Cleaning Neglected Stock Steel Rims

[Spilchy]

Hi guys. I`m selling my grandmother`s base model, zero options, 1996 white honda civic dx. The car is a total cream puff - mint interior, 25,000 miles and near perfect exterior (little dent and chipped paint on bumper).



I`m going to give it a full detail to jazz it up before selling. All it needs is some new tires - I found generic all seasons for $24 a piece! It`ll add more to the value than the cost of buying them.



However, the stock, cheap steel rims have some real ground-in dirt and have some surface rust.



I want to clean them up, remove the rust and give them a good waxing. The center caps and lug nuts are chromed and rust free - they`ll polish up beautifully.



What do you recommend for them? I know we`ve discussed wheel care, but these babies need some TLC to revive them! Thanks! :)

[imported_BretFraz]

First, clean the wheels as normal with cleaner and a brush.



Wash wheel with old mitt and soap to remove more residue.



I`d use #00 steel wool and a cleaner wax or mild polish to remove embedded grime. Light rust can be remove with a Scotchbrite pad.



Rewash wheel and wax. That should keep them looking good for a little while.

[C. Charles Hahn]

another method which maybe isnt quite as "keep it stock" would be is before you go to get the tires changed, take off the hubcaps, clean up the wheels with some full strength simple green or other strong degreaser to get out all the crap, then use the scotchbrite pad or even some sandpaper to get the rust off.



after you`ve got them all cleaned up and dried, take off the wheels one at a time and paint them up with some cheap black spraypaint (rustoleum or krylon are fine, they`re rust resistant) and give the wheels a coating, being careful to not get overly sloppy. Once the paint dries, just polish and wax the wheels and go get your tires changed.



With the hubcaps on it`ll look just perfect, and you`ll be hard pressed to find anything wrong if you dismount them. :xyxthumbs