Taking apart and cleaning wire wheels

thefonzz2625 said:

Hi all, with spring approaching I want to get my wire wheels in shape on my 87 Brougham.

It is really hard to clean them with all of the spokes attached. Is there any way to take them apart and clean them? It looks like the top comes off, but it won't budge.

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Put them in the dishwasher (with nothing else obviously) when the wife isn't home. A couple guys on the forum have done it and they came out great

I took apart the wire hubcaps to my '89 Custom Cruiser and polished every part individually. Came out better than soaking with wheel cleaner and spraying with a pressure washer.

If the bolts aren't rusty then go for it. Otherwise don't bother.

The real wire wheels? Don't do it. The way they are assembled affects the how true they are and balance. The spokes are wide enough apart you can get a cloth in there to clean them.
If you mean wire hubcaps then go ahead and take them apart.

Real chrome wire rims, go to a truck stop and get some acid. Keep it away from aluminum and stainless though.

They're wire hubcaps with steelies underneath.

I don't quite see how they would come apart... Does anyone have pics?

Edit: These guys: http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-1986-87-...ers-/181699096576?hash=item2a4e1c3000&vxp=mtr

Hubcaps, dishwasher. They'll look brand new. Don't tell your wife.

On the olds, they came apart from the backside. 4 or 5 very small bolts.

thefonzz2625 said:

They're wire hubcaps with steelies underneath.

I don't quite see how they would come apart... Does anyone have pics?

Edit: These guys: http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-1986-87-...ers-/181699096576?hash=item2a4e1c3000&vxp=mtr

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BTW....The wheels under the hub cap, if original with the wire covers, actually are aluminum, not steel. Use a magnet and see.

Dishwasher FTW! Marriage permitting...:rollingpin:

You sound like my father. Dad had an 85 Riviera. He would take the wheels apart at least once a year and polish each spoke. Hey dad, uh I mean Fonzz, Can I borrow $5???

MoistCabbage said:

On the olds, they came apart from the backside. 4 or 5 very small bolts.

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Right, saw some pics of that as well as a corvair video on YouTube that looked like it employed the same principle.

I really want to get to the black piece in the back to repaint it as it's faded pretty badly. Under the pop off crest, it looks like there is a cover that wants to come off shaped like an upside-down castle nut, but I can't get it to budge.

Looked far and wide on the Web, it's like nobody's ever done this before. This thread came up in Google as the first result. Lol

I tried to put the photos of the cleaning of my Cad wire caps into this reply. No luck. I stripped my hubcaps apart and spent a sunny afternoon cleaning and re assembling them whilst sipping cocktails (Dave [Bro ham] would approve). No luck. I give up but don't give up on your caps. Cleaning and restoring the individual parts is child's play. Piece of cake as the Brits say.

Cheers.............R.

Imgur perhaps?

What i ended up doing was drilling the rivets out and then carefully wrenching the spokes back and forth by the hex nuts to break them free, then popping them out. There were two casualties that i will have to solder/glue/something back together, but otherwise everything came apart into individual pieces that i will be able to detail as necessary. 0000 Steel Wool, 300/500/1000/2000/5000 grit sandpaper is on its way. I already have blue magic metal polish and it works great! Used a wire wheel on my drill to get rid of some of the more major curb rash. I'll try to take pictures, but its a 5 minutes here 10 minutes there kind of thing.