whitewalls

[Don Jordan]

I wrote a long post and somehow it timed out and was lost.

So this one I'll type fast and see if I can make it.

I am having my wheels powder coated so I have the tires off. I thought I might take a walk on the wild side and put the white wall out this time when I get the wheels back.

I've managed to clean 3 of the white walls but the 4th one has that stuff on it and I don't know how to get it off. I'm afraid to use anything too strong that might harm the rubber. I've used a cleanser and a brush but I can't get what ever coating that's put on the white walls off.

Any suggestions? Especially of what not to do.

I typed this fast so I don't time out.

[randroid]

Don,

I don't know how to clean whitewalls any better than what you did so my answer is, 'I don't know', but there have been some good posts here in the past do I'm certain somebody's going to chime-in with appropriate info. What else I don't know is much about powder coating and that's why I'm jumping into your thread.

Did you do the prep work. and if so how much? Nothing beats bare metal and I can only suppose the rims are thick enough to not warp from the heat generated by sand blasting, and is that what was required for your rims? Is it possible to powder coat the rims with the two different colored circles in one step, or should they be painted on after the powder coat is done?

My rims need something done to them and powder coating appeals to me because of its inherent durability vs. paint, but my rims haven't been painted in over sixty years so if I prepped and painted them they'd certainly look good when I get buried in it (I may have just struck upon a new thread) so why are you going that route?

I'll stop here but I'm certainly going to be watching this thread.

-Randy

(When you timed-out, was that due to your ISP or this forum?)

[Niel Hoback]

Westley's Bleechy-White. Does good, not hard to use.

[BobT-47P15]

Two or three years ago, I bought a set for four wide whitewalls already mounted on

rims at a swap meet. The seller had used them for a while on a car - then it seems

they were sitting around for a while. Whites were dirty.

I used spray can of oven cleaner---worked fine and didn't hurt anything.

Kinda strong and or smelly as I recall. Just let it sit for a little while then

brushed.

Under normal curcumstances, I use liquid cleaner like Fantastic, 409 or Mean Green

(frm Dollar General).......then a brillo pad.....and a medium stiff bristle brush.

Sometimes takes a couple doses of this.

For a little tougher stain, I also have one of those wire bristle whitewall brushes.

[adam_knox]

Howdy, I don't know this first hand, but according to a few other posts I have read on aaca.org, the Bleachy White is like cocaine, turns your white walls yellowish after awhile and the only thing that removes the yellow stain is more Bleachy White. I don't want to to stoke any unconfirmed rumors, as that may not be the case, but just thought you should know those statements have been made! As for me, I've scuffed up my whitewalls several times and I used a plastic bristled brush with Coral Blue car wash water. Has worked rather well well for me.

[radioguy7]

Howdy, I don't know this first hand, but according to a few other posts I have read on aaca.org, the Bleachy White is like cocaine, turns your white walls yellowish after awhile and the only thing that removes the yellow stain is more Bleachy White. I don't want to to stoke any unconfirmed rumors, as that may not be the case, but just thought you should know those statements have been made! As for me, I've scuffed up my whitewalls several times and I used a plastic bristled brush with Coral Blue car wash water. Has worked rather well well for me.

Whitewalls turning yellow?? I've been using Westley's bleach white since I was like 19 and I just turned 43, haven't had it turn any white walls or white letters yellow yet. Sounds to me like the tires are more suspect than the chemical.

[adam_knox]

Whitewalls turning yellow?? I've been using Westley's bleach white since I was like 19 and I just turned 43, haven't had it turn any white walls or white letters yellow yet. Sounds to me like the tires are more suspect than the chemical.

Well good! Seems like a logical explanation! BTW, you should forward this post to Westley's, they oughta give you a free case of the stuff, 24 years of customer loyalty!

[desoto1939]

When we have the WW on our car we usually clean just before a car show or going our on a run. The tires get dirty from the daily run. we come home and then put the car to bed, cover them up so not to get dirt onthe body and get any scratches. Kiss the old girl goodnite and say our thanks for a safe run back home.

We have found that this is the time before but the car to bed is when you should clean the WW tires to get off the most current road grime and then when we take it out the next time the WW are not so hard to clean and also might not need to be cleaned.

I have a set of WW on my 39 Desoto for the past 10 years and have used Westley WW cleaner all these years and my tires have never turend yellow.

Spray on the liquid and then use a soft nylon brush and they always clean up nicely.

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Captain Neon]

The only tyres that I've heard of turning yellow from Westley's turns yellow from oxidation no matter how you clean them. Firestone bias-ply gum-dipped. I've been using Westley's for over 20 years and have never had a yellowing problem on whitewalls or RLT. I use Westley's on my blackwalls too. IMHO, the best tyre cleaner on the market.

[Don Jordan]

Randroid:

Here's the deal - I called around and it seems everyone was charging the same price for the same thing. So I went with the guy that was open on Saturday. I will pick them up next Saturday.

For $75 @ wheel they sand blast the whole wheel and powder coat the whole wheel - front and back. I'm not really sure about the powder coating - I'm sure others will chime in here but this is what I know.

They put a negative charge on the wheel and some how a positive charge on the powder and it sticks. (I know this is kind of a simple explanation but for a simpleton like me it's all I understand)

The good news (from what I'm told) is the stuff is rock hard and doesn't chip. The bad news is you are limited on color. I just had my car painted and the shop that did it was going to charge me $75 a wheel to paint them. I made a decision (the jury is still out) since I couldn't get an exact blue from the powder coater I went with a shade darker. I'm praying this will work.

I should have it all together Saturday and will either send pictures of pride or chagrin.

[BobT-47P15]

If the wheels are a bit darker.....and.....you're using whitewalls.....it will probably

look OK..

I personally don't llike dark color wheels with black sidewalls. Just my .02

[claybill]

the only trouble with p/c is...once you get a chip..it goes thru underneath the coating and you are DONE. keep a close eye and use touchup when necessary.

$40 per wheel in iowa!!

bill

[BobT-47P15]

Bill......you gotta remember Don is in Calif......not the good ol midwest where things

are sometimes more reasonable. I think a local guy told me $40 or $45 per wheel

to coat. But I don't know if I'll mess with it. Was considering for the painted

wire wheels. Since I don't know what color I want them yet, I'll just not worry

about the finish for now. Need to start cleaning the rust off them and at least primer them.

Had intended to put them on the brown coupe, but not sure that's gonna

happen. May just give the car to my son-in-law to play with and would not

want the wheels to leave home. So, my next thought is paint them yellow

to match the convert, and install some narrow white radials....just for a change

of pace.

[Plymouthy Adams]

IF in coating the spokes on a wire wheel with powder coat and I would say more than not there will be small hairline fractures at the nut/rim section..this will allow the spokes to rapidly rust beneath the powder coat unseen to the naked eye until it is too late...this stuff does not like to flake off like paint so will continue to act as a capillary tube for moisture...I have seen some real nightmares of base metal that has been powder coated and encapsulated where the outer coats gets a hairline fracture..

Edited June 23, 2009 by Tim Adams

[Jims50chrysler]

I have used WD40 on whitewalls and found nothing better to clean them up, I am not sure if there is any adverse effects on the rubber but I have never seen anything.

as far as Powdercoating goes....my son has a small powder coating business and any color you want he can match, there are tons of colors available and if he can't get an exact match he will custom blend untill he gets it to match he did this for my dash and window surrounds. Don I am sure your guy could get more colors from a different powder supplier if pressed.

$75.00 a wheel sounds about right My son did a Model A wheel for a friend of mine last week for $20.00 but the hard work of sandblasting was already done.

Jim