I took a chance at cleaning my Virgo rims with an oven cleaner - EasyOff - this afternoon. I was positively stunned by the effect. Just happened to have the front end up off the ground on jackstands and before letting it down, I thought I'd clean the front rims. Sprayed the exposed rim with EasyOff, let it set for a few minutes and then gently rubbed with a teflon scrub pad. This was followed by a gentle spray of water from the garden hose. Caked material was poked off with a screwdriver blade and more water spray. This was virtually effortless. Use rubber gloves and eye protection. Likely work on other rim styles, too.

Of course, I might be the last fella that ever heard of using EasyOff. Perhaps I'll awake in the morning with a '83 245 GLT lowrider.

Mike
--
'83 245 GLT, '90 760 GLT

Most cleaners do not seem to have enough cleaning power. I found that tub and tile cleaner works well. I used this for the initial cleaning on a few purchases where the wheels we never washed and a few times when I neglected them.

WANTED: A good wheel brush that will get into the nooks and crannies.

If I remember correctly the instructions on Easy-Off state that you should not
use it on aluminum. I believe its major fat-saponifying ingredient is lye,
sodium hydroxide, so you run the risk of superficial damage or possibly outright
dissolution of the aluminum if you leave it on very long. May also lead to
stress-corrosion cracking, which could take place over a long period of time and
suddenly appear with disastrous results.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

I believe virgos were factory painted or at least clear coated (or both) so I doubt you'll hurt anything.
--
'93 244: 'A' cam 4 deg. advanced, 25/22 sways, custom heim endlinks, fully converted to poly bushings, HD springs front, wagon springs rear.

Painted, no clear coat.

Howdy all,

Painted, no clear coat.

I would not use Easy-Off to clean anything on the car. Aside from the serious problems that George pointed out about use on bare aluminum, it will attack paint too.

When we were children my sister wanted to clean the kitchen to surprise our mom when she got home from work. She cleaned everything in sight. The only problem was she did not read the labels on the various cleaning products. She used Easy-Off to clean the outside of the refrigerator, the range hood, and the outside of the stove. It permanently marked the paint on all three. She was inconsolable at the time. I think she got over it about a decade ago. ;-)

WANTED: A good wheel brush that will get into the nooks and crannies.

Look for "wheel cleaning brushes" on Google. There are several on the market that are made specifically for the task.
--
Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- I've taken to using mister because my name misleads folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man.

This is a post cleaning update. Recognizing the strength of EasyOff, I was certain to liberally rinse the cleaned areas with water. Elapsed time of in strength EasyOff in contact with the rim was only a few minutes. Again the results were astounding considering a comparison with the other two rims I had cleaned using standard cleaners a couple of weeks before hand. I noticed no deterioration in paint coating.

This is the curious part. The next day, I was determined to remove the front wheels (the rims that were cleaned the day before) to inspect front suspension. I was much surprised at the effort I needed to loosen those wheel lugs. I had to put a cheater bar on the lug wrench handle for most of the lugs. Note that I had cleaned the rims with the front jacked up and wheels still mounted. I've NEVER had to go to this extreme. And the threads of the lugs and studs are not aluminum or painted. I'm not certain the EasyOff had anything to do with this, but I've had to reflect on this coincidence. I didn't think that I had oversprayed the cleaner, keeping it out of the rim recesses where the lugs fit.

Possibly, I'll clean the rear rims with the wheels removed. An old toothbrush might reach into hard to clean areas. Of course, using liberal water spray to wash away the cleaner. I do want to avoid any potential chemical reaction between cleaner and bare aluminum/coating.

Mike
--
'83 245 GLT, '90 760 GLT