Borrani cleaning question

There are a bunch of sprays available at Pepboys (or equivilent) that will work fine for cleaning most of the road grime off. Just pick one that is safe for aluminum; I think I used Meguires.

Regards,

Art S.

PS. If you want to save storage space, sell them to me

 

Here is my technique: clean the wheel with brushes and plain car wash soap. I don't trust any of the wheel cleaners on the aluminum since I have found that it may stain the wheels.
After you clean them very well, polish everything with Blue Magic. Shoelaces work great on the wires. The chrome hub also cleans well with Blue Magic.

The aluminum rim cleans better with Mother mag wheel polish. The trick is getting between the spokes with the shoelaces.
Be prepared for many hours of polishing and removing the black residue in order to get the aluminum to shine. Have several clean cloths, I use diapers and replace them several times per wheel.

 

PS. If you want to save storage space, sell them to me [/QUOTE]

No, no, no, Art get out of the way, sell them to me!!!!!!
Ed

 

The best two products I have found are Mothers Billet cleaner and Neverdull. The Mothers product is a cream paste that is the least abrassive product they make.I called them before I used it to make sure it was not going to damage the aluminum. Neverdull is also great. It is a cotton like material that comes in a can. You pull off a small piece of it and wipe it on. Plan on spending 5 hours per wheel. Its best to take a cotton rag and rip it into strips to get into the spokes. Have fun!

 

Simple green is good to get off the grime. Then wash it off real good. Do not use any brushes on the rims- they do scrach. Like I said above the Mothers Billet cleaner is the least abrasive. I also like the Neverdull. It is amazing on chrome as well.

 

I haven't tried it on wire wheels because I don't have them, but P21S has a unique product that is a metal polishing "soap". The polish is a cake of soap and it comes with sponge that has a very light scrubbing surface. The polish (soap) is applied simply by rubbing the sponge over the surface and then rinses off with no buffing required. For areas you can't reach with the sponge, applying it with a brush would probably work. I haven't tried it on wire wheels, but I have used it on exhaust tips and had good results. I think straight polishes like Wenol blue gives slightly better finish, but I don't no of anything that's easier to use.

http://classic-motoring.stores.yahoo.net/p2poso.html

 

I have used a soft toothbrush to loosen the grime just next to the spoke nipples. The center hub is very difficult and those suggestions made above are appreciated.
One word of caution....... IMHO NEVER USE SIMPLE GREEN ON ANY POLISHED ALUMINUM. Personally, I hate this stuff. It can permanently stain aluminum if not thoroughly rinsed (literally rubbed off). This comment is based on lessons learned with Borrani wire wheels, Harley Davidson motors, and aftermarket polished wheels.
Mothers mag wheel polish was used to finish the cleanup in the attached picture.
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Unfortunately I have used Meguiar's on my Borranis and it has stained them. Any ideas on how to remove the stain?

 

I also stained my wheels by using Griots wheel cleaner on them. That's why I now only use car wash soap on the wheels, nothing else.
I have found that the only way to get the stains off is by using Mothers Mag wheel cleaner and polish, polish, polish. Continuously changing to clean cloths. I use diapers.
It takes forever but it will eventually work.

 

Very cool....thanks for posting the link...

Mother's actually has two products..one is called Mag Wheel polish and the other is Billet Aluminum polish......I have them both. Good stuff!

 

Any chemical that is too caustic or acidic will stain/etch aluminum or magnesium alloys. To get rid of the stain the aluminum will have to be repolished. Also don't use Castrol Super Clean anywhere near alloys. It's excellent for ferrous castings though.

 

Thanks for the info.
I just finished...I used Meguiar's mag and aluminum polish, which I happened to have and it worked great. I was lucky that the spokes were spared and only the lateral circular rim was involved...if not I would me posting this thread tomorrow.