wire wheel recondition

[cramorra]

Due to some long standing outdoor (garage had to make up steering colum from scratch as part not available- car was under cover but not indoors) my chrome wires on the passenger side have developed some rust on the rim it is the rim only as the wires seem to be stainless
AFAIK the guy I bought from put "dunlop" aftermarket (prob indian) wire wheels on which suit the car well
Is it financially more attractive to get them rechromed (and do fellow PH have good recommendations) here in the south or should i not bother and just buy to new wheels????
Thanks for your help



Reposted due to lack of answers on triumph forum...

[AJAX50]

You could get them painted. On some cars either silver or body colour looks better than chrome, it does depend on the car.

[cramorra]

cramorra said:

Due to some long standing outdoor (garage had to make up steering colum from scratch as part not available- car was under cover but not indoors) my chrome wires on the passenger side have developed some rust on the rim it is the rim only as the wires seem to be stainless
AFAIK the guy I bought from put "dunlop" aftermarket (prob indian) wire wheels on which suit the car well
Is it financially more attractive to get them rechromed (and do fellow PH have good recommendations) here in the south or should i not bother and just buy two new wheels???? I quite like the wires and although not original don't fancy swapping to steel or alloy rims
Thanks for your help

Reposted due to lack of answers on triumph forum...

[RichB]

Best bet is to give Motor Wheel Services in Langley (Slough) a call and discuss the options. Personally I prefer grey painted wires to chrome esepcially on a true-brit car like the TR6. But that said my brother put chromed on his Healey 3000 and I have to admit they look good.

[lowdrag]

Depends how deeply pitted they are. They are almost certain to be Indian made MWS wheels but if they have stainless spokes they aren't that old (mine are very rusty spokes where the chrome has fallen off!) since it isn't all that long ago that they changed to stainless spokes. If it is surface rust then a good clean would do (tried T cut?) but if not then talk to MWS. They are very helpful. Repainting over chrome wouldn't be an option but I am more in favour of painteds than chromes - easier to maintain and stronger.

[mph]

Why not put the original type TR6 wheels on?

The TR6 didn't have wires as standard, the originals look better (in my opinion) and are easier to maintain.

[cramorra]

lowdrag said:

Depends how deeply pitted they are. They are almost certain to be Indian made MWS wheels but if they have stainless spokes they aren't that old (mine are very rusty spokes where the chrome has fallen off!) since it isn't all that long ago that they changed to stainless spokes. If it is surface rust then a good clean would do (tried T cut?) but if not then talk to MWS. They are very helpful. Repainting over chrome wouldn't be an option but I am more in favour of painteds than chromes - easier to maintain and stronger.

They are definetely ss (I think from around 2000) and it is surface rust but does not come of with my chrome polish - what is T cut and where could I get it???

[cramorra]

mph said:

Why not put the original type TR6 wheels on?

The TR6 didn't have wires as standard, the originals look better (in my opinion) and are easier to maintain.

Beause as I wrote above I do like the wires - suit the car well (IMO of course)





(and they go well with the as well not original gunmetalgrey)

Apart from that I was told that they make the ride somewhat more compfortable (as I have a telescopic shock conversion)

Thanks

[RichB]

cramorra said:

lowdrag said:

Depends how deeply pitted they are. They are almost certain to be Indian made MWS wheels but if they have stainless spokes they aren't that old (mine are very rusty spokes where the chrome has fallen off!) since it isn't all that long ago that they changed to stainless spokes. If it is surface rust then a good clean would do (tried T cut?) but if not then talk to MWS. They are very helpful. Repainting over chrome wouldn't be an option but I am more in favour of painteds than chromes - easier to maintain and stronger.

They are definetely ss (I think from around 2000) and it is surface rust but does not come of with my chrome polish - what is T cut and where could I get it???

