Calling all wheel whores... Can i pollish Mag Alloy?

[yeti 0]

I recently found out that my new splits have parts which are made of magnesium alloy,

 

i have the rest of the wheel painted and the dish mirror polished but i was hoping to polish this other piece and i was wondering if its just wasting my time? - i heard you can polish it if it contains less than a certain amount of mg in in but unfortunately theres no way of finding this out from data sheets as the wheel in question is v old.

 

At present they have simply been chemically stripped of their paint and are in a grey cast fiish (smooth cast) and I have had a go at polishing with autosol, it does produce a shiney ish finish but it looks alot like pewter in colour, is this the best i can hope for?

[Lufbramatt 0]

magnesium is one of the most reactive metals- left bare it will corrode away as you watch. Ive had suspension forks with bits made of magnesium alloy that have just turned into powder. If theyre worth anything id get them finished in a chrome silver to give them a bit of protection.

[fullpint 0]

Magnesium........They need to be treated mate..I've worked for Dymag (Die-cast Magnesium wheel manufacture) for over 28 years now and can tell you that if the mag has been blasted and NOT treated (chromated) before painting then your wheels will just corrode away..Bare mag loves the air and will turn to powder..

I would not advise polishing them mate..You need to get them blasted and then find someone in the aerospace industry who may be able to offer you the chemical treatment of chromate. Once that it done then by all means powder-coat them..

Hope this helps you...

[KADVR6 0]

100% correct fullpint i used to work in the aerospace fastner industry, and magnesium was used rarely but you do have to get it plated, any good alloy plating firm can do it for you, if you get stuck locating one let me no Andy and i will see who i can find close to you.

 

you can also get the chromate plating done in different colours such as gold/silver/blue/red/yellow, this is how some of the fastners are coloured for there particular gauge or use.

 

karl

[vwdeviant 0]

So these wheels not looking such a great "deal" Andy!

 

But they are Schexy!

 

They'll need splitting again too! :gag:

[BigTartanJudge 0]

If the wheels were chemically dipped, you are lucky the magnesium parts didn't dissolve away to mothing tbh ! :eek:

[fullpint 0]

If the wheels were chemically dipped, you are lucky the magnesium parts didn't dissolve away to mothing tbh ! :eek:

Thats a valid point mate..I forgot to mention that...Ive seen some real bad wheels that have been left in the stripper tooooooooooo long :gag:

[yeti 0]

Thanks very much fellas :D v helpful! i was gonna just prime them and paint them but this seems the best way forward!

 

Yep i was very lucky, trying to get info on the wheels before hand was difficult so thought they where just alloy... ho hum they fortunately seem ok - i'll have a look around for a plating company round here then, chromate....

 

How thick is this coating? is it like a paint or is it like anodising (the part of the wheel i was trying to polish is a massive centre nut with threads that need to stay clean)

 

thanks again :-)

[KADVR6 0]

chromate plating can be anywhere between 5 to 25 microns, depends on what protection level you need.