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My rims are pitted up, what should I do.

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 6:59 pm
by ceetwarrior
Hey guys, I stuck a magnet to my rims and they are aluminum. But they are chromed or polished. The first owner told me that they came that way when he bought it new off the showroom floor.

The center caps have peeling of chrome. But the rims have major pitting. So, can these be polished out, or chromed? Can you chrome aluminum? Do they need to be sandblasted first? See picture: http://www.corral.net/photopost/showpho ... ig&cat=502

Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:47 pm
by black93svt
There is a place here in town called Spec Wheel. They can do anything you want done to them. I'll be taking mine to them hopefully here soon to have them restored.

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:45 am
by ceetwarrior
Are you getting yours re coated or are you going polished?

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:11 pm
by BADBOY
I would have them done to look OEM again.

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:36 pm
by ceetwarrior
I think the polished looks better IMO. Besides it's less maintence against rock chips.

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:48 pm
by BADBOY
To each their own, that why we are all different as people.

Im sure they would look good either way.

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:52 pm
by ceetwarrior
Well DUH, they are Cobra wheels after all. Of course they will look good. I just want to know if the dealer in fact polished these rims. The first owner says that's how they came when he bought the car.

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:55 pm
by black93svt
ceetwarrior wrote:Are you getting yours re coated or are you going polished?
I'm just going to have them put back to original. I was going to chrome them but too much $$ and I don't want the peeling issues later on.

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:22 pm
by CobraStrike93
Good choice!!!! :wink:

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:29 pm
by ceetwarrior
Man, this pitting is so bad it's gonna take some major polishing to get it fixed. I guess it's gonna come down to prices; next trip to Denver. If it's going to be any where close to $500 then I am considering buying replicas in dark grey or possibly black.

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:19 pm
by black93svt
The replicas won't fit right on your car. They will stick out too far.

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:05 pm
by BADBOY
black93svt wrote:The replicas won't fit right on your car. They will stick out too far.
Fit yes, properly no.

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:38 am
by ceetwarrior
hmmm, I'll have to check backspacing but I'm sure a little wider will fit!

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:32 pm
by ceetwarrior
How much wider will they be? I've seen 5-lug Cobra R's installed that were 17x9 but don't know the backspacing. They looked fine. Made the car look wide and mean.

So these replica rims at 8.5" can't be that bad. Anyone have any pictures of Cobras with wider offset wheels?

Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 7:05 pm
by ceetwarrior
So after a drive to Denver to visit my friends at TruDesign Wheel I got my answer. $1,000-1,500 to get my rims "fixed"!!! And they can't even do all of it themselves. A freight to SoCAL would be in order.

They said that after they strip the chrome off the wheels then the copper and nickel needs to be blasted off. But, because of how bad the pitting is the aluminum is actually been eaten away so fixing that will be major. Then to polish the wheels will be labor intensive. Thus giving me the expensive repair. Not to mention the down time of having no rims to drive on.

OUCH. So, needless to say they suggested that I put those rims up in the attic and buy aftermarket. So, we were looking at these "replica" wheels from http://www.wheelreplicas.com/93Cobrawheels.html and we figured out that the backspacing is the same so the +1 will be all outward. S

By looking at the MM&FF teal '93 w/ black wheels that thing looks great with those wide wheels. So, for $600 shipped for a brand new set of replica wheels in black (like I want) and be able to run a wider tire I think that's what it might have to be.