to a scratch on the paint. You would need to clean the wheels and then use the compound on them. You would need something like this to attatch to a drill You can find cheaper and even autozone has similiar products, usually used to restore shine to headlights.

If the compounding does not get rid of the oxidation, or there is pitting, then you would definitely need to sand the wheels. Best application for this is a media blaster, but something most of us do not have access to (I used to be a detailer and we outsourced stuff like this). DIY would be wet sanding, same process you would use for paint.

 

Funny story, my father in law restores old cars and used to drag race ... long story short he HAS a media blaster, I'm pretty sure. We were just talking about media blasting the other day! Should I go that route first?

 

Any reason why you went with wild peaks over KO2s?

 

Wheel Doctor in Blue Ash, Ohio has powder coated aluminum wheels for me before with great results. They strip them, they can straighten out any bends, fix curb rash, coat them, and they are very reasonable. I was local when I used them, but wouldn’t hesitate to send some off to them, either.

 

You gonna do all that work to an old wheel and spend money, why not get you a new set with the money?

Take the old ones to the junk yard.

 

Start with some cleaner and aluminum polish. No need to jump into sand blasting or sanding. Start with least aggressive method and then work your way up.

 

I'm in no rush to put new wheels and tires on my truck and I wanted a small project and a chance to learn how to clean up metal. So I thought this would be a good opportunity.

 

Discount tire is good for shipping?

 

I'm leaning towards leaving them silver because not many guys have MGMs with silver rims