Polishing / Chroming Magnesium Wheels (Original Ansen's)
11-21-2013, 11:45 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Polishing / Chroming Magnesium Wheels (Original Ansen's)
I'm curious if it's possible to polish (to a mirror finish) or more preferably chrome dip / plate magnesium wheels.... the set I have on my car now are original Ansen's from the period, but are slightly stained in a couple of areas. Ideally I'd like to keep the look / style / original part but just bring them to the 21st century.
Another thought I had was to find 1-piece repo's that are machined aluminum and go from there. Does anyone know who makes 'modernized' Ansen 1-pc. wheels that look like the set I've got now ? I'm running 12 inches wide in the rear and 10 inches wide in the front....
DS
Another thought I had was to find 1-piece repo's that are machined aluminum and go from there. Does anyone know who makes 'modernized' Ansen 1-pc. wheels that look like the set I've got now ? I'm running 12 inches wide in the rear and 10 inches wide in the front....
DS
11-21-2013, 11:56 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
Try Ken Kayser http://wwwkayserspecialty.com If he can do Halibrands he can refinish Ansens & make 'em look good! (Tell him I sentcha & he won't laugh too hard...)
11-22-2013, 04:53 PM
#4
Le Mans Master
Vintage magnesium wheels need to be carefully penetrant inspected and are better for show only. You should be able to find vintage aluminum wheels pretty easily in 10" check out US Mag wheels, new aluminum being made
Last edited by Scott Marzahl; 11-22-2013 at 04:58 PM.
11-22-2013, 10:37 PM
#5
It is a characteristic of magnesium that it does not "stay" polished. Aluminum is easier to keep looking nice, much less effort. Though heavier, it can survive curb hits, etc. much better, too.
11-23-2013, 01:26 PM
#6
Le Mans Master
Ansen
I have Ansen Sprint II's on my 68. They can be polished to a near mirror finish. Keeping them that way is another story. I had mine professionally polished and now it is less time consuming to keep up with them. I was looking at Zoop as a coating, but have no personal experience with it. Jerry
11-24-2013, 12:43 PM
#8
Melting Slicks
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A friend of mine has a set (4) of American Racing Le Mans magnesium wheels on his 61 Corvette. He has had them since 1964.
He has to polish them every week or they get very badly oxidized.
If he gets caught in the rain it takes at least 30, minutes of polishing to get each of them looking good.
He has tried every polish available and they are all about the same.
As far as coating them, he has been told by all the experts not to waste his time. They will oxidize no matter what you coat them with.
So since they are very rare wheels he just polishes them every week, and they look great.
He has to polish them every week or they get very badly oxidized.
If he gets caught in the rain it takes at least 30, minutes of polishing to get each of them looking good.
He has tried every polish available and they are all about the same.
As far as coating them, he has been told by all the experts not to waste his time. They will oxidize no matter what you coat them with.
So since they are very rare wheels he just polishes them every week, and they look great.
11-24-2013, 08:33 PM
#9
Safety Car
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Location: Sarver Pa
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I got magnesium wheels on my formula car, and yes you can make em shine but they don't stay that way long. They are even difficult to paint, there are special coatings we use though. I don't think you can chrome em.
Last edited by Pop Chevy; 11-24-2013 at 08:37 PM.
11-24-2013, 11:33 PM
#10
Burning Brakes
When I quit racing back in the mid 70's and put my 66 coupe back on the street I decided to polish the outer lip of my Minilites and paint the spokes. When I raced I simply painted the entire wheel. I blasted the wheels with walnut shells then using 400-800 and 1200 grit sand paper I cleaned up the outer lips then polished them with Simichrome. Had them looking like a mirror. I then repainted the spokes and clear coated the wheels They looked great for about two weeks !!!!! After repolishing the lips numerous times for about 6 months I said the hell with this and repainted the entire wheels lip and all. I still have them on my car but learned years ago to leave the polish alone regarding magnesium wheels. --------- Ken
The car /wheels back in 1976
The car /wheels in 2009
The car /wheels back in 1976
The car /wheels in 2009
Last edited by keystonefarm; 11-26-2013 at 11:31 PM.
11-25-2013, 02:45 PM
#11
Shouldn't chrome or paint them. Guaranteed it'll trap moisture and allow pitting/corrosion to begin underneath the coating. Let them age naturally and turn that beautiful hue of matte charcoal. Very distinctive look that can't be faked on aluminum wheels, nothing else looks qiute like them. Vintage mag wheels can be put into street service safely if they're annealed slooowly and checked for cracks/spider webbing.
11-25-2013, 03:39 PM
#12
Race Director
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I have a set of four Grand Sport magnesium Halibrands I'd like to mount on one of our replicas.
Jim
Last edited by jim lockwood; 11-25-2013 at 03:41 PM.
11-25-2013, 06:20 PM
#13
Melting Slicks
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Shouldn't chrome or paint them. Guaranteed it'll trap moisture and allow pitting/corrosion to begin underneath the coating. Let them age naturally and turn that beautiful hue of matte charcoal. Very distinctive look that can't be faked on aluminum wheels, nothing else looks qiute like them. Vintage mag wheels can be put into street service safely if they're annealed slooowly and checked for cracks/spider webbing.
Any coating including urethane clear will trap moisture and ruin the appearance wheels.
11-26-2013, 06:19 PM
#14
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...=558975&page=2
Annealing: While the wifes at your inlaws for the weekend, in your kitchen oven, starting at 375* for an hour, then dropping temp slowly over several hours until cool - relieves any stress risers and realigns molecular grain;
http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/forums...094#1660097094