Extreme brake dust from hell

**Bbasso** · 02-01-2005, 03:29 PM

I picked up some rims from a friend who used them for competition events, But he used some race brake pads that have left brake dust like I have never seen before.

The rims are I guess painted or powered coated from the factory. and I don`t want to destroy the finish if possible.

I have used eagle one crome and wire cleaner and it does get dust off but incredible slow rate, it took three days to get them semi clean.

Anthing that might get it done faster ?

**joshcaro** · 02-01-2005, 03:46 PM

Clay bar should help some.

**tom p.** · 02-01-2005, 03:48 PM

The A2Z wheel cleaner is very potent. You may want to try that if the wheels are in excellent shape (apart from the brake dust).

**Bbasso** · 02-01-2005, 03:52 PM

Way past clay bar help

Is A2Z a cleaner that is found at autozone or normal autopart stores?

**Bbasso** · 02-01-2005, 03:56 PM

Here is a picture (the only one I have right now)

**joshcaro** · 02-01-2005, 04:01 PM

Have you tried the clay bar yet? I did some rims like that before..i tried everything.. Finally I broke an old piece of a clay bar off and keep giving it a ton of lube and eventually it all came off.

**Woob** · 02-01-2005, 04:04 PM

Use a good paint cleaner and scrub. A2Z is a very strong rim cleaner that might help you.

**Eliot Ness** · 02-01-2005, 04:05 PM

Originally posted by Bbasso

Here is a picture (the only one I have right now).....

To answer your earlier question, A2Z wheel cleaner is made by Eagle One and is available almost anywhere (I got my last bottle at Wal-Mart). Try some of that (or another good wheel cleaner) first. You have to be careful with it also, don`t leave it on very long and follow the instructions.

I`ve seen some members have very good luck with P21S Wheel Cleaner:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/p21-105g.html

Here are some pics from White95Max of his results:

http://autopia.org/forums/showthread...+wheel+cleaner

**Lowejackson** · 02-01-2005, 04:06 PM

The pictures are not that bad, clay should help a lot.

**imported_NYV6Coupe** · 02-01-2005, 04:17 PM

If you go the clay bar route, consider the clay a throw-away item so use an old bar if you have one.

I had pretty good luck removing some tough brake dust using 409 Pro (green stuff) and a green ScotchBrite pad. Just abrasive enough to remove the residue without scratching.

If the ScothBrite pad won`t touch it you might want to try some 0000 steel wool on a small area & judge if it`s damaging/marring the surface.

**Accumulator** · 02-01-2005, 06:37 PM

Don`t underestimate the claybar. I used clay, with undiluted EFHI as a lube, to clean the *back* side of some rims that had *never* been cleaned before. They came out very nice. Took a very long time though, many hours per wheel, and many claybars.

**RobD** · 02-01-2005, 07:10 PM

I wonder if one of those steam shooter machines would work. Scunci or something. Might soften the brake dust enough to remove it. The only thing I`m thinking is whether it`d be too much heat for the clear?

**jasonmac** · 02-02-2005, 08:15 AM

After the claybar, you might also want to look into a polish/rc to finish up. I definitely wouldn`t use it first, but when the rims are in good shape, the polish might work on anything leftover.

**togwt** · 02-02-2005, 04:54 PM

For badly soiled surfaces use an undiluted citrus-based APC (P21S Total Auto Wash), then use detailerÃƒ¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã¢â€ž¢s clay followed by a gel-type wheel surface cleaner (P21S Wheel Cleaner) apply a polymer surface protection to ensure easier future cleaning (Klasse All-In-One)

JonM

**Bbasso** · 02-02-2005, 06:21 PM

I`ll get a better pic of the uncleaned rims tonight, the amount of brake dust on them is something else. Like I said it is a racing brake pad and when that dust comes in contact with water it bonds like cement.