Removed Inner Wheel Paint - Bad?

W

wash-girl

New member
This weekend, I removed the OEM mirrored-chrome wheels from my girlfriend's 2003 Ford Thunderbird. On the first one, I used EO All Wheel & Tire cleaner and a stiff bristled brush to remove the brake dust from the inside of the wheels. Before doing a final rinse, I clayed and scraped some baked on road tar. While claying, I noticed some shiny chrome, like the face of the wheels, coming into view. I dried things off and used some ClearKote Metal Polish to remove the remainder of what I thought was brake dust or some sort of contaminant. The result was beautiful all chrome inner wheels. I thought that was terrific!



Then I took off the second wheel. The brake dust cleaned off of it more easily, and I realized that the dull gray under it was actually some sort of silver paint that was certainly applied on purpose. Since I had already done one wheel completely, I removed the coating from this wheel as well and shined it to a sparkling chrome. Both wheels were on the driver's side of the car, and I have not yet done the other side, for fear that I might not want to remove that coating.



Any advice on whether I should respray a protective coating onto the ones I stripped or whether I can safely remove it from all four?



Thanks for any input.



--Jim
 
Chrome plated wheels are usually dipped in copper, nickel, and than chrome. The nickel coating is usually a little less brillliant than the chrome. I would not remove any more of it. I also would not be concerned about what you removed.
 
Thanks, Brad. I just want to clarify that I described it right, since the duller part was removed and the chrome was under it. With the process you describe, wouldn't the dull nickel coating be underneath the chrome? Or do they re-coat the finished product in the nickel as a protective barrier?



Thanks for any clarification you can provide.



--Jim
 
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