Finally got the Americans on

[Gburner]

Panzer. I think your wheels look great too.
Don't take it personally, our opinions differ.

I feel 40 year old brittle rotting magnesium parts are best saved for valve covers and other less stressed areas. Selected areas where expected failures will less likely be catastrophic.
Magnesium rots, it can not exists for decades and remain as new.
Again the rims look great on your car, have them checked often.

This is an extreme case but a buddy was racing a Pantera at the Silver State several years ago. He came across the finish line with an overheated wheel bearing, which started a fire that they tried to control until the magnesium campys caught on fire too. The fire dept sprayed water on it but realized they could do nothing once the magnesium was on fire.

I have owned magnesium Gas Burners and Empi 5 spokes (they cracked too). I just speak from my own experiences.
Good luck.

[6 Shooter]

One of these days I'll take my magnesium wheels to get checked out. There are non-destructive testing methods that can give you some temporary piece of mind. I think that some of the trick machine shops (aircraft/military/space) or non ferrous foundries might know who/where the testing can be done. I met someone who was machining trick/$$$ billet wheels a long time ago and he had offered to test my wheels. ( I should have checked them out before he went belly-up....). HA! Oh well... one of these days.
FWIW, if you do run exposed, polished magnesium wheels, keep the dogs away from them... ammonia/urine is not good for magnesium!!

[6 Shooter]

Ha! I do agree with Gburner that magnesium does get brittle and crystallize from the inside out. Just something else to worry about.... have you ever seen/heard about someone who was wounded/burnt with mg? I heard that during the war, the wounded area was covered with mud to extinguish the fire by removing the oxygen. When the mud was removed later @ the MASH unit, the mg would reignite. I didn't see it personally, maybe I should contact Mythbusters!

[dvkk]

Originally posted by Gburner
The inside air pressure constantly pushing the damp air into the back of the rim is rotting the magnesium rim from inside out just as quickly.
I’ve seen a magnesium VW BRM wheel fail. The 40 year old brittle magnesium had rotted so badly that the rim on impact exploded into a dozen small pieces similar in size and shape to the old clip on wheel weights.

One way to greatly reduce the corrosion of Mg is to carefully paint every square mm especially the backside and where the pressurized air lives. I have a friend with a set of the VW BRMs, and he has noted that since carefully painting this way, the polished spokes stay bright a lot longer than a wheel that's exposed on the backside. Extreme care must be taken when mounting the tires to avoid scratching or chipping the paint. The secret is to seal out the oxygen. This treatment would obviously apply to every Mg wheel.

[Gburner]

Originally posted by 6 Shooter
I didn't see it personally, maybe I should contact Mythbusters!

I can't match that but..
In the Navy (was that a song?) the myth was that if a plane were to catch fire on the deck of the aircraft carrier that a hunk of burning magnesium from the aircraft on fire could burn through every deck level till it reached the bottom of the ship.
Either of these challenges should improve ratings for the Mythbusters.