captain satellite

My 993 has 17 inch chrome finished cup style wheels. I think they are original upgrade for my early 1995.

There is some pitting on the wheels and on the inside (where the tire bead seals, some flaw in the metal or chrome that has caused a slow leak on one rim.

Looking for suggestions about if this is a cost effective fix.

Thanks.

Leo

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Leo,

Yessir,..these can be stripped and re-chromed if needed.

Honestly though, chrome wheels have a well-earned reputation for the problems you mentioned and I'd suggest not re-chroming them again. My recommendation would be to have them stripped and either painted (OEM) or polished. The latter is a little more upkeep, but FAR more durable than chroming.

stace

Steve is correct as usual! My car came with chrome 18in twists. They leaked due to degrading chrome. Had them stripped and polished. Looked much better. Powder coating would be another option.

Allen

Here's my theory...I'm sure the original finish is pretty unhappy about being chromed over...I think the pitting is the result of the original finish trying to free itself by getting the chrome OFF...just my theory...could be wrong.....

captain satellite

Good suggestions. That's the direction that I want to go, polished wheels and glad to hear that mine can be stripped and polished.

Can anybody suggest a shop? I live in the Oakland, Alameda area of San Francisco.

I want to do this before getting badly needed tires.

Thanks.

Leo

David in LA

I had chromed hollow spoke twists and when I priced out the time and cost to have them stripped and refinished it was more cost effective for me to get whatever trade-in value I could get for them towards the price of another set of wheels.

BobbyT

If you want to consider a swap, talk to Eli at www.wheeldynamics.com. They can ship your new wheels wrapped with the tires of your choice, mounted with their magic Corghi Artiglio machine, and balanced with their Hunter RoadForce balancer. Then you can ship the old wheels back to them for credit.

Martin S.

Wheels America in Buena Park, 714.670.0150 does an incredible job on re-finishing and straightening if needed. $129 per wheel which includes UPS shipping back to you. Wheels sent here will be returned to you good as new....BUT, don't know if they take the chrome off.

If they do, let us know. I have a set of chromed 17" Cup II wheels that I'd like to strip and refinish.

I had the do a wheel for me...couldn't believe how great it looked.

andrewmia

Sure can be done, but won't be cheap.
Try redline rim repair. They are a franchise so probably available in your area.
or get the equipment and become the "guy" who can do it:
http://garagetoolz.co.uk

cgfen

just so you understand the process;

• Chromium needs to be electrochemically removed from the wheels
• surface needs to be chemically "neutralized"
• The nickel plating then needs to be re-polished
• Then chromium needs to be electrochemically re-plated.

Some wheels don't survive this process.
It depends on how well they were processed initially.
Do you know that there is a layer of copper between the aluminum and nickel??

Cheers

Craig

captain satellite

Believe they are original to my car, just put new N rated Michelins on a few months ago and am driving as is. One wheels looses pressure and the tire installer, Harry at Pacific Motors in San Francisco told me both fronts are slightly out of round. He used weights to balance as much as possible.

So far all good. Haven't decided on going with new wheels or trying to have the chrome stripped (as described above) and wheels polished.

There is a Fuchs dealer in San Rafael and these are possible, it one is purchased at a time and then the set installed in about four years.....

captain satellite

Believe they are original to my car, just put new N rated Michelins on a few months ago and am driving as is. One wheels looses pressure and the tire installer, Harry at Pacific Motors in San Francisco told me both fronts are slightly out of round. He used weights to balance as much as possible.

So far all good. Haven't decided on going with new wheels or trying to have the chrome stripped (as described above) and wheels polished.

There is a Fuchs dealer in San Rafael and these are possible, if one is purchased at a time and then the set installed in about four years.....