Wondering peoples opinions are on whether these rusted wheels from the 89 4runner I just bought are worth saving. Looks like theres a lot of surface rust. Ive tried cleaning it and some of it seems to come off but would require a shop to probably do a deeper cleaning and re clear coat. I was originally hoping to keep the OEM wheel but these might be too far gone. All wheels are basically like this. Any thoughts?

 

Those are aluminum wheels so it is impossible for them to rust.

Commercial wheel restorers would glass bead, or nutshell blast them and clear coat them again.

I think they are worth saving.

 

thanks, i realized in my rushed state after I posted that they were alloy and that it mustve just been 30 years of crap caked on there, not rust. I'll call around tomorrow and see about getting them restored. appreciate the response

 

I am getting some seemingly high priced estimates for restoring these wheels (roughly 250/wheel) which seems insane given I can buy the same wheels reconditioned for less. What would be the proper way to clean these? Was there ever a coatring on the aluminum that needs to be restored? Or just an aggressive cleaning of the grime/brake dust

 

Get 'em blasted with a real fine grit substance. It will get 'em down to the metal clean, and the grit will fill in the pores, so it LOOKS like it has a clear-coat on it, but it's just the bare metal. Lasts pretty good, according to the guy who recommended it to me. He's the owner of a 1-3rd gen refurb shop, and a race shop. Also, he's a great source of parts for 1st to third gen.

Alternatively, get it blasted, and have them powder coat it with the color of your choice. Powder coat is harder, and more durable than paint. More brittle, though. Liable to chipping, but it takes more force to chip it than paint does. Almost every wheel shop can do powder coating, and if they can't, they know of a shop that can. Make sure that the holes for the lugs are bare metal, though, or they won't torque properly.

However you go, I wish you all the best.
Pat☺