Rusted crome rims, how do you prep them for painting?

[SplashMan]

When I got the Explorer back from the brother-in-law, my old AR Tailgunners are trasted, they are rusted up and one of the fronts is so corroded from the brake dust that I can't even scrub it clean. I just want to paint them black. can anyone tell me what I have to do to prep them?

 

[MONMIX]

you are gonna have to make both the rust and the chrome go away.

 

[SplashMan]

So a wire wheel and a lot of elbo grease... figured that.

 

[newc5188]

Have you tried using Turtle Wax's Chrome Polish? I had some incredible results using that stuff on my never before cleaned wheels. I am telling you these wheels were the most brown they could ever get... 6 years no cleaning. Now my wheels are some of the shiniest that I have seen.

 

[SplashMan]

Its worth a shot, but the rust is pretty think on there.

 

[BigDakota]

I used a product called Naval Jelly to remove some rust from chrome. It was like sticky jello! It would rip that rust right off with its chemical reaction. I do not know if they still sell the stuff anymore..its worth a shot..I am going to Google it, just for kicks and giggles.

 

[4.0 freak]

The simple thing to do would be to sand/bead blast them. It will remove all the rust and chrome and they would be ready to paint. If you do sand/bead blast them I suggest painting them soon after before any oxidation begins.