Wheel refinishing on '99 chrome wheels?

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99Hawk120
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Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:54 pm

Wheel refinishing on '99 chrome wheels?

Post by 99Hawk120 » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:57 pm

Does anyone have a source for shop (preferably in NC/VA, or by mail) that can redo the existing chrome wheels on my '99? They're getting to the point where they don't like to hold air any more. They're not bent or damaged, just peeling and possibly corroded.

I haven't had much luck looking on my own.

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DraganHawk
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Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2002 4:02 pm
Location: Lemont Il.

Re: Wheel refinishing on '99 chrome wheels?

Post by DraganHawk » Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:17 pm

google wheel repair in your area. Or google powder coaters, wheel chromers or wheel refinishing in your area.
If you can't find any, go to a couple of body shops and ask them who they use and then call those places

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Black Robe
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Location: Abbotsford, B.C. Canada
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Re: Wheel refinishing on '99 chrome wheels?

Post by Black Robe » Tue Nov 03, 2015 1:15 am

DraganHawk wrote:google wheel repair in your area. Or google powder coaters, wheel chromers or wheel refinishing in your area.
If you can't find any, go to a couple of body shops and ask them who they use and then call those places
I'm going to revive this old post.

It is practically impossible to re-chrome the SLP chrome wheels. I had the same problems and shopped around to find any shop that would be able to provide a 'good-as-new' chrome job and was uniformly rejected by every one of the chroming shops in western North America!
The problem is that the intergranular corrosion will be worse inside the wheel than the external symptoms (peeling/cracking chrome). If the wheels are de-chromed for analysis, they say that the hidden damage will almost certainly be un-repairable, and if you insist, the price of repairs can exceed the cost of the most expensive wheels you could find! (BBS, etc.)
Then after all of that expense, they would not warranty the work! (Check the California Chrome website for the best explanation on this.)
So what can you do??? I bought a near perfect set of painted LS series Firehawk wheels (never chromed by SLP) and then had them chromed by Cal Chrome and at a reasonable price. They are absolutely perfect. I did not clearcoat them like SLP had done. I don't drive it in salt or even much rain, so I just wax them every time I'm washing the car.
The originals lasted 12 years before problems, and at 66 years old, I expect I won't even remember I once had a Firehawk by the time it needs another set!
:lol:
'01 Bright Red w/Black #C04 M6 Convertible
All GM Options, All SLP Options (Bilstein)

'82 Trans Am CACC/SCCA GT1 Road Racer

02 red hawk
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Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:19 pm

Re: Wheel refinishing on '99 chrome wheels?

Post by 02 red hawk » Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:22 pm

I sent a decent set of chrome wheels to California Chrome Wheels for their show chrome treatment. Strip, copper plate, triple nickel plate, then chrome. Show chrome polishes face & barrel to a mirror finish. Barrel shows signs of where the original finish pitted & flaked. I did no prep work because I thought the damage would all be stripped off. It's not. Bought a set of painted wheels & sent them off without checking barrel smoothness condition. Wheels again received show chrome treatment. Barrels are blemish free except they are rough with burrs. Can't see them, but you sure can feel them. Run a towel over them & they snag. So, I bought another set of painted wheels, sanded any questionable areas, & am about to send them off for the same. With the prep work I've done, I hope they come back perfect. I've got the burr set on my hawk & a perfect, blemish free chrome set on my ws6.

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