I have an 87 Mondial US with 16" rims. Getting them refinished at a local shop. The shop was asking if rims were magnesium or aluminum. Anybody know how to tell ?
They are an alloy of both, it would best to caution them NOT to strip them unless you have the repriming information from Ferrari. It IS a high content magnesium alloy. NOT aluminum....
Welcome! There's a Search button up in the blue bar that will take you to TONS of wheels threads, and maybe find the Technical Bulletin on the paints for refinishing.....basically you need a heavy coat of zinc chromate to seal/prime the wheel then go with finish paints.. Single stage, no clear coat.
There's also a school of thought to avoid powder coating (high temps, not good).....see if you can find that...
Thx guys. Appears rims were re-finished once before ... magnesio notation not in casting, may have been screened on and lost in last refinish. Based on search of previous posts, I'm assuming they're magnesium at this point. Appreciate the help.
I think you guys need a refresher course. We are talking about Ferrari Mondial wheels right? E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y K-N-O-W-S all Ferrari parts, including the wheels are made from the testosterone of race horses and steel forged by the gods themselves mixed with the dreams of sleeping children. I hope this helps
Magnesio is cast on the back side IIFC. Best to take time reading the caveats. Do a search on two words together - magnesium refinish. Basically advise against removing old paint which seals the porous magnesium casting. BTDT
I had an expert do mine and still had a few problems. they need to be treated as magnesium and if stripped need to be coated with zinc chromate http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34634&highlight=308+wheels my friend peter did his and they are still perfect. I paid $$$ it took over a year and have a few blemishes!
LOL i got a set of later Mondial 16 inch wheels for my 8 stripped with great difficulty and painted with aluminum wheel paint and when temps got cold below freezing paint popped offin big flakes GRRRRR ideas???
this is way to tech for me but has some good info in it even if you arent going to mars with the wheels. Here is what I know is bad. Steel wool BAD, Water BAD, regular primer BAD, Zinc CHromate GOOD Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just like my powder coated clear coat ones, you get to do it all again!! Mine look like one of those glass Ant Farm windows, as the corrosion travels beneath the paint, damaging the casting......
I'm not sure I buy all of the 'magnesium is scary' talk about painting and prepping wheels on this site. Before I refinished my 308 wheels I did a lot of research. What I found was that somehow Ferrari magnesium was different than standard sportbike motorcycle or 60s hot rod wheel magnesium. Either of those could use paint, powder coat, or even bare polished finish. Somehow Ferrari magnesium requires very particular prep work or it will fail, fall apart, or catch on fire. I don't think zinc chromate hurts anything, but I'm not convinced it's necessary. I painted my wheels nearly 2 years ago myself. They haven't bubbled or cracked in half yet. I used traditional auto paint, sealer primer then single stage silver. I think powder coating is also acceptable, I wouldn't be scared as long as the shop was competent. Just my thoughts....I suppose like anything else you get what you pay for. Is this magnesium somehow different? Is the alloy so different that the prep is actually different than for a modern sportbike with magnesium racing wheels? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Jason did you strip them? My understanding is thy are a mag/ aluminum alloy. The gut that did mine has been doing paint since the 1960's on ferraris and I still had a few bubbles. Yours look great. What brand paint etc did you use Rob
I had a highly recommended local shop do mine. The face looked wonderful, but the rest of the rim was just a poor job. They had painted them and a year later the paint was chipping right off. Stunk. Then I had another highly recommended local shop do mine. I didn't mount them right away and stored them carefully in the garage. They looked great for about 3 months. Then the bubbles started to appear, the paint wrinkled and it started to look like my dear aunt Matilda's 95 year old skin. The shop appologized and did them again. They looked great. For about 3 months. Then the bubbles started to appear, the paint wrinkled and it started to look like my dear aunt Matilda's 95 year old skin. So I took them to a shop in Pa reknowned for rims. They mentioned the rims were forever marred from not being prepped right. The absolute mirror finish was forever gone. But they did their best and it's one heck of a job! One year later and no problems with the finish. I have a second set of rims waiting in the wings.
I used Dupont paint. I have used Sherwin Williams, PPG, and Dupont. They're all fine, I just prefer Dupont as I seem to have had better luck with them. I did not chemically strip anything. I sanded the outer edges with 80 grit. to bare metal and even filled them some to get all the dings and scratches out. The rest of the rim that wasn't damaged I just sanded with 600 grit prior to sealer primer.
Thanks for the info. Looks like I need a trip to the West Marine and get the marine Zinc Chromate primer and a suitable silver topcoat Looks like my mistake was the hours and hours to clean the faces down to bare metal
IMHHHO: And expensive experiences. Follow that brochure. It is your friend! Here's some "Buzzwords" to research, MIL M45202 Wormtracking Blooming Tagnite (701) 746 - 1818 Study this carefully before doing anything to mag wheels that have had the greenish coating removed. You can not simply spray the raw magnesium with anything! You can lay down the finest epoxy primer over the most exotic metal prep and have the system fail when you drive the car due to thermal and mechanical strain. DOW 17 was the coating that secured the marriage between Mg and usable Italian castings.
Thinking about having my TRX wheels refinished. I was hoping a good polishing might solve the discoloration/haze visible in this image, but I'm told it's a take it down to the bare metal job. Any advice, insight? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Do NOT polish these they are magnesium/aluminum and need to refinished by an expert that knows how to do it properly. even just stripping them can be done wrong. Look up online on how to refinish magnesium. Rob
Key word there was "hoping" however your response is valuable as it further confirms the course I'm set to undertake with a proper refinish . . . not by myself of course
