Crusty rims

[retro-rich]

I need to clean up the rims for my Record Ace rebuild.

They are seriously crusty, dirt and the white oxidisation stuff.

Is it ok to use autosol on the braking surface? Would it cause any problem with braking by being polished with that stuff?

I've tested a small part of the rim between the spokes with it and it does add a bit of shine, but makes no difference to the spokes which have gone completely dull, any suggestions welcome but have now spent way too much on this bike lol

Cheers

Rich

 

[mattsccm]

Use it anywhere it works. You can clean the braking surfaces before use. As for the spokes, are they rustless ones? They can be hard to impossible to shine. Stainless will come up with work.

 

[retro-rich]

thanks Matt

I tried polishing them for a couple of minutes and didn't really see any progress, just a bit cleaner not shinier I'll just concentrate on the rims then and see how they come up.

Cheers

 

[Old Ned]

I use a fine wet and dry on 'rustless' spokes and they come up well. In fact, on some bad ones I've used some course abrasive paper at times. They need a bit of elbow grease (which is freely available ) but it's worth it. Keep up to them with a rub over every now and again, a spot of polish will help. Try on one first to see.

A Brillo pad etc. will help clean the majority of the muck, corrosion etc. from the rims. Solvol after will give a nice shiny finish and shouldn't harm the braking surfaces. The first time you use the brakes should wipe any deposit off. After all, the brake block is a slight abrasive itself.

 

[mattsccm]

Just a thought.
Have a go at the spokes first. If you decide they are too manky and want to respoke the wheels, the rims will be amny times easier without spokes. Shame to go to a lot of hard work then pull the spokes out.

 

[retro-rich]

Thanks both

Oh boy...I can see the wheels stacking up to be more work than the bike itself lol

Thanks for the tips old ned, matt, will try and have a go at them but I doubt I'll take them out as will cost too much to get them respoked, maybe later if the bike is a keeper.