We've had many discussions on the Halibrand wheels and the properties as they age. Here's some recommendations I found on another automotive site:
If fifty years have passed and your Halibrands have never been annealed, your results may vary.
jack vines
FWIW, with gravity cast magnesium race wheels, we recommend annealing them every 10 yrs or so. The U.S military uses magnesium wheels on fighters and throws them away after a certain number of hours of use. This is because magnesium can age-harden and get brittle whether sitting on a shelf or on a car. Cast magnesium isn't very dense, so micro pinholes easily become major problems. Annealing mag can be done in a kitchen oven at only 375F for two hours followed by VERY slow cooling to room temp. Some guys take the hot castings out of the oven, wrap them in several blankets and put them back in the oven till morning.
To do all four or five wheels at once, powder coating shops have large ovens and the right temperatures. If you can talk the operators into it, pay your powder coaters to hang your wheels in the switched-off oven overnight. There is no casting movement or distortion. Annealed wheels come out straight.
To do all four or five wheels at once, powder coating shops have large ovens and the right temperatures. If you can talk the operators into it, pay your powder coaters to hang your wheels in the switched-off oven overnight. There is no casting movement or distortion. Annealed wheels come out straight.
jack vines
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