GOLD72

Me too. I had no clue that GM would paint over chrome on the inside barrels. Amazing results. I like the all-chrome look as well. I thought GM was just being cheap by not chroming the entire wheel.

kevakasper

My car had aftermarket chrome Z06 wheels on it when I bought it last March. The previous owner said he put them on right before he traded it in, last October. Car had 6000K on it when traded. Some A-hole at the dealership drove the car through the winter / spring last year and never cleaned anything. The brand new wheels were trashed! The Chrome was pitted, flaking, and overall crap! I Painted the inside barrels and sold the tires / wheels on E bay. Bought a set of GM Acc. 7 spokes from a forum member here, that were painted! I will not take off the paint, even though I too am as **** as the rest of the folks here and it's not my daily driver. That paint is there as an added layer of protection against the corrosive brake dust, and salt etc. Chrome is porous, and the corrosive elements attack the aluminum, then the chrome starts flaking. After that it is VERY expensive to have the wheels stripped, and re chromed. It was cheaper to replace than to re chrome. The inside of the painted barrels looks fine when cleaned, I am amazed at the amount of crap that collects just driving the car. The chrome layer on the barrels is pretty thin also. If you want the chrome I would suggest having the entire wheel cleared as an added protection, but the chrome is pretty slick, and you may get flaking as you wouldn't want to scratch up the surface for adhesion. I'm going with the engineering and longevity testing that the factory did to come up with a wheel that they could warranty without replacing on hundreds of thousands of cars. To each thier own!

BSE1956

Great Post - thanks!
This method is NOT for the daily driver, wash every month or two crowd.

redzone

Don't hold me to this.....but there was a thread a couple years back about this very same thing.

I told the guy there was no way the barrels on his chrome wheels were chrome...I mean,why would they paint them grey if they were chrome?

Well,he stripped them & posted pics & sure enough they were chrome all the way through.

Like I said,this was at least two years ago,so I'd say the chances are very good the chrome wheels are your 07 have chrome barrels.

Dif

and to add some info for what it's worth.
The wheels are chrome all over to seal the whole wheel.
Also, it's more work to only chrome part of the rim because it would involve masking off part of it.
And, there would be a edge between where the chrome ends and in this case, the aluminum.
Contaminates then very easily get under that edge and start the chrome peeling etc.
People would be surprised how many things are chromed and then painted either partially or completely.
To add to the reason for the painted barrels, is the barrels do Not get polished like the face of the wheel before the chrome is applied.
The quality of the machined surface finish in the barrels will vary so it's painted to give a uniform look to the wheel.
So yes, even though the whole wheel is chromed, when the paint is removed from the barrel area, some wheels will look smoother and shinier than others.
Chrome is hard as a rock and pretty much the most durable finish when properly taken care of.
Biggest problem with chrome is not the chrome itself, it's the quality of how it is applied.
The good thing is, these wheels may not have show chrome top notch plating, but they're a far cry above the quality of the old Cragars of days gone by

VETFEVER

You can use the technique nicely illustrated here to also remove the OEM clear coat from the various polished wheels Vettes have used over the years.

You will be amazed how the polished rims glow once you remove the clear coat which can go milky after a year or two.

C-INRED

As I posted earlier, I have GM wheels that were after market chromed. I did the WCC chrome exchange shortly after buying my car.

The barrels of mine are not as smooth as the OP. I would describe them as a brushed finish but they still look great. So what Dif says is correct, the smoothness of the finish may vary.

RAT

While looking through the and using the search function I did not see this post. I would love to see and read it. If you remember the title can you please post it for us?

Thanks.

From what I have seen and read this is very true. So if your barrels is not as polished as mine be for warned. I still think they'll look much better then the gray paint.

Thanks, some really good info. Thanks for sharing with us.

There we go, as it seems some barrels are smoother then others. Would you happen to have any photos of the inside of your barrels?

martinf55

Name of the auto store you bought the ac remover and acetone????

HD_Rider

Home Depot and Lowe's also sells Acetone and Aircraft Remover.

TCW

Those look great! I wonder why GM painted them in the first place? They look WAY better without the paint.

Tom

LMBZ4ME

That looks great. Excellent write up. They should have come this way from the factory.

jschindler

This thread pisses me off. I thought I got over this OCD crap when I sold my CCW wheels

Seriously, they look great.

DWS44

Wow...this is very tempting! Thanks for posting!

Luster

Unprotected and Un-cleaned chrome will hold brake dust, dirt and will hold moisture. Since 90% of all car owners never clean the backside of their wheels, leaving them dirty for years, the chrome will start to bubble, crack and peel if left unattended.

GM decided a few years ago to solve the problem by painting the inner part of the wheels making the back-side "maintenance free" by sealing the chrome, which is porous.

I've seen the back side of chrome wheels where 6" chunks of chrome plating were bubbling and peeling off, leaving a nasty rough aluminum wheel exposed, also leaving a sharp, rough edge that will cut your hands in a second.

You're wheels look beautiful! I have no doubt you'll keep them looking that way for years!!!!

RRVettes

Nice job. I added this thread to the C6 FAQ.

C-INRED

Sorry I don't, but I'll try to get one for you. I won't be able to get it posted for a couple of days.

I can tell you though that even though they are not as smooth as the OP's, they look just as good IMO.

calmtgguy

When my 2001 Camaro SS was brand new the chrome wheels looked so nice. The chrome on the inside of the wheels looked as good as the chrome on the outside. Now who takes off their wheels to clean the inside regularly? Well for one, not me. Chrome needs to be cleaned regularly, and if you don't do a decent job of it, you will end up with pitted chrome, guaranteed. I live where there is no snow or salt on the roads. G.M. paints the inside of those wheels to make them last, because once chrome starts pitting it peels.

j_digi454

OP, your wheels look awesome with the paint removed.

I have an 07 with polished/clear-coated wheels which I like a lot. The barrels are clear-coated as well and look great (a lot like yours) when they are clean. The problem is the barres are not smooth like yours, they are grooved like the grooves on a record and a PITA to get clean and keep clean. i have been tempted to paint mine grey just to help fill in the grooves and help with the cleaning issue.

Dif

The grooves are from the machining process.
As the wheels are being machined, the cutting tool is moving slightly too fast.
If the tool was moving slower it would leave a smoother finish.
But, all things considered, a smoother barrel finish serves no real purpose.
Bottom line, .. if you're a wheel manufacturer .. time is money