Are chrome wheels ever clear coated?

[Marcus]

Probably a stupid question, but I don't know.



I just got a set of used wheels for my Mark VIII, and while the outsides look nearly flawless, the backsides are filthy with brake dust.



I intend to take them to the car wash tomorrow and use some wheel cleaner and high pressure water to clean them up, but just for kicks, I decided to get out the Blue Magic and try it out on a few areas.



There's definitely some nice shiny chrome under the brake dust, but there's also a dull film, which you can see in the photo. Is that a clear coat or just road grime?



If it's clear coat, what are my options at this point? Can I have them re-coated? If so, what kind of prep work is required?



It never even occurred to me that the wheels might be coated.



Other than that question, what kind of off-the-shelf wheel cleaner would you guys recommend, and what should I do to reduce the chances of them getting this bad again? I haven't really searched here yet, but I intend to. I just figured I'd throw it out there anyway. I'm really only concerned with what the film is.

 

[forrest@mothers]

I keep hearing of coated chrome wheels, but have never seen one.



Showroom Lincoln has a set on his Lincoln - if he says they are, I believe him. I believe he said it was a high line package, and only 1 year.



Other than that, I don't think there are. What wheels do you have?

 

[Marcus]

I keep hearing of coated chrome wheels, but have never seen one.



Showroom Lincoln has a set on his Lincoln - if he says they are, I believe him. I believe he said it was a high line package, and only 1 year.



Other than that, I don't think there are. What wheels do you have?

They're the ten-spoke directionals. I've already got a set on my car now, but they're shot to hell. It's the usual bubbling and cracking around the center that's so typical of these wheels. I could have gone aftermarket, but I got a good deal on these, so what the heck. And like I said, they're just about flawless on the outside. Here's what they look like:

 

[Marcus]

And a closeup of the film:

 

[Marcus]

Well, I guess I should have checked more carefully before wasting time taking pictures and posting. I just ran my fingernail over the "film" and it comes off fairly easily. So I guess it's just road grime. Sorry to waste everyone's time.

 

[fusionnv]

Well, I guess I should have checked more carefully before wasting time taking pictures and posting. I just ran my fingernail over the "film" and it comes off fairly easily. So I guess it's just road grime. Sorry to waste everyone's time.

Holy close up. What kind of camera you used to get that close up? Is it a digital?

 

[BlackSVT]

I'll venture a guess that the bubbleing and cracking is clearcoat

damaged by the heating and cooling of the hub from Braking.

 

[jimmybuffit]

Eagle One's Never Dull, or

Wenol in the Blue tube.

By hand.

Worth the trouble!



Jim

 

[Marcus]

Well, I put off dealing with these things too long, and now I'm in a bind. Turns out the coating is silver paint. There's a very nice chrome finish under the paint, but it is taking me forever to remove it using a buffing wheel in a cordless drill and white rouge.



AND... I was planning on putting these wheels on for a show this weekend and I only have TODAY to do something with them! I've already polished the paint off in random spots on one wheel, and I can't go back at this point.



So any suggestions for removing the paint quickly?



Bear in mind that it's only the backsides that are painted. I could probably just clean them down to the paint, but I'd sure like that pretty chrome to show through.



Also, I should mention that I live in an apartment, and I've got nowhere to use any kind of strong solvents, unless I do them at the car wash down the street, which I'm not too keen on.

 

[togwt]

Unless your showing in a concourse event they don't usually do anything other than look and perhaps touch the rear of the wheels(rare)



A solvent cleaner or MPP should remove road grime etc.

 

[Marcus]

Well, you're all gonna cringe, but I ended up using 0000 steel wool and a LOT of elbow grease. The steel wool didn't mar the finish, since I was careful to only remove the paint and not go farther. I started on these things at about 11:00 AM today, and I've still got one wheel to finish up.



Started out at the car wash. The wheel cleaner I bought didn't do anything at all (Castrol I think), but the high pressure wash actually did remove quite a bit. Anyway, I got them wet, and went at them with the steel wool.



After I got most of it removed, I brought them home and did some touchup in the kitchen sink.



Then I gave them a coat of Mother's Carnuba wax. I don't know how it'll hold up to the heat, but it's better than nothing.



You can't eat off them or anything, but they do look MUCH better. Before I cleaned them, they were pitch black, and NOTHING else would clean them up. SOme of the nooks and crannies still are dark, but for Pete's sake, I'll never see them once they're installed.

 

[LouisanaJeeper]

most factory chrome wheels are clearcoated

most aftermarket chrome wheels are not, just chromed



easy way to tell is to take your favorite paint polish and to a small test area, if it comes up grey or black, you have chrome, if it come up clean you have clearcoat

 

[Marcus]

Holy close up. What kind of camera you used to get that close up? Is it a digital?

Sorry, I missed your post. If you're still interested, it's a FujiFilm Finepix S-7000. It's got a macro capability down to about an inch or so. The "super-closeup" is actually a just a crop of the first pic I posted, which was shot at the camera's highest resolution from about six inches away. I shrunk down the first pic, but the second one is at the original resolution.



Great camera for the most part, but I'm not very happy with the way it captures reds. They tend to look orange and oversaturated. I need to play around the settings and see if it can be corrected.