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MG MGF Technical - Wheel cleaning DIY

Dear all,

After fitting new tyres, the front wheels of my 1995 MGF took a heck of a lot of weight to balance. The fitter noted that it was hard to stick the weights to the rims and that there was a lot of "stuff" built-up on the inside of the wheel that caused the difficulty in balancing it.

Whether the build-up was road-grime or corrosion or brake-dust he didn't say and I've not had a chance to check yet. The fitter recommended Spit & Polish in Tonbridge to clean the wheels. They charge £50 plus VAT per wheel and have a three-day turn around. From a search of the archives, Wicked Wheels was recommended at £65 plus VAT and 1-2 hours a wheel at your home. The variance seems a lot.

I fancy taking a look first myself and using some Autoglym wheel-cleaner on the inside of the wheel first. Any tricks or recommendations for other products/tools?

Thanks

Chaz
C Golvala

Wheel cleaner is acid - so take care not to breath it and not to get it on your skin - also follow the instructions and do not leave it on too long or it may dameage the wheels.

After finishing try waxing the wheels, the wax helps you wash off the dust more easily (but will desolve the first time you use wheel cleaner).

Buy yourself a new toothbrush and use the old one to get into nooks and crannies, use a scrubbing brush on wider areas, but not be gentle with it. Remember that the silver is just paint, the colour of the alloy is white - treat the paint like paint not like metal!
Will Munns

My Winter Work programme icludes removing the wheels for Cleaning of the brakes (unfortunately fitting new pads this year) and Pressure Washing the inside of the wheels avoiding any direct spray onto the bead that may penetrate into the tyre.
Geoff F
G. Farthing

Thanks for the advice, Will, as ever. Just to clarify, you say "but not be gentle with it" but also "treat the paint like paint not like metal". Do you mean be gentle so as to preserve the paint?

By the way, should I expect to be able to shiftmost of whatever this is with the wheel-cleaner and a bit of (gentle) elbow grease or does anyon think that the acid bath proposed by Spit & Polish is the way to go?

PS: no mention of an acid bath on Wicked Wheels' website.

Thanks

Chaz
Chaz

Yup, don't scratch at the paint or you will soon not have paint!

Most should shift, as I said wheel cleaner is acid, the diffrence is you will spray it on and work it in by hand, they will throw the whole thing in acid, you way is more labour intensive, but much cheaper!

While you have the wheels off you could change the pads for greenstuff which create much less dust (unless you track the car)
Will Munns

Thanks for that, Will. I'll take care when I try it but it is heartening to know that I should be able to make an impact.

Already on EBC Greens, but the historic build-up was never cleaned off, so may be that's what I'll find over Xmas.

Cheers

Chaz
Chaz


Cillit Bang.

No joke. Spray it on. Leave for a bit. Wipe every single bit of dirt and grime off
Bob Millar

"....Wicked Wheels was recommended at £65 plus VAT and 1-2 hours a wheel at your home..."

This must be for refurbishing,not just cleaning surely?
Pete

Cillit Bang? Sounds like a starter from a Thai menu. What is it and where might I find it and is it better than the AG product I already have?

Agreed, by the way that the WW price is for refurbishment, but assumed that since no one does a simple clean but not polish, mend and repaint then, if I could not do it myself, a complete refurb would be the only way.

Chaz
Chaz

Cillit bang is a general purpose cleaner for around the house, I would use the autoglym stuff because it si designed for this purpose. Cillit bang might be fine (in fact it might be the same stuff for all I know) but without actually using it do you _know_ it will be fine?

Also, you have no comback on CB if it strips your paint, but AG is sold for that purpose, so comes with implied warrenty.
Will Munns

I've just changed from Auto Glym to Meguiars "Hot Rims" it's much more effective - a bit dearer I think and is safe on all types of wheel finishes (so it says!) It seems to foam up really well and penetrate all areas leaving a very good finish. I've started using their other products as well and they all seem generally better than AG - to me at least!
Terry Curtis

Ive always used a green scouring pad used for washing up dishes. Not the half foam jobies. Used with clean water does the job very well used carefully :)
Dave Smyth 1

Thank you all for your help. I'm beginning to doubt whether the buld-up of gunk could be as severe as to require the extreme balancing that the fitter supplied. I'll let you all know the results after Xmas.

Cheers

Chaz
chaz

This thread was discussed between 06/12/2005 and 07/12/2005

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