Removed Inner Wheel Paint - Bad?

[wash-girl]

This weekend, I removed the OEM mirrored-chrome wheels from my girlfriend`s 2003 Ford Thunderbird. On the first one, I used EO All Wheel & Tire cleaner and a stiff bristled brush to remove the brake dust from the inside of the wheels. Before doing a final rinse, I clayed and scraped some baked on road tar. While claying, I noticed some shiny chrome, like the face of the wheels, coming into view. I dried things off and used some ClearKote Metal Polish to remove the remainder of what I thought was brake dust or some sort of contaminant. The result was beautiful all chrome inner wheels. I thought that was terrific!



Then I took off the second wheel. The brake dust cleaned off of it more easily, and I realized that the dull gray under it was actually some sort of silver paint that was certainly applied on purpose. Since I had already done one wheel completely, I removed the coating from this wheel as well and shined it to a sparkling chrome. Both wheels were on the driver`s side of the car, and I have not yet done the other side, for fear that I might not want to remove that coating.



Any advice on whether I should respray a protective coating onto the ones I stripped or whether I can safely remove it from all four?



Thanks for any input.



--Jim

[brwill2005]

Chrome plated wheels are usually dipped in copper, nickel, and than chrome. The nickel coating is usually a little less brillliant than the chrome. I would not remove any more of it. I also would not be concerned about what you removed.

[wash-girl]

Thanks, Brad. I just want to clarify that I described it right, since the duller part was removed and the chrome was under it. With the process you describe, wouldn`t the dull nickel coating be underneath the chrome? Or do they re-coat the finished product in the nickel as a protective barrier?



Thanks for any clarification you can provide.



--Jim