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View Full Version : 2000 ws.6 rims....chrome or aluminum

third_shift|studios
03-23-2006, 08:26 AM
wtf are my damn rims mad of; chrome or aluminum w/ clear coat? They are curb rashed to hell n back and i was wondering if it makes sence to beat on them with some mothers chrome restoring stuff?
BIGRED Z
03-23-2006, 08:01 PM
Isn't all chrome just a coating? Could be wrong, but heard that it's a triple coat process, copper, nickel, and then chrome dipped. How long the dipping process takes will make a difference in quality. Not absolutely sure on this but I've read it or heard it somewhere.

Lori
Mr. Luos
03-23-2006, 08:08 PM
They are polished aluminum.
With clear.

If you really want to spend some time on them...strip the clear and then polish them up.
1 badblack transam 01
03-24-2006, 04:05 PM
Yep what the other guy said.. They are highly polished alluminum made to look chrome.
third_shift|studios
03-25-2006, 01:41 PM
strip the clear?....sounds like a winter job....
ScrapMaker
03-26-2006, 09:31 PM
uh, WS6 rims are chromed...

my 2000 WS6, to be even more specific...

there are even little spots on my rim where the chrome has chipped off.... which is VERY typical of chrome rims..

if they were polished aluminum, then they'd be like my 1990 Firebird, where you see the machine lines.

it's possible they are chrome aluminum rims, but it really doesn't matter... all chrome rims are either aluminum or steel, covered in chrome..

oh, and just to make sure, you are talking about the 5-spoke chrome rims right? because there are two different types, depending on the year...

there are those funny-lookin 'spiral' rims... came on a lot of the WS6s...
Baracus
03-26-2006, 10:01 PM
I have a 00 ws6 as well as the hawk and the ws6 are polished allum.
ScrapMaker
03-26-2006, 10:09 PM
but do you have the straight 5-spoke, or the other one?

these
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/665000-665999/665715_47.jpg

or these?
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_9912_firebird01_l.jpg

the first image is chrome, and the second looks to be polished aluminum...
Baracus
03-26-2006, 10:14 PM
Top one 5 spokes, My hawks are chrome the WS6 are polished allum and you can tell the differance very easy.
BIGRED Z
03-26-2006, 10:26 PM
My 01 WS6 has polished aluminum.

Lori
ScrapMaker
03-26-2006, 10:37 PM
http://www.m2stream.com/scrapmaker/Pictures/WS6/HQ/PB180014.JPG


I thought these were standard WS6 rims... I know they are chrome... since I hit the curb, the insurance company even had to find the "17 inch 5-spoke chrome rim"..
Baracus
03-26-2006, 11:21 PM
Mine have some curb rash now on one and it's just polished allum, Yours in that pick just looks polished as well.
ScrapMaker
03-26-2006, 11:27 PM
when I think of the non-chrome rims, I think of these...

http://images.consumerguide.com/autoreview/400x266/1993-2002-Pontiac-Firebird-96129181990401.JPG
Baracus
03-26-2006, 11:30 PM
Those look like the grey painted wheels.
JohnnyBs98WS6Rag
03-27-2006, 10:14 AM
http://www.m2stream.com/scrapmaker/Pictures/WS6/HQ/PB180014.JPG


I thought these were standard WS6 rims... I know they are chrome... since I hit the curb, the insurance company even had to find the "17 inch 5-spoke chrome rim"..


Yes, those are the standard (no other option) WS6 rims installed at the factory from '96 - '00 and maybe even early '01s. However, these rims were originally HIGH-POLISHED ALUM (w/ clear coat), and NOT chromed. I am sure that by now some folks have chromed these rims, which may explain why you think yours are chrome, but chrome is NOT how they left the factory.

The "high-polished" makes them look ALOT like chrome, and the average Joe sees them and calls them "chrome", but that's not what they ARE.
ScrapMaker
03-27-2006, 01:43 PM
wow that's crazy! if they are really just polished aluminum, that's the best job I've ever seen...

a lot of the thirdgen owners polish their rims for hours with dremels, and buffers and polishing cremes and whatever... and they still never look like these... I'd swear they are crome... pretty strange...
4get gto
03-29-2006, 06:58 PM
Yep they're polished aluminum with a clear coat. These are not a chromed steel wheel.
skinz262
03-29-2006, 10:57 PM
I'm 99.99% sure your wheels are polished.....if you don't believe me, just take your wheel off and pick it up....they are polished aluminum which is much lighter than a chrome wheel...
ScrapMaker
03-30-2006, 08:09 AM
hey you guys are right! these are the most polished wheels I've seen... ever... my brother has a 2003 F-150 STX with real chrome wheels... and I couldn't even tell the difference

so the best of both worlds, huh? the durability of aluminum, combined with the looks of chrome... interesting...


I can tell the clear coat is getting thin in a few spots... is the best way to help them just to put mothers aluminum polish on them, or will that just grind off the clearcoat even more? I plan on taking them one-by-one to Wheel Technologies, which will reshape them back to perfect specs, and resurface/refinish each wheel for roughly $100 a piece...
CAMAROSS69
03-31-2006, 06:38 PM
Chrome
ScrapMaker
04-01-2006, 08:26 PM
nah, it actually is polished aluminum... weird, huh?