Wipperman

Hello,

I managed to get hold of a decent set of fuchs rims to my 73a.
The problem is that they are white and with chrome, or at least polished a lot.
My car is orange, I want to have black rims, but how to to with the crome/polish?
Sandpaper/scotch brite?
The crome thing is to much “Miami vice” and would do some serious harm to the image of my RS :-)

Anyone with experience of this?

Best regards

Anders

agentpennypacker

Have them dipped (removal of chrome). Most metal refurbishing shops can do this. Sandpaper won't do it.

Bill Gregory

If chromed, the Fuchs are probably ruined (sorry). The chroming process leaves lots of pits under the chrome. I seem to recall Porsche as recommending against chroming as it weakens the wheel. If they are just highly polished, then all options are open to you.

agentpennypacker

It actually doesn't ruin them - the "weakening" factor is not true. The pits can be taken out when refinished. What the chrome does is it holds in heat and ads significant weight to the wheel.

JackOlsen

Polished Fuchs can look like they're chrome. Take them to a plating shop, or wheel polishing place, and they'll be able to tell you what you have. If they're only polished, it's not difficult to paint them. As Bill says, if they've been plated with chrome, they've probably been compromised.

r911

AgentPP - what makes you say that it does ot weaken them? Did you read it somewhere?

si Banker

How much weight could plating the rim of a wheel add? I can not believe it would be an issue. There should be a layer of copper followed by nickel and finally chrome if done correctly.

Most plating shops tape off most of the wheel to save on material, if they are smart.

I just can not understand why anyone would chrome plate a alloy wheel.

Avenger6

There has been a thread on this about a year ago. There was an engineer that weighed in and put up some links in that talked about the fact that the combined layers of metals adds a few MICRONS in thickness, not even measurable with most micrometers. The myth about damage or weakening of the wheel is also false. There is just not enough energy put into the wheel in the process to make any change to the alloy of the wheel. Finally, as to wieght, again, the amount of metal added is very small. I don't remember if they discussed the pitting issue, but I would suspect that it would come from the acids used to remove the chrome, and not from the chroming process or the actual chrome itself.

BTW, the info also talked about the fact that there are two kind of chrome plating...one is the cosmetic type we are used to, put on at a few microns thickness. The other, much more prevalent, is industrial grade palting, that hardens the metal and reduces friction, which is used in heavy machinery and manufacturing equipment. That plating is much thicker, and isn't shiny at all. It was an interesting thread if someone wants to dig into the archives and find it.

Bill Gregory

I've seen a Fuchs wheel with chrome that was flaking/coming off the wheel, and the pitting underneath was significant.

Avenger6

Hmmmm....I wonder if the flaking was because of a bad chroming job, and if that also caused the pitting?

I don't claim any real expertise here. The chromed fuchs I have were done and paid for by the guy I bought the wheels from. I know he is a person who always pays for the absolute best of everything, and I have no flaking or damage to the chrome of any kind. They have been pretty carefree. I really only bought the wheels because, at the time, 16x8 and 16x9 fuchs were very much in demand and very hard to find. The guy I bought them from was a fellow region member who was selling most of his street cars and stuff to go racing. I have found the chrome to be less work than polished wheels. I use Griot's chrome polish 2-3 times a year, and they just dry off and shine up easily after every wash.

si Banker

Although I am not a fan of chrome on either motorcycles or cars I have had experience with having motorcycle frames re-nickled. Track Master, a manufacture of frames in the sixties, always nickle plated their frames. I restored a number of these frames and if the nickle plating is damaged the only way to remove the old nickle without damaging the surface of the material is to have a experienced plating shop "reverse the polarity when they dip the frame and any previous copper, nickle or chrome will come off the frame providing the surface is free of any paint or clear coat.

Chrome plating dose not pit the material covers. A large part of the labor cost of plating is the surface prep prior to the plating such as polishing to make sure the material surface is smooth.

Rather than chrome alloy wheels, I would suggest anodizing. I believe this is they way the come from the factory, clear anodized with painted centers. The trick to having a alloy wheel, aluminum, is to know what alloy of aluminum the wheel is made of such as 2024, or 6061 or others.

cobalt

If they are chromed they will have a very reflective surface, almost mirror like. if they are polished then it will be shinny but not a mirror finish. If polished without a clear coat then try a wheel cleaner on them. They will start to look dull rather quickly as the acids in the wheel cleaners is not aluminum friendly. Particularly i like polished rims but can't stand chromed myself.

I don't know if this will help but here is a picture of polished Fuchs.

chrisp

The surface material (chrome) is very rigid. The base material (aluminum) is very soft. Cracks can propogate under the chrome and spread without being visible to the user through the chrome. Also, impurities get trapped under the chrome and eat away at the aluminum. The chrome is much more resistant to this stuff than the aluminum. On the surface you have nice shiny wheels but underneath the base material is degrading. The impurities get there when little holes develop in the chrome and open the aluminum to the environment, or when a socket scratches in the lug area, etc.

Honestly I think it's only an issue for hard use wheels and for really light wheels...like Fuchs track wheels. For the street I wouldn't worry about it.

DanS911

You should try to post some pix. I would bet your wheels are polished. Do you see any flaking?
The centers are easy to paint. Your car would no doubt look awesome with orange or black centers and polished lips.