Is it possible to power sand or wire brush the Mag-wheels and not damage them?
My Mags look "ok" on the front, but the rear is kinda blistered, black "they are silver or grey) and the area where the drum touches is rusted. I believe they are painted aluminum Mags although if I touch them with a very powerful magnet, it just lightly sticks (a magnet you can't remove from the fridge!), so I think it is an aluminum with small amount of steel alloy.
I've tried cleaning them with Mag/wheel cleaner, brake cleaner, degreaser, CLR and brusing the heck out of them. They seriously need some paint, but I would like to remove the rust and "dimples or bubbles" in the metal. Will it destroy the rims if I use a wire brush and/or sand them lightly?
I know I should get new rims, but they are 4-lug right now and I may upgrade everything in the future and that is just too much right now.. so I would like to restore them. Any tips?
Thanks all!

 

Um, I'm not familiar with any steel "mag" for 4-bolt. How about a pic?

 

It's not steel, I think it is an aluminum alloy. A regular magnet won't stick to it at all. But a 200lbs pull neodium(sp?) super magnet will barely stick to them. Normally this one sticks to steel items it is almost impossible to pull it back off. So it makes me think there may be some type of steel in the alloy or maybe even steel under the aluminum (some sort of re-inforcement skeleton or something.)
Here are some pics of them.

 

i think those are called ansen sprints iirc

 

Unless the aluminum is porous, you should be able to polish those up. It would be a lot of work. Probably too much work for a mortal man to do without power tools....

Really you would start with some fairly course sandpaper, and progressively work your way to polish.

The condition of the wheels Will dictate just what grit to start with, probably 80 or even 36, then working your way to 1000 or 1500 prior to polishing.

Unless you are really fond of those wheels, ypu can pretty much count on it taking more time, money, and effort than they are worth...

It will be a ton of work, but another option might be to take them to a place that polishes aluminum TRUCK WHEELS, there are some reputable shops, (and even more meth freaks and crack heads) around many large truck stops that can do a respectable job for a set price per wheel. (the better ones will actually have TOOLS and equipment!)

 

Yeah any good size truck shop will have a detailing shop ask them to polish your rims that will do it.

 

I meant power sanders and wire brushes. My elbows and shoulders couldn't handle the manual sanding<grin>. If it's not too aggressive, I have no problem using power equipment. I would actually prefer it. I easily have 20+ different electric sanders and even more that hook to the compressor in our home workshop (hobbyist woodworker, just have to change the grit mediums for metals on the sanding paper/cloth/pads/disks/belts/etc ).
Originally in my first post, I was thinking of using a brass wire brush cup hooked to a drill or a die grinder. But if the rim can handle 36-80 grit, then a steel wire brush cup should not be too much to start with to remove the harshest materials and then work my way up the highest grits of paper and then buffing wheels with finer grists to polish for paint or clearcoat.
Most of my tools will work on metal, but I have not done body work or metal repair. The thought of taking 36 grit on a power sander still makes me think it would be too aggressive and take off too much material on aluminum. I'll start lighter and figure out what I am comfortable with. Thanks!
Of course I could always put it up on Jack-stands and run the car at high RPMs while holding a sanding pad against the wheel Or maybe mount it on the woodworkers lathe for sanding and polishing (NOT, just kidding on both!)

 

DO NOT use a 36 grit. At the least use 220 to start, then go up as the aluminum starts to smotthen out as JMD stated.

Polishing is usually about 50 bucks a wheel