Buy New Wheels or Re-Chrome Old?

My Vintage Speedster chromed wheels are pretty ratty after two years, and I'm wondering which would be the best way to go, re-chrome them or purchase new wheels?

If I purchase new wheels, will the chrome be just as bad?

Is the cost to re-chrome prohibitive?

Anyone have any experience with either re-chroming or buying good wheels?

If I choose to purchase new wheels, what size comes with the standard Vintage Speedster? All I know for sure is that they are 4 lug.

Also, where would I find them? Everywhere I search for "356 speedster wheels" I get 5 lug wheels.

Thanks!

Cole

There VW wheels.

Rechroming involves a lot of surface preperation and if not done properly will let every imperfection show through.... The cost of the time involved would probably out strip the cost of new wheels.... When shopping for wheels, don't let the price be the guide, and get a written warranty from the vendor....

I'm supprised you are having problems after only 2 years.... You might try "Naval Jelly" rust remover followed by a copious rinse job, then spray with clear coat of some type... I ran a set for over 8 years, and they still looked good when the car sold... Just my .02...

I still have the original chrome wheels from my Speedster up in the attic. They have no rust on them as of lest check a few months ago. They're at least 6 years old.

You have to keep a good coating of carabu wax on them (back too) to keep from rusting. I'd have them powder coated chrome and clear if they are terrible. Decent chrome plating due to OSHA/EPA restriction is very costly.

I don't have any rust, it's a kind of a mottling look. It's hard to describe and they don't photograph well.

I've had a detailer try to clean them, but they look the same.

It looks like a thin and bad plating job.

Cole

There has been a loss of many chrome platers in the past 15 years, since the EPA tightened up the worker safety requirements for the shops. Those who are left have all of the required safety stuff in place and the prices have risen accordingly.

It's not the plating that's expensive, it's the prep. I've taken parts in for plating after I spent a couple of days grinding, polishing, buffing and polishing some more, only to have the guy say "geez - these look awful. We'll have to spend a few hours on them in prep."

That's because the final finish of the plating reflects whatever is underneath. The plating is only 1 or 2 mils thick, if that. If there's any imperfection in the base metal, you'll see it after plating as a BIG imperfection.

So, what I've found is that you can get a whole new, plated wheel from Asia (where the plating safety rules are almost non-existent) to the size/offset you want, for less than sending your wheels out for plating (and then have them rust again in a few years).

Maybe you could get Lane to sell you his?

I could be convinced. They're five 4-lug 5.5" Mangels - standard equipment for Becks. Shipping might be costly, though.

It does seem that there are more 5 lug choices than 4 lug. Do those 4-5 lug adapters add width to the stance? I'm worried my tires will scrape.

Also, What is our wheel size? 5.5 X 15?

Cole

That's what mine are.

I'm sure there are other sources but..
http://www.jps-motorsports.com/partslist.html
I'd call to confirm the lug pattern etc..

Well, OK, I was going to let this one slide by, but since you mention JPS, I can say that this is what I have, since the whole car came from there. and they are chromed VW wheels, 4 holes. look pretty good from a distance, and of course new they were very nice. Now a few years later, they are starting to rust. Just minor now, but clearly some spots coming through. will run until I notice and then decide what to do. Wax 'em up until then, I guess.

aS to the powder coating thing -- how would that work on rusty/pitted old chomed wheels? How do they clean em off and prep them for powder coating? Who here has powder coated "chrome" wheels? How "chromy" do they really look? any pictures??

of course, if they're new and still shiny, rather than waxing them I would clear-coat them with Krylon clear enamel. That should keep them spiffy looking for a decade or more.

I scrubbed mine with aluminum foil and they turned out great.

Kelly and Cole, unfortunately powder coat chrome is not much more than "silver" when done. I have had several sets of wheels powdercoated and I prefer the silver PC over the PC chrome, but you will never confuse one with real chrome IMO. Regards buying a new set be aware the Chinese chrome is of very poor quality on every wheel I have had. So, buying new wheels will leave you in the same boat (rusty wheels) in fairly short order unless you take prophylactic measures like clear coating. Hmmm, I wonder about having new chrome wheels clear coated with powder coating? I don't know if it would work or not, have not tried that....

Regards the PC process, they blast the chrome off with bead / soda / sand or whatever, before doing the PC process. Cost? I had a set PC'ed last year, $67.50 per rim. This year, more I would guess.

Having wheels rechromed is very expensive around here, I had a quote locally at the shop that does most of the rod and motorcycle rechrome work, for $125 per wheel, and that was at least 10 or more years ago...

I have wheels from Vintage Spyders. They are powdercoated. Until I put new rubber on last spring, I assumed they were just powdercoated. But, they are powdercoat silver right over chrome. The only reason I know is that some powdercaot came off when putting the new tires on. The machine didn't have the plastic rim protectors on it, old Coats 40-40A machine. Live and learn......

So the moral is you can buy new chrome wheels and powdercoat right over the chrome. Unsure of how much or if any prep is needed. My wheels are 10 years old and show zero rust or pitting.

I'd seriously consider those Dan Gurney wheels in the classifieds. Just a polish away from awesome. I keep looking at those myself. I have a few years from rust I guess. Just polished them, and I think Troy put them on new right before I bought the car from him.

I'll have to do some 1st person research at Carlisle this year and look for PC chrome, or silver, or whatever wheels and see how I like that. Just filing info away for later, maybe . . .

Speaking of wheels, I've had a slow leak since I got the car and finally took it in to the tire store. They checked it and its got a pinhole leak through the backside of the wheel at the weld.

It's a bad weld, I've never seen anything like that before.

i just had 4 old ford steel rims in bad shape beadblasted and powder coated to match paint, beautiful. $65 wheel. i would have spent a day on each wheel nd they still wouldnt have turned out as well.