Wheel finish ideas

**tatertot91** · 09-01-2011, 05:30 AM

A few of you know i have a set of iforged senekas off my old trans am that have been laying around for quite some time now. Been trying too sell them but most people get intimidated by the work involved in getting them to fit. Seeing as Im kinda stuck with them for now Im thinking about having them refinished. One thing that caught my eye was black chrome, but if any of you have any ideas throw em out there. This would be going on my SOM SS and I think this would be something different from what most do out there.

Had thoughts about a black chrome center and chromed lips. The bolts would be chrome, but if have black center caps

Here are the wheels on the car (the rear ones)

And this is kinda what I'm going for

**silverWS6** · 09-01-2011, 07:35 AM

Stop making me want these wheels even more!!!!

Black chrome would definitely look sick on them, I'm a fan of shiny wheels but I know most people around here aren't

**tatertot91** · 09-01-2011, 08:21 AM

Haha basically refinishing these wheels would be my biggest motivation to keeping them, I'm fine with thmy other wheels but these are just bugging me just sitting around

**2001camaroSS** · 09-04-2011, 10:52 PM

I think the black chrome would be sick, especially with the chrome lip. I like shiny and this would definitely fit the build.

**tatertot91** · 09-05-2011, 08:39 AM

The more i think about these wheels the more my mind turns into a pretzel haha
I love them in chrome and the more i look at em i'd love to keep em like that, but the black chrome idea is bugging me too. Then i got someone wanting to trade me their 18" profil 5s but they're vette offsets so they have almost no lip on the rears and i'd want to order new hoops from fikse and that in itself could get expensive.

**cammed goat** · 09-05-2011, 10:25 AM

Black chrome or gunmetal would look killer on SOM.

**tatertot91** · 09-05-2011, 11:10 AM

I like shiny so i dont know if just gunmetal would cut it, main reason i said black chrome. Only problem is not too many shops do it. Calchrome does it but i'd have to ship all the parts out, trying to locate a local shop, would much rather deal in person when it comes to stuff like this

**tatertot91** · 09-05-2011, 11:14 AM

Anyone around here know how to strip chrome off aluminum?

**2001camaroSS** · 09-05-2011, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by tatertot91

Anyone around here know how to strip chrome off aluminum?

sandblast?

**tatertot91** · 09-05-2011, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by 2001camaroSS

sandblast?

too harsh on the aluminum, i've heard acid/water bath but unsure about it

**RedSuperSport** · 09-05-2011, 06:18 PM

Have it sand blasted per say but not with sand, something more along the lines of baking soda or crushed walnuts or dry ice that's what's used on highly sensitive items

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**tatertot91** · 09-05-2011, 06:55 PM

Crushed walnuts, first I ever heard of that
Thanks for the info, ill look into it

might break down the front two wheels later this week and get some quotes for different finishes. That will help me make up my mind on what I want to do with em

**Nowhereman** · 09-05-2011, 07:27 PM

Black chrome is bad ass but, when I use it on bike jobs; (bike parts) it doesn't last more than a year before it starts loosing it's color.
I'm thinking powder coat in something to match the car color with subtle copper plating for some highlight accents to the specific wheel design.
These guys do bike wheels but, you can get an idea how much you can take a wheel with powder coating
http://www.hdwheels.com/index.htm

**2001camaroSS** · 09-05-2011, 08:26 PM

Originally Posted by RedSuperSport

Have it sand blasted per say but not with sand, something more along the lines of baking soda or crushed walnuts or dry ice that's what's used on highly sensitive items

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I saw this used on American Restoration or whatever it is on the history channel. They used it on a delicate item.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 09-05-2011, 08:30 PM

I've had vendors use crushed walnut before on delicate things.

I think black chrome would also look sick, but if longevity is an issue with it, I'd certainly stay clear of that.

**RedSuperSport** · 09-06-2011, 05:03 PM

Yea I use to do a lot of sandblasting got tired of it

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**tatertot91** · 09-07-2011, 07:53 AM

Kinda got me thinking twice about the black chrome, lot of money thrown around for it not to last.
checking out a plating company today, ill see what they got

**2001camaroSS** · 09-07-2011, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by tatertot91

Kinda got me thinking twice about the black chrome, lot of money thrown around for it not to last.
checking out a plating company today, ill see what they got

chrome is not a bad alternative and FWIW the original owner of me wheels had the wheels chromed by Calchrome. Seems to be of high quality but was costly according to the invoice.