Topic: Crusty rims

[emlupi]

Removed the old tires from my rims. I am currently letting the spoke nipples soak in WD-40 in preparation for checking/truing wheels. There is some rust and pitting inside the rims underneath the old rim strips. Like to hear some of your methods for removing this rust and corrosion from inside the rims. Thanks.

[Don R]

 I use a 4 1/2" wire wheel on a side grinder and then rust preventative etching paint. I wonder if this is car wash damage? I have one like it that I'm swapping the rim on today. I've been using silicone based lube on the tire and rim for mounting instead of soapy water.

[ekpent]

 Pretty much the same as Don though I have a wire wheel on an Electric drill and seal it off in there when I'm done also. If you do that way be sure to wear good eye protection as some flakes will be flying. Probably caused by water getting past the spoke nipples and people using to much "soapy water" putting on the tire. Pretty harsh environment in there .
  That's one good thing for mounting yourself, would a quickie shop take the time to clean that rust etc. up well in there for you while changing a tire ??

[emlupi]

Thanks guys. I have plenty of POR-15 left over from sealing the insides of the fork ears. I can easily clean, degrease, and coat the insides of these rims while I'm doing the rest of the work on them. Sounds like a much better solution than trying any of the coke/aluminum foil or baking soda /lemon juice approaches. The POR will prevent a reoccurrence of the same type of corrosion.

I guess that means I will have to remove the spokes to clean and paint the rim. Didn't want to get into that but looks like no other choice.

[przjohn]

If you are going to go through the trouble of lacing and truing I highly recommend new spokes, it will save you a lot of headaches, especially on the rear. If you can put it in the budget, new rims would be the way to go. If you can't do the rims just wire wheel the rust off. Vintage bikes are like replacing a shower valve in your bathroom, and you end up with a new tile floor. 

[754]

Longer storage tip.......Dont park them with valvestem. At 6 oclock.. I did..probably full of water now.

[ekpent]

  I never tore them down, just wire wheeled and then sprayed the inside of the rim with an aerosol before replacing rim strips, tube and tires. Now if you want clean shiny spokes then new is the way.

[whitjonw]

I would just wire wheel the rust (heavy rust) off and then paint the inside of the rim and be done with it. I have done this on a few of my old bikes.

[jonda500]

I just spray mine with penetrating oil, but I do spend more time than a tyre shop would wire brushing off all the loose rust flakes first,
John

[emlupi]

  I never tore them down, just wire wheeled and then sprayed the inside of the rim with an aerosol before replacing rim strips, tube and tires. Now if you want clean shiny spokes then new is the way.

I believe this is the course of action that I will go with . I'm not going to disassemble the entire rim, I will clean out the loose stuff with a wire wheel and go back in and seal the interior with the POR-15.

Don't have the funds right now for new rims and spokes. Trying to keep it as "original and unrestored" as possible without sacrificing safety or reliability. Maybe down the road I will look into restoration.

Thanks again, appreciate all the helpful information on this site.

[BomberMann650]

+3 for the wire wheel.

And kudos to my buddy's speed shop for brushing my wheel when they swapped my tire.  They really didn't have to do that!

[RAFster122s]

If you aren't careful you can glue the spoke nipples to the wheel using POR as it is quite tough when cured...or if you get a drop on the spoke to nipple threads, same issue if it takes a bond rather than being unable to due to oil.

WD40 is not a good penetrating lube or protective spray.  Wire Dryer #40 (39 failures or less than ideal attempts prior.

[Old Moe Toe]

Never heard of making sure the valve is not at 6 o'clock on the wheel. I was under the impression that water could get inside the rim via any of the spoke holes anyway. They do not have seals on them.

[emlupi]

Thanks RAF, I am going to mask or dam off the nipples before applying any POR to the wheel. I have used it before and I know it cures up with a very strong bond.

If the WD-40 doesn't work to loosen the nipples I will hit them with some Kroil. I tried some of the nastier looking ones and so far they all turned more or less freely.

[754]

That is true to an extent, but I am one of the never tighten the valve stem crowd..
 And the other day noticed my valve stem was at the bottom..and the hole is bigger than the stem.
 The bars and tank seat are covered by a tarp but the front  wheel still gets pretty wet.

 The reason I dont tighten the valve stem, I want it to tilt if the tire slips on the rim.

[PeWe]

My old DID rims on my CB750 (rims new1983). Bike stored in dry barns for 20 years looked fine until I cleaned them with high pressure and chrome flaked off. Not that rusty inside.

Where the rim is welded is a sharp area that need to be painted to smoothen the sharp burrs. On my old as well as the new ones.

[emlupi]

I hit the rims with an angle grinder and wire wheel and they cleaned up nicely.  The extent of the pitting can be clearly seen in the newer photo. I will seal the insides of the rims to prevent a repeat of the rusted condition in which I found them.

[ekpent]

  If I was a rim strip and an inner tube I would be very happy with the job you have done. One of those things you need to plan for when changing out the tires on these old bikes for the first time. Good time to check the spokes also while you can get to the slotted ends.

[grcamna2]

You did a nice job. 
I take a hand wire brush to each bead of a customers wheel every time i change a tire.
When i do some very rusty(inside the bead areas)rims of my own I also use a large flat blade screwdriver and chip-away as much old rust as i can inside there before I wire brush them.I apply silver paint in there after that.
The main thing is spray each spoke down good on both sides of the threads w/ some penetrating fluid and turn them w/ a spoke wrench to get them moving and then you can true the wheel,it'll save your wheel for a longer life.

[emlupi]

Sealed the interior of the rims with POR-15. Now onto truing.

[ekpent]

 Looks like your doing it up very nicely. Was the wheel very far off when you started the truing ?

[grcamna2]

That looks like a decent stand you're using,will work for static balancing too;hope you get it all nice and trued-up and throw the tire/tube on there and balance. 

[emlupi]

Balanced the tires today using No-Mar brass spoke mounted wheel weights. They worked really well and are much cleaner looking than stick-ons. Time will tell how durable they are. I guess part of regular tire/wheel maintenance will be checking the set screws to make sure the weights stay put.

[NobleHops]

 Vintage bikes are like replacing a shower valve in your bathroom, and you end up with a new tile floor. 

QUOTE OF THE YEAR, IT'S OVER, JOHN WINS.

[emlupi]

 Vintage bikes are like replacing a shower valve in your bathroom, and you end up with a new tile floor. 

QUOTE OF THE YEAR, IT'S OVER, JOHN WINS.

Man, ain't that the truth!