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Wire Wheel Cleaning

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Alvin

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After a severe blowout on my TR3 I now know why they say that old tires are dangerous. Mine were all cracked and bad (great thread though)! Don't know how old they are, but suspect 20+ years. Anyways, I thought I would clean up my wire wheels. They look pretty good, but have a little rust and corrosion on them. I was going to sandblast and then aluminum paint? Is this OK, or is there a better way? Thanks ....AL
 
Alvin, I would not use sand blasting to clean the wheels sand blasting can leave pits that disfigure them to the point paint will not cover it up.A media blast is preferred.---FWIW---Keoke
 
I agree with Keoke, I prefer glass beads myself. Be patient with the blasting. They are a pain to get behind the spokes and things (it takes forever), but the extra effort to get it all will show in the finished product
 
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...I now know why they say that old tires are dangerous. Mine were all cracked and bad (great thread though)! Don't know how old they are, but suspect 20+ years...

[/ QUOTE ]

Just a reminder that this is usually easy to check as US tires (even those 20+ years old) carry a date code in the last few digits of the DOT number:

MVC-852F.JPG


In this case, the tire was manufactured in the 34th week of 2004. I think really old tires like yours may show the year as a single digit and assume you at least know what decade they are from, e.g. 268 could be 26th week of 1988.

Glad it wasn't more serious -- a local club member had this happen to his big Healey in 1998 -- led to a full restoration that is still going on.
 
Geo,

Thanks for the info. My tires were made in Sain (Pirelli Radials), and it blew apart in two different places. The steel cords were all rusted (I live in Miami - salt air), and after seeing this I decided my life was worth more than a set of tires. My TR3 is dangerous enough with good tires! I am sure the tires are 20 + years old and the Dot code read DOT XFTBXJJP448. I suspect they wre made in 1978, but who knows? Thanks again ...AL
 
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