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View Full Version : Wheels: Polished or Chrome?



halucin8
07-15-2004, 04:45 AM
Are our factory wheels polished or chrome plated? Would like to powder coat black.

BTW, my brother is venturing into the powder coating business. So, as soon as he gets some practice doing parts on my car, he should be able to hook you guys up. For now, he will only be doing parts that will fit into a standard oven. His plan is to do motorcycle frames, so a larger oven will be coming soon.

Later,
Brian

FiveO
07-15-2004, 05:13 AM
Polished Aluminum.

No chrome plating if I recall.

2003 MIB
07-15-2004, 05:29 AM
5-0's right. Polished aluminum with a clearcoat.

halucin8
07-15-2004, 05:31 AM
Thank you very much!!

CRUZTAKER
07-15-2004, 07:26 AM
Polished!

Both the polished and the untreated full size spares are podercoatable and re-polishable as well.

I like the black/polished rim look.....but I'm partial....:D

Warpath
07-16-2004, 09:11 AM
Polised and clear coated. My dad used to be a wheel engineer. He told me a chromed wheel oxidizes much quicker than a polished and clear coated wheel. I'm fairly certain the MM OE wheels are polished and clear coated. Otherwise, they would oxidize too quickly and create a haze. If you try to polish them, you may polish off the clear coat and create new problems.

Silver_04
07-16-2004, 04:32 PM
Chrome doesn't like sticking to AL either. Even just to get the paint to stick there is a rather extensive pretreat process. They have some nice paints out now that do a good job of looking like polished metal or chrome.

And just for kicks, a lot of the Pontiac Grand Am wheels are a chromed plastic overlay on an AL core-not a wheel cover in the classic sense. If you are at a dealer, reach through the spokes and drag your finger across the back of one of the spokes. About 1/4" in you'll feel a gap and that is where the plastic meets the AL.

Mothers Clear Coat Wheel Polish does good to protect the wheels.