tmirisola

What year did the C4 OE rims come in Bright Chrome from the factory???

I met a C4 owner today who told me his bright chrome rims were OE factory chrome. I was not sure so I did not debate him. The rims looked the same style as the OE rims on my 95 except for Bright Chrome.

corvetteronw

I don't recall that they were ever chrome plated from the factory. Polished - yes but no chrome.

RollaMo-LT4

No C4 came from the factory with Chrome Wheels.

Perhaps it was possible that some might have been installed as a "Dealer Option".
But none rolled off the assembly line with Chrome.

WVZR-1

He may very well meant for it to be understood that they were GM/OE that had been chromed. A "dealer add-on" is likely OR maybe just GM/OE purchased outright that had been plated.

CRUZN C4

GM never offered chrome wheels in the C4 era.

zr1fred

Maybe he meant "chromed...factory wheels". There are factory wheels that were chromed, and aftermarket chromed "clones". There's been so many of them out there, that people assume they came original from the factory.

tmirisola

Naaaa he gave me a story how his wheels were OE Chrome from the GM factory. I stood there and nodded my head then walked away rather than get in to a useless BS debate.

I was just curious cause they looked like that super thick wavy Asian chrome. I should have taken a few pics. If he didn't tell me his C4 car was 100% OE I would have never asked about the rims. He was showing the car with his son I guess. I wasn't about to debate with Dad with his son there. I said Beautiful car and walked away

Joe C

smart move -

as others said, NO factory installed or factory offered OE chrome wheels. dealer installed, maybe, aftermarket, most likely, useless BS debate, for sure.

RollaMo-LT4

Yeah, sometimes you just have to walk away.

You will run into lots of "stories" like that at car shows, especially with Corvettes.

I met a guy on the Power Tour with a really nice LT4.
The car was Red and had the 11" inch rear wheels with 315/35-17 tires.
He had the Grand Sport badges on the side, and was telling everyone that would listen it was a rare Grand Sport.
I told him that all of them were Blue with a White Stripe, and he said that he knew some top GM people and was able to special order this one in Red.
He was starting to draw a crowd (the car really was nice).
I leaned over and looked at the VIN through the windshield, and said "funny, it doesn't have a GS VIN".
He didn't say a word.

QCVette

I agree with no chrome from the factory, but I don't remember any polished either.

They were either a machine finish with clear coat, or painted.

I know the '84-'87, '88 16", "88-'89, '90, '93-'96, outer edge of the barrel and edge where weight attaches on the '91-'92 ,the outer edge where a weight attaches on the CE/ZR1 wheels all were machine finished.

Maybe I am missing something so let me know if there are any polished.

tmirisola

I found this awesome page regarding C4 Wheels. Book Mark it http://www.mirrockcorvette.com/corve...de-wheels.html

WVZR-1

I believe that the only wheels from GM having a "polished" finish was the "rim-lip" only of the '90 and '88 - '89 version of the same wheel.

Weck86

To the OP and other's interested in 'originality'. Not my thing, but others find it addicting along with the polishing. Anyway my suggestion is to get the NCRS judging guide for your particular year. It's the 'bible' and will tell you down to the nuts and bolts what should or should not be there from the factory. Take it to shows to settle your discussions. Me, I just like to look at the cars then go have a burger and beer. YMMV

QCVette

I just went out to the garage and looked at my '90 wheels. They have a machined not polished "rim-lip".

The picture below is a lousy picture and the flash caught a lot of weird reflections that make the wheel look really bad, but it does show the definite machining marks in that area.




I am not one who keeps things original. None of my Corvettes have remained stock. But I do like to know as much about them as possible.

I'm with Weck86, I just like to look at them (and drive them or work on them ) and enjoy a burger and a beer (or maybe 2 or 3).

Joe C

interesting - my 90's wheel rim lips have more of a polished appearance, and only the center section has the machined look.

WVZR-1

My '90 wheels don't show any machining and the clear is pretty much intact. I've a friend that uses the earlier with caps as hose reels in his shop and I don't believe his does either, I'll need to look.

This is a recent offering of an NOS '90 wheel and while it's not as close up as yours it's easy to see the difference wheel face to rim lip. The machining of the wheel face makes the orange peel/muddling of clear a bit more pronounced.

I'll stick to my thought "polished rim lip" still BUT I'll look!! LOL

Joe C

while it appears that both may be correct, I think the majority of 88-90 wheels will have a polished wheel lip with a machined center section. however, QCVette has somewhat proven, nothing's 100% with these cars. here's a close-up of one of my 90's wheels showing polished lip and machined center (best close-up I could get).

Pa'svette

My 91 is the same. No machine marks on the outside rim.

QCVette

Interesting to see it both ways. I would never have guessed that they would be different. I wonder why?

Joe C

most likely it was quiting time on a Friday at the wheel polishing station - IT'S MILLER TIME!