Right as i see it - (just a quick read
)
Brake rub - can be taken off - with chemicals or razor -
Chems might whiten the rim edge as it takes out the colour with what you are using and so will get rid of the brake rub but leave you with a discoloured rim edge Razor will remove the Brake rub,but will also take a layer off of the edge - this will also show new and a clean colour - you will need to sand down to a smooth finish as you will get razor judder - this is where you hand take the bounce of the blade edge and will make a ripple in places - now you have a clean edge colour but need to match up the rest of the mag !
stains and grease marks -
Grease will soak into the plastic/nylon of the wheel - some will come out with a wash ~ hand wash or machine wash (hotter and longer) but some will always show - this comes from oil on a chain or a grease up hub ~ this flicks off onto the wheels and stains it by allowing it to soak in ~ with time dirt discolours it and turns it dark - hence the marks you can see !
Stains, some will be from every day use and can come out in the wash - some times it's what has been used to try and clean the wheel in the first place - bleaches will discolor it in places or turn the whole wheel a lighter shade
Sanding - you could just sand the edge of the rim - using different grades of paper and taking it down till it's baby smooth will work - but once again it will show new colour to the rest of the wheel - sanding down the whole of the wheel takes a long time and effort - this can be done but most of you can't wait - this is when mistakes ca be made - missing a grade of paper can add time to the job or mess up what you have done - each grade of paper takes out lines of the past paper used - starting with too lower/rougher paper will put more hair lines in and be harder to get out - start with some thing that takes off the brake rub / stain without scratching in lines - time taken will lead to a better job
Wet and dry - use water when getting to higher grade w/d paper, it will glide better and give better results - use a wet sponge to wash off and see what the result is and so you can see where to go next ~ the whole wheel can get wet as you can re grease it all later
corner bits - sand paper coned up - a razor - scalpel blade - all will get into the corner bits ~ but it's how you use it that the results will show - go slow and gentle
Alloy Hubs - you can polish up or leave as is - some times if you bleach a wheel, it will tarnish the alloy hub - you can get a light polish and rub gentle, this will take some of it off - a green scourer will buff it up and bit and take the tarnish off - the green scourer will bunch up and polish more the older it gets and depending on/ if you use a polish with it - you can polish up the whole hub and make it look to a mirror/chrome look - use peek and a green scourer pad to start it off - them use peek and a cloth ~ this takes time but you will get a good result - to finish use a Goddards cleaning/polishing cloth and work in/rub hard for the best results (tape off plastic/nylon part of the wheel as the polish comes off black and will get you clean newly done rims dirty again - cleaner will get most off, if you do so )
Dying - i'm not going to get too deep into this - amount of water used in a certain volume of container to amount of dye used to amount of time and heat = will all change how the colour turns out - it's very hard to match the colours used back in the day - even if the dye colour is so close, the amount of heat + water volume + time in, will all change it
Colour - dylon dyes were made back in the day when there were a certain standard of colours used in industries - nowadays companies need to make new colours to keep things moving and clients happy - a slightly different shade of green to not be looking like 20 years ago and to keep it all fresh - dylon dyes are very close to the colours back in the day - now not sold any more are the dylon MP tins - these are best used - find out what other members have done when dying mags and what works best - do you homework !
in all it takes time to work on mag wheels - some methods will be different to each other depending on make and how much nylon to plastic they have - not all marks will come off ~ time has taken it's toll on them and will never release it hold - you will never get them just like they left the shop ~ you may get close !
These mags are over 25 years old in some cases and been used, so that all adds up to some dirty old wheels that have just had a good life and been used for what they were intended for !
if there not perfect ? does it matter ? you can leave a wheel as it is and it will look cool, as every body knows what a wheel went through over the ages and that shows - you can restore a wheel as far as it can go - a clean, a wash, a sand, a dye, a polish ? will all show you had a go and the end result will look good as well cos you know you tried or just like them looking a bit better, all depending on what you put into it and how it was done -if you want perfect wheels ~ buy a NOS set that haven't been used or fitted
sun damage - water - grease - chemicals - knocks and scrapes - heat - cold - wear and tear use ~ all will show up on a wheel - some you can get off - some you can hide - some will always show.
back to the wheels above - you can remove the brake rub - chems or razor ?- the grease spots will always show even with a dye - if you wash the colour may disappear a little bit depending on age of wheel and condition ! re-dying - you may get close in colour but it will never be 100%
me, i would get the brake rub off with a razor or sand it off - then smooth it - one tin of red dye (three to choose from ?) and just clean up from there - they look alright from a distance and when riding on the bike will not notice the grease spots too much until still
hope this helps a little bit - this is just my finding and other members will have different methods to mine and get different results
in the end - if you want them perfect buy NOS - if not them work to the best of you ability and enjoy bring back some to life and that can look cool again - hard work shows the fakes from the pro's
cheers B
