Did Fuchs ever come in chrome?

[Mike80911]

I currently have these wheels on my 89 The car does not have an option sticker. Did Porsche ever offer chrome fuchs from the factory?

[proporsche]

no,Porsche never ever did chrome.....There was an accident back in California in the 1980`s where 3 young teens drove 911 with chrome rims and they all died.The cause was that some of the rims broke while driving.Also big lawsuit .I did see the car in a locked away container(lawsuit was in progress that time) ,what was left of it.The family lost it due to the chroming of the rims...........sad story.Porsche was not responsible...so don`t even think about doing it.
btw ..your looks polished

Ivan

[MARISOL78sc]

Never factory chrome or Polish. From an old thread ;Fuchs became available in 1967. That first year, they were all anodized, no paint. They started painting the background in 1968. Painted centers began with the 1973 Carrera RS, in black, green, red and blue. Painted centers were used on certain models. For example, the 1974 Carrera RS 3.0 usually had wheels with black centers or gold centers. All turbos had black centers. By 1978, black centers were the only finish. In later years, a few other painted colors were available for certain models, or with certain option codes.

[tops911]

my '82 930 had Chrome Fuchs when I bought it (used of course).

[dg567]

Never from the factory, but some dealers did install them and sold them on new cars as "dealer upgrades".

I have an 86 Carrera and on the dealer invoice when sold new it had chrome wheels added.

[r lane]

Nothing you ever want to do to a Fuchs wheel. Chroming is corrosive, and the least problem you will have is the flaking that will happen in the tire bead creating a constant leak.

[safe]

67 fuchs were painted too, but just a small part around the "hole".

Agree about no chrome, not so sure about polished, Porsche did almost anything you wanted if you paid for it and signed a paper explaining that you had lost your mind (sort of)... But no polished Fuchs as a standard option.

[Mike80911]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to have them restored over the winter, going with standard finish I think

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Mike80911

Thanks for the replies. I am going to have them restored over the winter, going with standard finish I think

If they were chromed, I would never use them on a car. Make them into garden hose reels, or wall decorations. The chroming process makes them a weak.

Find some used 16s and start over with solid and safe wheels.

[fallingat120mph]

So, we are talking about chrome not polished?

Chromed meaning the entire rim is cleaned, dipped, etc...where as polishing is just that.

Had me scared for a second - as I've been running a set of 'polished' for years, over a decade actually...

OP photo is polished, correct?

[proporsche]

Originally Posted by fallingat120mph

So, we are talking about chrome not polished?

Chromed meaning the entire rim is cleaned, dipped, etc...where as polishing is just that.

Had me scared for a second - as I've been running a set of 'polished' for years, over a decade actually...

OP photo is polished, correct?

yup polished is all good...as is the pic above
Ivan

[Mike80911]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

If they were chromed, I would never use them on a car. Make them into garden hose reels, or wall decorations. The chroming process makes them a weak.

Find some used 16s and start over with solid and safe wheels.

I am guessing from the replies that I was mistaken. The wheels I have were polished and not chromed. So refinishing would not be an issue

[tops911]

my original Fuchs are for sure chromed, they look like the OP's wheels and they are flaking. A chrome sliver from the wheels in the finger hurts like hell. I actually have them sitting in the garage since I went to 17" Fuchs.

[Kraftwerk]

A lot of car wheels out there are chromed, as well as choppers which have custom chrome structural parts, you think they wouldn't chrome stuff it was that detrimental to metal or is just so with forged aluminum?

[PeteKz]

Chrome plating works much better on steel than on aluminum. It does tend to flake off aluminum. When the chrome starts to flake, it also creates tiny leaks around the lip of the rim and tires will lose air. I can't think of any OE manufacturer who supplies their cars with chrome plated aluminum wheels.

[Quickstep192]

Mine looked like that when I got the car. I thought they were chrome, but they were polished.

If wheels are banged up, it’s much easier (IMHO) to get them to polished than to brushed. Getting a consistent brushed finish is an art.

I traded them for a set of brushed.

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by tops911

my original Fuchs are for sure chromed, they look like the OP's wheels and they are flaking. A chrome sliver from the wheels in the finger hurts like hell. I actually have them sitting in the garage since I went to 17" Fuchs.

They might be Fuchs and they might be chromed but they didn’t come from Porsche that way. Just like the guys who swear their polished wheels are oem. Wasn’t that way from Porsche. Once it hit the dealer and all the subsequent owners, all bets are off.

[porsche930dude]

Originally Posted by PeteKz

Chrome plating works much better on steel than on aluminum. It does tend to flake off aluminum. When the chrome starts to flake, it also creates tiny leaks around the lip of the rim and tires will lose air. I can't think of any OE manufacturer who supplies their cars with chrome plated aluminum wheels.

My boss's wife had a lincoln with aluminum chromed wheels and they flaked. He thought they were cracked and bought a couple new used ones which also cracked in another year or so.

[No Sweat]

Easy way to tell if they are polished or chrome just rub some metal polish or rubbing compound on a rag rub the wheel and if it turns black the rim is POLISHED !!!

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk

A lot of car wheels out there are chromed, as well as choppers which have custom chrome structural parts, you think they wouldn't chrome stuff it was that detrimental to metal or is just so with forged aluminum?

Chrome isn't used to strengthen things. It just "makes it pretty".

The problem is plating can cause hydrogen embrittlement. There are steps that can help limit hydrogen embrittlement but there is no way to tell if the time and money was spent to correctly take those steps. (The plated parts can be baked to reduce the embrittlement.)

The end result is on such a critical structural part like an aluminum wheel it doesn't make sense to introduce a known source of structural cracks to a part that can easily be simply polished.