thanks! 
need advice for chrome
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Launching!
Joined: Jun 2013
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need advice for chrome I have the thin spoke firehawk wheels that were on 99-02 firehawks and I ordered some Adams polish 1 & 2 for them. The face of the wheels have actually been taken pretty good care of but the inside of the wheels have never been cleaned so they are flaking and just terrible looking as you could imagine. What can I do other than just take them off the car and clean them off I'm assuming a lot of metal will flake off when I scrub on them..
I would start by taking those rims off your car and trading them to me for a set of painted WS6 rims.
...Or you can look into having those refinished. I'm guessing (depending on the work needed), you'll be looking at $175 to $200 per wheel to have them re-chromed.
...Or you can look into having those refinished. I'm guessing (depending on the work needed), you'll be looking at $175 to $200 per wheel to have them re-chromed.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Jun 2013
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I guess I should've posted pics.. the wheels don't need refinished the face of each wheel is 9/10 all the way around and am gonna polish them whenever my polish comes in the mail.. I just wondered what there was to do about the barrel of the wheels that have brake dust etc caked on them
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TECH Regular
Joined: Apr 2013
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My wheels are the same way, I was thinking about when it gets nice out(stays nice instead of this up and down and up and down temps) mask off the outer wheel, sand the inner wheel, throw on some primer and some black paint and clear and see how that goes.
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12 Second Club
Joined: Jun 2012
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thats what i wud probly do. unless its a showcar that has to be flawless, refinishing wudnt make financial sense, when cleaning and protecting with quality primer and hi temp pant wud looke great for probly 20 bucks and some time. especialy if the faces are good.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,293
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From: Fredericksburg Va
I got tired of the flaking and bubbling on my firehawk wheels, so I took a guy on here advise. I sanded the inside barrels, just where the flaking and bubbling and painted them. I should of done it years ago. I have the pictures in my FQuick site. The picture that shows the picture of my hood has the tire pictures in it.
FormerVendor
Joined: Oct 2012
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From: In the detail shop!
Posting up some pictures would help, but as others have mentioned, sanding down all of the flaking then hitting them with some paint will help and look much better than flaking chrome!
Once you get them cleaned up and looking how you want, a coat or two of our Quick Sealant will help protect them from future corrosion/damage.
Once you get them cleaned up and looking how you want, a coat or two of our Quick Sealant will help protect them from future corrosion/damage.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 312
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From: Maryland
Posting up some pictures would help, but as others have mentioned, sanding down all of the flaking then hitting them with some paint will help and look much better than flaking chrome!
Once you get them cleaned up and looking how you want, a coat or two of our Quick Sealant will help protect them from future corrosion/damage.
Once you get them cleaned up and looking how you want, a coat or two of our Quick Sealant will help protect them from future corrosion/damage.
+1 on the paint idea, but I'd do a color closer to the wheels.. Like chrome, or silver. It's the inner barrel, so it's not too noticeable either way, so the slightly different color probably won't be noticed and you'll maintain the factory appearance.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Fredericksburg Va
Mine were alot worse than yours. I don't put the hawk in any shows, but I wanted the problem done away with. I forgot what the color was called, and I'm too lazy to go downstairs and look. I wanted the inside a black, to show the outside better. Thought about a silver or chrome look, but wasn't what I liked.
Pretty much all original 99+ Firehawk wheels I have seen an issue with flaking/peeling in the barrels. The previous owner of my daily driver set of Firehawk wheels (I have a few sets... :x) had spraypainted the barrels with a chrome paint, which quickly faded to a weird matte greenish gray color. I'm going to sand them down and paint the barrels black, or maybe Pewter to match my car.