Chrome Wheel Nightmare

[anaxagoras]

Due to nobodies fault but my own, my chrome Cobra R replica wheels are starting to pitt. I drove my car until the winter before i put it away and by them it was too cold for me to want to do **** to it... so i let it sit in the garage dirty all winter (working 7 days a week doesn`t help either). I did the car quickly when i took it out of the garage for the summer, and kicked myself when i got to the rims, since they were so badly stained i couldn`t get half the grime off of them.



I got a flat a few days ago, figured now is as good a time as any since i have a spare set of tires/rims on it right now.



The wheels have a chrome face, but the inside is a machined finish you can see ribs all through it. I went over the wheels with Eagle 1 All wheel and tire cleaner, which got a good deal of grime off but left a LOT on. I then whipped out the clay bay, which helped with the chrome face tremedously, except for a few pitted spots where the spokes meet the outer circumference of the wheel. the inside which has that macnine ribbed look is awful. full of `pitting`, one of the wheels have large yellow spots inside.



all of the spots that are pitting, if you look close you can see in the center what appears to be a perferation of the chrome, and then a black ring surrounding it. I`ve tried claying the hell out of it and it doesn`t help on the chrome face of the wheel. On the inside i have the black circular marks, but if you look at the center it does not appear to be pittied. If i go crazy on a spot with clay and wheel cleaner as lube it will come off after over 5 minutes of scrubbing, but by that point the wheel cleaner eats up the clay and it turns into goop. Not efficient for doing the entire inside surface of the wheel.



I know the wheels are permanently damanged in some spots, i do not know if they are clear coated or not. I want to get them in as good of condition as possible so i can seal them with some product (looking for help here in what product to get).



But what will be the best way to get them as clean as possible. I`m thinking of using something like mother`s powerball on the inside surface of the wheels? I don`t really know what else to try.





P.S. I learned my lesson about being a lazy SOB with putting my car away dirty for the winter.

[JasonD]

I`d start with a good polishing. The methods you have tried so far are all very mild methods, which is perfectly fine to start out with and do maintenance with, but as you have found, doesn`t do much good on defects such as what you are dealing with.



I`d definitely go out and get a Mother`s Powerball, and a nice high speed drill to attach it to. For polish, I`ve always had great results with Klasse AIO on chrome, but there are a lot of otc chrome polishes you can find locally.



I have also been using a product by P21S/S100 called Polishing Soap. This is great stuff, and not only does it work well for maintenance, it removes a great deal of what you are talking about too. It`s way faster and easier than doing a full polish, so I use it every other time I wash my vehicle.



Since I started using Polishing Soap, I actually found that I don`t have the need for an extra sealant anymore since it contains a protectant in it already, but if you still want to go that extra step, Klasse SG (to name just one) is an excellent product for clearcoated and chrome wheels.



Hope this helps a bit.

[Ed Fisher]

I use my Dremel with felt polishing tips. It is much more precise and safer than a huge drill head...



Punch the pits a bit with the felt tip and some chrome polish. You` ll find that the pit will disappear even if not levelled...



If you have the necessary equipment, remove the tyre before working on the rim. I do so and throw the rim into the tub which I fill with hot water and add half a bottle of multi purpose cleaner (Megs or alike) I sometimes apply Armor All` s foaming multi purpose cleaner and let it sit there for a couple of minutes before I throw them into the tub. I let them sit in the tub for all the night in the cleaner / water mixture and the next morning rinse and dry them before I start working on them...



Also it is much easier and lighter to manouver the Dremel around when you remove the tyre... If you do so, do not forget to replace the valve... Also it is good practice to have them inflated with nitrogen instead of air...



After all is clean, I apply NXT and carnauba no matter if it is painted or not...



Good luck

[anaxagoras]

i wish i had the appropriate equipment to remove the tire, but i do not. I like the dremel idea, sounds much more prescise than a powerball. i still plan on buying a powerball tomorrow for the big work.



When i made my inital post it was only after working with one rim, i managed to get to rim #2 afterwards and that was 10 times worse, on the inside of the rim chrome was pitted, and flaking all over the place, good areas where it was just all pulled up, and the clay only did so much. I want to try to do as much as i can in a low abrasive manner.



My biggest issue is i`m a "do it right, or not at all" kind of guy. I didn`t want to do it right because it was too cold, so i didn`t do it at all and now i`m suffering... *sighs*

[mblgjr]

Don`t knock yourself too hard. Neglect was only your partial enemy. The chrome on the replica wheels are known for being of poor quality (read: cheap chinese labor).



Good luck, but to the best of my knowledge, they shouldn`t be clearcoated and the chrome is VERY thin. ANY kind of harsh chemicals will eat it pretty quick, so be careful.

[wytstang]

Thats why I`m done dealing with chrome cause once they start to peal it`s only a matter of time before they get worse. I have chrome waffle rims on my stang which are shot, half the chrome is gone on one and the others are starting to peel. My solution.......18`` white saleens sealed with AIO and Poorboys wheel selant....

[Evenflow]

Dont mean to hijack but..



Would Mothers Cali Gold Carnauba Cleaner Wax be a good thing to put on wheels for protection/shine?

[wytstang]

Dont mean to hijack but..



Would Mothers Cali Gold Carnauba Cleaner Wax be a good thing to put on wheels for protection/shine?

No I would use AIO then a wheel sealant for that. Rims get hot real hot and carnuba and sealant have a melting point that rims reach quite fast. I would choose a wheel sealant since they are designed to with stand very high temps before breaking down. Waxing them may help cleaning them faster the first couple of weeks, but if your looking for real protection a wheel selant would be the way to go. .02

[anaxagoras]

what about this stuff, i saw it at my local auto shop:

http://www.eagleone.com/pages/products/product.asp?itemid=1120&cat=5006

[anaxagoras]

i got all the nastieness off the rims!!



I used an acid based wheel cleaner and they`re 99% clean. Eagle One Chrome and Wire Cleaner. The flaking/pitting is pretty bad, but as i said, it`s only on the inside of the rim, so i hope they will hold up for a while.

[Evenflow]

No I would use AIO then a wheel sealant for that. Rims get hot real hot and carnuba and sealant have a melting point that rims reach quite fast. I would choose a wheel sealant since they are designed to with stand very high temps before breaking down. Waxing them may help cleaning them faster the first couple of weeks, but if your looking for real protection a wheel selant would be the way to go. .02



So something like PoorBoys EX would be better to seal the wheels with? Will it add shine to the wheels as well as protection?



thanks.

[JasonD]

EX has carnauba in it, EX-P would be better imo. That being said, PB`s makes a product specifically for wheels called Wheel Sealant. Take a look at that.