If chrome polish doesn't touch it then T-Cut probably won't either.

p.s. the best metal polich I knowof is Autosol

Edited by RichB on Saturday 24th January 21:55

[cramorra]

RichB said:

cramorra said:

lowdrag said:

Depends how deeply pitted they are. They are almost certain to be Indian made MWS wheels but if they have stainless spokes they aren't that old (mine are very rusty spokes where the chrome has fallen off!) since it isn't all that long ago that they changed to stainless spokes. If it is surface rust then a good clean would do (tried T cut?) but if not then talk to MWS. They are very helpful. Repainting over chrome wouldn't be an option but I am more in favour of painteds than chromes - easier to maintain and stronger.

They are definetely ss (I think from around 2000) and it is surface rust but does not come of with my chrome polish - what is T cut and where could I get it???

If chrome polish doesn't touch it then T-Cut probably won't either.

p.s. the best metal polich I knowof is Autosol

Edited by RichB on Saturday 24th January 21:55

Autosol is what I used.....

Thaught I uploaded some pics b4 wonder where they had gone????

[tlracing]

Somewhere in the depths of my memory I seem to recall treating the porosity of chrome plating with chromic acid.

Now, I admit that's not terribly useful on its own as it's nigh-on impossible to buy chromic acid these days, but...

...many proprietary rust removers use oxalic acid, which is safer (but care still needs to be taken; it is after all an acid) and shouldn't harm the stainless spokes.

Oh, and oxalic acid is the constituent of 'wood bleach' that's used for lightening wood (oddly enough, given the name!) and removing staining, so reasonably well available. Check label before buying, though.

If you don't fancy that, there seems to be a lot of mention of using aluminium foil, rubbed on the rusty areas. I just tried this on an old pair of pliers and it did appear to work.

After cleaning, give the affected area a good rub with good quality wax, which should help control the problem.

[cramorra]

tlracing said:

Somewhere in the depths of my memory I seem to recall treating the porosity of chrome plating with chromic acid.

Now, I admit that's not terribly useful on its own as it's nigh-on impossible to buy chromic acid these days, but...

...many proprietary rust removers use oxalic acid, which is safer (but care still needs to be taken; it is after all an acid) and shouldn't harm the stainless spokes.

Oh, and oxalic acid is the constituent of 'wood bleach' that's used for lightening wood (oddly enough, given the name!) and removing staining, so reasonably well available. Check label before buying, though.

If you don't fancy that, there seems to be a lot of mention of using aluminium foil, rubbed on the rusty areas. I just tried this on an old pair of pliers and it did appear to work.

After cleaning, give the affected area a good rub with good quality wax, which should help control the problem.

Thanks will try next weekends job sorted, then

[tlracing]

cramorra said:

Thanks will try next weekends job sorted, then

No prob. If you do use oxalic, remember to take care and to wash it off thoroughly afterwards.

Photo article here:

http://www.volkstorque.co.uk/vt/tech-archive/50231...

Link to MSDS sheet here:

http://cartwright.chem.ox.ac.uk/hsci/chemicals/oxa...

Edited by tlracing on Monday 26th January 21:42

Edited by tlracing on Monday 26th January 21:46

[lowdrag]

Or, following a phone call yesterday, a nice rich chap with more money than sense has changed from his 5 1/2J to 6J wheels on his E type. The four old wheels in very good order I've bought for £100 as opposed to £1,000 new. Since mine have done over 100,000 miles and are decidedly ready for the scrap heap that'll, er do nicely!

[a8hex]

lowdrag said:

Or, following a phone call yesterday, a nice rich chap with more money than sense has changed from his 5 1/2J to 6J wheels on his E type. The four old wheels in very good order I've bought for £100 as opposed to £1,000 new. Since mine have done over 100,000 miles and are decidedly ready for the scrap heap that'll, er do nicely!

It's good that the world is full of such kind benefactors. My previous set of tyres came courtesy of an owner that felt his 150 would be better suited by a set of low profile radials. Then a set of 16" wheels from a some who hadn't realised that XKs and Mk2s don't normally have the same wheels.