Holy Shyt: GM Factory Chrome Wheels Oxidizing? - Help
08-28-2010, 10:24 AM
#1
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Holy Shyt: GM Factory Chrome Wheels Oxidizing? - Help Good morning people!
Nice day it was until I was about to go for a sunny cruise, noticed my rear wheels only didn't have that brilliant chrome luster we all enjoy being blinded at.
Up here in Connecticut, the nights have been noticeably cooler. I think this is natural oxidation but at an accelerated rate I think.
Observations:
-The SS sits on dry cardboard and inside a garage with door seals.
-It only affected the rear wheels only.
-To the touch I can feel it pitting.
-There is a greenish tint to it and my wiping it with my finger shows a slight gray residue.
- It sits in a garage since 2008 with a few occasional cruises. I have not applied wax or some kind of chrome wheel protectant, now I need recommendations. I feel I'll have to rechrome it but I'm brand new to this Detail forum.
- Last spirited drive I had was after a humid night but it felt cool as the weather progressed. Northeast living does have its disadvantages.
What should I do? I'm gettin the wash bucket ready with Meguiars NXT Car Wash. Scrub brushes ready. Chemical solutions? I might be overreacting but clearly the damage has begun.
Help !
Nice day it was until I was about to go for a sunny cruise, noticed my rear wheels only didn't have that brilliant chrome luster we all enjoy being blinded at.
Up here in Connecticut, the nights have been noticeably cooler. I think this is natural oxidation but at an accelerated rate I think.
Observations:
-The SS sits on dry cardboard and inside a garage with door seals.
-It only affected the rear wheels only.
-To the touch I can feel it pitting.
-There is a greenish tint to it and my wiping it with my finger shows a slight gray residue.
- It sits in a garage since 2008 with a few occasional cruises. I have not applied wax or some kind of chrome wheel protectant, now I need recommendations. I feel I'll have to rechrome it but I'm brand new to this Detail forum.
- Last spirited drive I had was after a humid night but it felt cool as the weather progressed. Northeast living does have its disadvantages.
What should I do? I'm gettin the wash bucket ready with Meguiars NXT Car Wash. Scrub brushes ready. Chemical solutions? I might be overreacting but clearly the damage has begun.
Help ! 
08-28-2010, 12:48 PM
#4
GM had several suppiler issues with chrome plating and polished wheels( polished was supposed to but never made it to production) in the 00-02 years with both the 16" and 17" 10-spoke wheels with spotty availablity early on . At 1 point if you wanted chrome wheels on a SS , you had to get the ZR1's .
You can make them look better with polish and elbow grease , if you want them ALOT better its probably gonna take a polishing wheel and some rouge . Once they start to pit though, the only option for perfection again is replating .
You probably have wheels from different batch lots , that would explain why the fronts remain ok and the rears have problems .
You can make them look better with polish and elbow grease , if you want them ALOT better its probably gonna take a polishing wheel and some rouge . Once they start to pit though, the only option for perfection again is replating .
You probably have wheels from different batch lots , that would explain why the fronts remain ok and the rears have problems .
08-28-2010, 10:48 PM
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I think I know why my wheels started looking like ****. 
Recently I washed my '96 3.8L Camaro and '88 Iroc Z28 in a single day using the two washbucket system. Afterwards, I rinsed off one bucket to dry with the grit guard screen inside and the other bucket rinsed off as well and threw the wet & soggy microfiber mitts above another grit guard screen in the second bucket. Buckets were definitely at the rear of the SS, therefore it was adding the humidity inside my garage.
This never happened before as I had lids for each so this mystery is possibly solved but damn it!
I actually thought it was the stash of empty Heineken bottles in my garage that caused the oxidation process to speed up. What do you guys think?
Recently I washed my '96 3.8L Camaro and '88 Iroc Z28 in a single day using the two washbucket system. Afterwards, I rinsed off one bucket to dry with the grit guard screen inside and the other bucket rinsed off as well and threw the wet & soggy microfiber mitts above another grit guard screen in the second bucket. Buckets were definitely at the rear of the SS, therefore it was adding the humidity inside my garage.
This never happened before as I had lids for each so this mystery is possibly solved but damn it!
I actually thought it was the stash of empty Heineken bottles in my garage that caused the oxidation process to speed up. What do you guys think?
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08-28-2010, 11:03 PM
#8
I think I know why my wheels started looking like ****.
Recently I washed my '96 3.8L Camaro and '88 Iroc Z28 in a single day using the two washbucket system. Afterwards, I rinsed off one bucket to dry with the grit guard screen inside and the other bucket rinsed off as well and threw the wet & soggy microfiber mitts above another grit guard screen in the second bucket. Buckets were definitely at the rear of the SS, therefore it was adding the humidity inside my garage.
This never happened before as I had lids for each so this mystery is possibly solved but damn it!
I actually thought it was the stash of empty Heineken bottles in my garage that caused the oxidation process to speed up. What do you guys think?
Recently I washed my '96 3.8L Camaro and '88 Iroc Z28 in a single day using the two washbucket system. Afterwards, I rinsed off one bucket to dry with the grit guard screen inside and the other bucket rinsed off as well and threw the wet & soggy microfiber mitts above another grit guard screen in the second bucket. Buckets were definitely at the rear of the SS, therefore it was adding the humidity inside my garage.
This never happened before as I had lids for each so this mystery is possibly solved but damn it!
