Steel wheels/paint removal

[Caman96]

Hey guys and gals! I was just given a set (4) of the 16×7 Ford 8-lug wheels off an early '90s van (so, yes, they'll fit fine). They're in really great shape, but they're battleship Grey and I want them white.
I'm thinking I'm going to use a thick plastic 30 gallon barrel with 7-10 gallons of white vinegar to soak each wheel in to strip the paint off. I have the wheels, barrels, and the time to do this. All I need is the vinegar, and it fits perfectly within my budget, LMAO!
Anyone have any pro's or con's about this? I also have a couple of steel brushes to help convince the paint to vacate the premises.

Any luck stripping wheels?

 

[1ton-o-fun]

All done with the research.
Shops around here have quoted me from $50 each wheel to sandblast, to $500 for the set of 4 (dustless media blast).

 

[1ton-o-fun]

Oops! Didn't mean to post that, as I wasn't finished.
I'm going to give Easy Off oven cleaner a try. I'll make it a YouTube video to show the results... stay tuned.

 

[stutaeng]

You don't have an angle grinder? I was thinking maybe you can use those little cup wire wheels. Something like this guy:

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[MrPink]

I did my wheels for my truck and what i did was used a wire wheel to get the rusty spots back down to bare metal and scuffed up the rest of them, shot em with self etching primer, regular primer, color, then clear. All 4 looked like the 1st image, if not worse. The wheels in the picture of the 4 are actually mismatched, there is 2 15x8's a 15x6.5 and a 15x7. I have a total of 5 wheels for the truck 15x6.5's for the front, 15x8's for the rear, and a 15x7 for my spare all painted the same color.

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[Tomahawk 309]

Aircraft stripper...nasty stuff but works

 

[1ton-o-fun]

What I'm starting with. Then I garden hosed them off and used this cleaner full strength from a spray bottle and wiped around with a scotchbrite pad and hosed them off again.

 

[1ton-o-fun]

I only "cleaned" one wheel. I will do a better job and actually clean all 4 this weekend.

 

[stutaeng]

Well, that's a huge improvement already! What are you going to paint them with? You probably don't have to strip them back to bare metal. Just prime since you have a bit of rust, then topcoat.

Look at your technical data sheets (TDS) on your paint to see what it says about paint preparation.

 

[1ton-o-fun]

That's another hiccup. I haven't thoroughly planned that out yet, and I obviously don't want them fully stripped and rusting while I figure that out. I DO have an ace up my sleeve on painting and bodywork as for as quality goes... but like most high quality things, it'll cost you. I'm going to clean them up well for starters.