[Z06] Removed the ugly gray coating from the inside of your chrome wheels
11-12-2010, 06:52 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Remove the ugly gray coating from the inside of your chrome wheels
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the inside coating on one of my wheels was starting to break down (chipping, bubbling, peeling). A couple years ago, I came across a thread on SVT Performance.com that talked about removing that inner coating.
For those who didn't know, GM and Ford add a silver coating to the chrome plate on the back of most wheels. Looks like a$$ if you ask me. Under the gray coating is chrome.
Here is my wheel and the problem I was having:
Here is what I did to fix it. Will not harm Chrome Wheels. (DO NOT DO THIS PROCEDURE ON POWDER COATED WHEELS!!!) Credit goes to Stang2WRX from SVT Performance. (Some pics are of Cobra wheels).
Step 1:
Make sure you have all of the necessary supplies:
- Wheel (duh)
- "Aircraft Remover" (available at AutoZone in the paint section)
- Container to pour smaller amounts of the stripper into
- Paint brush (3" or 4" recommended)
- Heavy-duty rubber gloves
- Safety glasses
- Bucket of hot/warm water
- Old sponge
- Car wash soap
- Hose/water supply
Step 2:
Once you have your eyewear and gloves on, pour a small bowl full of aircraft remover. Then apply it to the painted part of the rim with the brush in "swirling motions" (you can only do 1/4th to 1/3rd of the wheel at a time if you want to do it right). Let it sit for 2-4 minutes.
Remover activating
Step 3:
Use an old car wash sponge and dip it into hot water, ring some of the water out, and begin to wipe off the remover, the paint should be freely coming off, if it's not then you either didn't "swirl in the remover" with the brush enough or you didn't give it enough time to set. Reapply if necessary. Use of a fine steel wool also helps to remove the now soft paint.
NOTE: Be careful that you don't let it sit for too long, as the silver paint will begin to set again. Repeat this procedure around the rim.
*Keep away from the center caps*
Step 4:
Wash down the wheel and tire as some residue may be left over on the wheel. Dry thoroughly. Apply a coat of Armor All wheel protectant to the insides of the wheels and outside if you desire. I did the entire wheel. It repells brake dust really well.
Before and After PICS of my Z06 Chrome Spyder Wheels.
For those who didn't know, GM and Ford add a silver coating to the chrome plate on the back of most wheels. Looks like a$$ if you ask me. Under the gray coating is chrome.
Here is my wheel and the problem I was having:
Here is what I did to fix it. Will not harm Chrome Wheels. (DO NOT DO THIS PROCEDURE ON POWDER COATED WHEELS!!!) Credit goes to Stang2WRX from SVT Performance. (Some pics are of Cobra wheels).
Step 1:
Make sure you have all of the necessary supplies:
- Wheel (duh)
- "Aircraft Remover" (available at AutoZone in the paint section)
- Container to pour smaller amounts of the stripper into
- Paint brush (3" or 4" recommended)
- Heavy-duty rubber gloves
- Safety glasses
- Bucket of hot/warm water
- Old sponge
- Car wash soap
- Hose/water supply
Step 2:
Once you have your eyewear and gloves on, pour a small bowl full of aircraft remover. Then apply it to the painted part of the rim with the brush in "swirling motions" (you can only do 1/4th to 1/3rd of the wheel at a time if you want to do it right). Let it sit for 2-4 minutes.
Remover activating
Step 3:
Use an old car wash sponge and dip it into hot water, ring some of the water out, and begin to wipe off the remover, the paint should be freely coming off, if it's not then you either didn't "swirl in the remover" with the brush enough or you didn't give it enough time to set. Reapply if necessary. Use of a fine steel wool also helps to remove the now soft paint.
NOTE: Be careful that you don't let it sit for too long, as the silver paint will begin to set again. Repeat this procedure around the rim.
*Keep away from the center caps*
Step 4:
Wash down the wheel and tire as some residue may be left over on the wheel. Dry thoroughly. Apply a coat of Armor All wheel protectant to the insides of the wheels and outside if you desire. I did the entire wheel. It repells brake dust really well.
Before and After PICS of my Z06 Chrome Spyder Wheels.
Last edited by TORQJNKY; 03-04-2012 at 04:51 PM.
11-12-2010, 07:11 PM
#2
Melting Slicks
Looks good. I did the same thing on my ZX12R wheels. On the outer edges. Stripped the paint and polished the aluminum. Very easy job. Your wheels look much better than factory.
11-12-2010, 09:19 PM
#3
Le Mans Master
Dam that is nice.... I imagine some wax on the inner barrels would make cleaning them easy but would the brake dust cause an issue I wonder. This could be a nice winter project for me....mmmm
11-12-2010, 09:40 PM
#5
Safety Car
The wheel in the first pic looks like something dripped on it to damage the paint. Even looks like to drained down towards the tire. Might want to check your brake lines and fittings.
11-12-2010, 09:42 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
I have. I had the wheels off the car the last two weeks while I was doing some other work. No leaks found. Maybe something from the previous owner that was fixed.
11-13-2010, 06:27 AM
#7
Advanced
Member Since: May 2010
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow - I will be doing that for sure. I take a Brillo pad to the barrel of my wheels every so often to get it clean and I've noticed that if I rub too hard with the Brillo pad, that there's somthing shiny under that gray.
On another car I had, I sent the wheels to CalChrome for chroming and they recommend leaving the barrels unpolished unless your car is a show car. They warn you that it's difficult to keep chrome barrels looking good with water spots and stuff.
On another car I had, I sent the wheels to CalChrome for chroming and they recommend leaving the barrels unpolished unless your car is a show car. They warn you that it's difficult to keep chrome barrels looking good with water spots and stuff.
11-13-2010, 07:02 AM
#8
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
I can understand that. My car is not a daily driver so I can stand a little extra maintanence. I'm curious to see how this Armor All Wheel Protectant is going to work for brake dust. I've heard a lot of good things about it.
11-13-2010, 09:49 AM
#10
Melting Slicks
i did this several years ago to mine....the chrome on the barrel is not nearly as nice as the face of the wheel....while i like it better than the grey paint i am going to paint the barrels black some day...had aftermarket wheels on my 06 that had black barrels and that looked really nice....plus it didn't matter if they were dirty or not...they always looked good
11-13-2010, 11:19 AM
#12
Advanced
Member Since: May 2010
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Here is one of my old wheels after it came back from CalChrome. The barrel is chrome (like all their chromed wheels) but it's not "polished" chrome like the outside of the wheel. The "polished" chrome barrel is option and it's what they warn against in terms of high maint. The "unpolished" chrome seen here is not too bad in terms of maint. The "unpolished" chrome seen here looks a lot like the picture above.
11-13-2010, 04:54 PM
#13
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Here is one of my old wheels after it came back from CalChrome. The barrel is chrome (like all their chromed wheels) but it's not "polished" chrome like the outside of the wheel. The "polished" chrome barrel is option and it's what they warn against in terms of high maint. The "unpolished" chrome seen here is not too bad in terms of maint. The "unpolished" chrome seen here looks a lot like the picture above.