I actually thought it was the stash of empty Heineken bottles in my garage that caused the oxidation process to speed up. What do you guys think?
08-29-2010, 08:16 PM
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rob69zombie is right------you have a contamination issue with those. Theres no way the valve stems and caps are going to pit/oxidize with th same pattern/green hue as the wheels. You must have gotten something on those 2 wheels.
08-30-2010, 04:06 AM
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08-30-2010, 04:41 AM
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I was in shock how I missed this and mistreated my SS. Argh!You guys are right about the pattern and contamination but I'm still wondering where and when this happened off I-95 in my area. Yes, I drove it at night so I'll never know where the contamination existed. It's gonna cost me a day off from work to wash them off but **** it, I'm calling in sick!!!
Here's a shot of the passenger side chrome SLP rear wheel.
But it's just the rear wheels only that's baffling to me. The fronts are pristine. I finally have time to wash and examine afterwards. Posting back later. Sorry for the drama but one last question, any type of protectant or wax you guys use for these chrome spokes? I seen that Chip Foose commercial where he uses a Mother's Powerball and cleaner to shiny up his chrome rims. I might want to start using that after I get this resolved. Thanks for the replies and interest. Learning some serious lessons here.
08-30-2010, 09:47 AM
#16
Obsessing on the chrome wheels, I overlooked the obvious, the wheelwells. I was in shock how I missed this and mistreated my SS. Argh!
You guys are right about the pattern and contamination but I'm still wondering where and when this happened off I-95 in my area. Yes, I drove it at night so I'll never know where the contamination existed. It's gonna cost me a day off from work to wash them off but **** it, I'm calling in sick!!!
Here's a shot of the passenger side chrome SLP rear wheel.
But it's just the rear wheels only that's baffling to me. The fronts are pristine. I finally have time to wash and examine afterwards. Posting back later. Sorry for the drama but one last question, any type of protectant or wax you guys use for these chrome spokes? I seen that Chip Foose commercial where he uses a Mother's Powerball and cleaner to shiny up his chrome rims. I might want to start using that after I get this resolved. Thanks for the replies and interest. Learning some serious lessons here.
I was in shock how I missed this and mistreated my SS. Argh!You guys are right about the pattern and contamination but I'm still wondering where and when this happened off I-95 in my area. Yes, I drove it at night so I'll never know where the contamination existed. It's gonna cost me a day off from work to wash them off but **** it, I'm calling in sick!!!
Here's a shot of the passenger side chrome SLP rear wheel.
But it's just the rear wheels only that's baffling to me. The fronts are pristine. I finally have time to wash and examine afterwards. Posting back later. Sorry for the drama but one last question, any type of protectant or wax you guys use for these chrome spokes? I seen that Chip Foose commercial where he uses a Mother's Powerball and cleaner to shiny up his chrome rims. I might want to start using that after I get this resolved. Thanks for the replies and interest. Learning some serious lessons here.
Vandals.....????? Does it look like some kind of spray. A couple jackass kids in my friends neighborhood a few years ago went around spraying paint stripper on cars as they drove their bikes through the neighborhood. It was devistating what they did in just 20 minutes. 100's of thousands of $$$ in damage. Sprayed like 50 cars, they all needed complete paint jobs and it ate up painted and clearcoated rims too that all needed to be replaced. Got some motorcycles too.
.
Last edited by LS6427; 08-30-2010 at 10:02 AM.
08-30-2010, 12:56 PM
#17
definelty get the wheels cleaned up and hit them with some chrome polish and they should be lookin good again. The oxidatian seems to be right on the surface so they should clean up pretty well.
08-30-2010, 05:57 PM
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Obsessing on the chrome wheels, I overlooked the obvious, the wheelwells. I was in shock how I missed this and mistreated my SS. Argh!
You guys are right about the pattern and contamination but I'm still wondering where and when this happened off I-95 in my area. Yes, I drove it at night so I'll never know where the contamination existed. It's gonna cost me a day off from work to wash them off but **** it, I'm calling in sick!!!
Here's a shot of the passenger side chrome SLP rear wheel.
But it's just the rear wheels only that's baffling to me. The fronts are pristine. I finally have time to wash and examine afterwards. Posting back later. Sorry for the drama but one last question, any type of protectant or wax you guys use for these chrome spokes? I seen that Chip Foose commercial where he uses a Mother's Powerball and cleaner to shiny up his chrome rims. I might want to start using that after I get this resolved. Thanks for the replies and interest. Learning some serious lessons here.
I was in shock how I missed this and mistreated my SS. Argh!You guys are right about the pattern and contamination but I'm still wondering where and when this happened off I-95 in my area. Yes, I drove it at night so I'll never know where the contamination existed. It's gonna cost me a day off from work to wash them off but **** it, I'm calling in sick!!!
Here's a shot of the passenger side chrome SLP rear wheel.
But it's just the rear wheels only that's baffling to me. The fronts are pristine. I finally have time to wash and examine afterwards. Posting back later. Sorry for the drama but one last question, any type of protectant or wax you guys use for these chrome spokes? I seen that Chip Foose commercial where he uses a Mother's Powerball and cleaner to shiny up his chrome rims. I might want to start using that after I get this resolved. Thanks for the replies and interest. Learning some serious lessons here.
08-31-2010, 02:35 PM
#20
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Ever since I got this SS, It just made me so fanatical about maintenance and upkeep. Gotta do desperate measures to make it look good ya know? 