chrome plating?????????
 

Have a set of 18" 1994 Turbo 3.6 Speedline wheels with the anodized finish. Has anyone had theirs chrome plated or polished aftermarket?

If you've ever seen what chrome plating can do to an aluminum wheel (once the plating starts to flake off), you'd consider other alternatives, as you mentioned, like polishing.

NO! No! Not the ghetto bling-bling look?!?!? :eek:

But seriously, unless properly done the process will corrode the aluminum. My 993 came with chromed TT Twist and during the process loose metal had somehow gotten into the spokes and were rattling around! When I got new wheels, the shope almost refused to give me any trade-in value. I believe Jeff on the 993 forum had chromed TT Twists that corroded - do a search as he has pictures of the damage on his page.

I would recommend your either paint or polish...add a sealant if you want to minimize the polishing.

Take a look at some pics of my chromed wheels:

<a href="http://www.cuberootconsulting.com/gallery/album43" target="_blank">Defective Chrome Wheels</a>

Can you imaging carving up a mountain road and then the wheel deteriorating in the middle of a turn, next to a cliff? YIKES!

I'd recommend painting or polishing as well. The polished look is very nice, IMHO.

David, at least you got some trade in value. My chromed wheels have been sitting in my garage. I don't know what to do with them. I think that I might give them away to the local wheel shop to cut up and show the ill effects of chroming. It was a hard $2K to just write off, but it was defaintly a safety issue.

Jeff

Jeff - The shop I bought my Gemballas from said the only way to salvage them was to strip off the chrome and rechrome or paint them. Supposedly if the chrome process is done properly there should not be a problem...the issue is that the process itself uses corrosives and some shops skimp on the process or just don't have the expertise.