Finally got the "face" of the rims clean with a compination of all of the cleaners mentioned.I repainted the cenrer caps silver with Black H logo. They look good. I found out the center areas of the rims look ok after cleaning, its the slightly raised spoke or arm sections that are really scratched up. I'm gonna try painting those. First I thought of crome, but I didn't find any I liked for wheels specifically. I went with another shade of silver. I'm gonna fine sand today and paint one to see what it looks like. (also working on roof leak and cleaning dash parts...)

 

 

Thatb was awesome. I did the same cleaning and wet sanding, but my rims are 50 times worse than those. I finally got the back of one to look like metal again,instead of black crude. It took many reps of brake cleaner, and degreaser and scrubbing with steel wool,,. I was hoping something could cut thru this black stuff, but nothing does.
I tried touching op the scrape markes on the spoke parst of one rim, but I do not like the results yet...too late to play longer tonite, may look for chrome paint again..

 

That was a good video for some of you who are willing to try it..

WheelBrokerAng

 

A rim repair guy showed me a trick that saves time. Get a pack of index cards and use them to create a barrier on the rubber that protects from the overspray. You have to be very careful with the paint but it does save you a tone of time with masking.

 

Ok,..I found this stuff called Purple Power that can finally cut thru most crud of these rims (backside too),I remember using it 2 yrs ago on another car for the engine grime. Trouble is, it will also eat away paint if left on the surface. That stuff, with steel wool, and spraying with engine degreaser,.. and a lot of scrubbing in the direction of the grooves, removed the hardened grime...* My wife pointed out I will probably die from the chemicals on my hands and fumes, and the brake dust particles, though I did all cleaning out doors, and with gloves on (now).I should have a airmask , but the rims are always wet when I scrub the with the chemicals. So beware if you tackle this job. wear gloves, get a mask, or I'll send my wife over to nag ya! I still have 2 rims to go.
I also stripped the paint back off the one I had painted. I just didn't like the look. I am surprised how well the original finish looks on the central area after scrubbing with 0000 steel wool, so I'm gonna leave it alone. The "spoke" areas are the ones most banged up, plus the edges all around of course. I'm thinking it gives it a "road warrior" look...so if I can't find a paint I like, I'll leave them "as is" also. I hope to get some pics on here, just for fun of course.

 

Finally done with all 4 wheels, and as before, I'm not that happy with the results. They look good from a distance, but up close they are still beat.I found some more "chrome" paint. I may try paining the curved spoke part of one to see what it looks like. I've been busy replacing broken interior parts also. The car was pretty beat up when I got it, but its slowly looking better.

 

Take them and have them sand blasted and then go from there..for whatever look your going to go for.