oh thanks god..i thought this would be a thread about how someone wanted to paint their rims chrome...this has made me much happier

anyway, If you are painting then yes, you will have to sand them down well...how about powdercoating them?

 

yah sand them down completely, i vote for powdercoating them gold or bronze, would look great with the blue

 

^^^^agreed..gold or bronze looks good on blue tibs...and though it costs more..powdercoating gives a much better, more durable finish

 

I considered powder coating for a long time, but the price around here is kind of steep, and I just had the tires mounted, so I dont want to have them taken off the rim and put back on.

But that just kindve made me come to the realization that if I half *** it I will probably run into problems later .....

 

well yeah...but if you hate the chrome rims you cant paint them now and if they start to chip and peel, you can just deal with it until you have the money and will to powdercoat...its not irreversible

 

im in the same position but since my wheels 2 to be exact are bent i have to replace anyways

 

uuuummm .... you cannot simply "sand" and paint your chrome rims. You all obviously have no idea on how rims are chromed including the layers of metals underneath the chromium plating. Best bet - send me a pm or email with the condition and pictures .... sell them to me ..... and buy something already the color/style that you want.

croat

 

Listen to his words, they can possibly weaken your wheel its not as simple as sand and paint

 

Don't fvck around, powedercoat them. And they actually don't look too bad for being chrome.

 

Good point. ... I think Ill just go for it.... I have had some pretty good success with spray paint on other things so if I take my time and do it right it should last a while anyway.
Does anyone have any experience stripping chrome? Is sanding the best method? because I doubt paint thinner would work like it does on OEM rims

 

Yea I posted my last post without refreshing, Ill send ya a PM within the next couple days croat thanks.

 

ARGHHHH painting over chrome! That's like a mortal sin! Why did you buy them anyway or did they come with the car?

 

Wel I had them on another car ....... AND I am sad to say that Yes I did buy them myself ..... when youre 16 you make many mistakes lol.....

I knew I couldnt just paint over them but I didnt figure It would take a ridiculous amount of effort since parts of it is already flaking off

 

Honestly those rims aren't bad at all

 

There is a reason why chrome rims cannot be re-chromed. There are many layers of metals/surfaces (various thickness) on your rim:

chemical etched

copper

matte/semi bright nickel

followed by bright nickel

followed by microporous nickel

chromium solution

and finally the chromium layer

There are and can be more layers involved and sometimes they are thicker to produce a higher quality rim. There is a reason why chrome is near indestructible and last forever. In the end - you will not be able to paint, powedercoat, rechrome, etc existing chrome rims ...... so sell em to me cheap and buy some new ones

 

You mean de-chrome? Several rim repair places can redo the finish on them, but they send them out to the same facility in cali and it's just the same process placed over the original faded chrome.

 

Theyre not that bad, but I just want to go with black to go with the rest of my car

 

Well most places will simply not do it - its not worth the time/effort/money to refinish or repair existing chrome rims (will cost you more than buying new ones or chroming others). Its a very lengthy and pricey process to remove all of the existing coatings and than they have to go through all of the steps above, so they are doing 2.5 more work.