The chrome is removable relatively quickly (but not without hazard) with muriatic acid. But, such wheels are actually nickel plated and then chrome plated, and most of what you are looking at is actually nickel.
It may be possible to sandblast them, but sandblasting is not good for aluminum and you'll never get it smooth again. Chemically stripping the nickel requires special chemicals that aren't easily available to or usable by consumers.
I think your best bet is to take the wheels to a plating shop or powder coating shop for stripping the nickel and applying a chromate conversion coating before painting or powder coating.
orPowder coaters have told me of their success with a light sandblast that removes the chrome and etches the nickel. It's a fine answer, but not if heavy layers of nickel are peeling. In that case you must chemically remove the nickel and you can't do that yourself, you have to take them to a plating shop because you cannot dissolve nickel into any chemical comonly available to consumers. Oven cleaner may be useful for removing anodizing but not nickel plating. Sorry.
Personally, I would recommend the sandblasting, since it will remove the nickel (and copper) as well. You won't get better surface prep for plating. You can Britex wheel the part after the blasting to smooth it out (recommended), or go directly to flash copper.
not in the uk you can't.not to my knowledge anyway/Battery acid. Neutralise with a strong solution of washing soda after or it will go on eating away at the metal. You can buy battery acid at most motorfactors and its cheap as chips.
King nasty process, but its very effective. Gloves and gogs a must and emergency eye wash to hand.
If you intend to replate you will need to first polish, but this will be required however you remove the chrome.
I'd be very wary of removing chrome plating at "home", chromium salts have very specific disposal regulations and should be left to certified companies to allow them to dispose of the waste properly...
They're not too good for the environment and furter more to anything living that comes in to contact with them...
Hello Omniata,
"it's less hazardous to handle pure mercury in your bare hands... "
I remember doing that very thing in a science lesson at school (early 60's)
Alec
Hello Omniata,
"it's less hazardous to handle pure mercury in your bare hands... "
I remember doing that very thing in a science lesson at school (early 60's)
Alec
10/6