Fuch Restoration Question

[Bello]

I have an 88 cab with stock fuch in need of restoring.

The company that will do the process told me I could go with any type of restoring process i wanted

EG: chrome trim/black center or anodized trim/black center or even total chrome

Any sugestion out there?

[jtratza]

From what others will tell you don't chrome them. These were polished five years ago and have held up well although there are some spots showing up that will need to be polished out one of these days. The black centers are high gloss and have not chipped. Oh and the color really is Guards Red.

[randywebb]

People say chrome can damage the stregth of the wheels. Plus it looks very non-Porsche -- like a Mustang or Japanese tuner car.

It would go well with a cokehead slant-nose turbo-look tho....

[scottb]

DO NOT CHROME THEM. Apparently Porsche published a bulletin years ago about the problems caused by chroming Fuchs wheels.

If you can put the car up on jack stands for a few weeks, your best bet is to ship the wheels to Al Reed or Harvey Weidman here in California. They'll do the "correct" restoration (to your specs, of course), and your wheels will look incredible. I had Al polish my petals and paint the inner part. He also clear powder-coated them. It's been a couple of years, and they still look great!

[azasadny]

Send them to Al Reed in Anaheim, CA and have them polished and clear powder-coated. I just had mine done and they came out great!

[Pipo]

Originally posted by scottb
DO NOT CHROME THEM. Apparently Porsche published a bulletin years ago about the problems caused by chroming Fuchs wheels.

If you can put the car up on jack stands for a few weeks, your best bet is to ship the wheels to Al Reed or Harvey Weidman here in California. They'll do the "correct" restoration (to your specs, of course), and your wheels will look incredible. I had Al polish my petals and paint the inner part. He also clear powder-coated them. It's been a couple of years, and they still look great!

Is there a phone number or a website for either one of this shops?
Thanks!

[ZOA NOM]

Harvey Weidman

[dafischer]

Al Reed does great work at reasonable prices. He did one polished set for me, and I'm sending off another set for an RS look next week.

Contact info:
Al Reed Polishing
3010 E. Coronado #A
Anaheim, Ca 92806
714.632.3907

Disclaimer: No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer.

[RFR]

OK, Seems chrome is a no no. How do you "dechrome" a chromed Fuch??

[scottb]

Originally posted by RFR
OK, Seems chrome is a no no. How do you "dechrome" a chromed Fuch??

Send them to Al Reed. He'll take care of having them "de-chromed" and will polish them once the chrome is gone. Be aware that chroming can cause the wheels to pit, and it's sometimes not possible to polish out the blemishes.

[Kroggers]

If Chrome is bad for the rims, why are so many other rims (including the RUF speedline) available in chrome???
I am planning the restoration on my speedlines, and was considering having the lips chromed?!?

[scottb]

Originally posted by Kroggers
If Chrome is bad for the rims, why are so many other rims (including the RUF speedline) available in chrome???
I am planning the restoration on my speedlines, and was considering having the lips chromed?!?

I'm going to take a guess here -- the alloy in Fuchs wheels is not conducive to being chromed. Other wheels, made out of different materials, may be more tolerant of chrome.

As I said...just a guess. Hopefully someone with a metallurgy degree will chime in!

[Kroggers]

Interesting, so I am probably safe to chrome the lips on my speedline...

[SC-targa]

I'm betting that the shops that have done much of the chrome plating on Fuchs didn't prep the wheels properly and didn't plate them well. The Fuchs alloy should chrome as well as any cheap cast alloy wheel.

Most of the complaints, besides the awfull bling factor, are from the plating flaking off, right? That's just poor plating shop work.

Regards,

Jerry Kroeger

[Rad Hatter]

What is the specific original factory specified paint and code for the centers...can anyone give me the code..reference
It looks like a matt satin black
Cheers

[techweenie]

The issue with chroming is that the heat of the process works against the benefits of forging, leaving you with a weakened wheel. Cast wheels are already made thicker and heavier and are not changed significantly by the chroming process.

Although it may seem obvious, it's probably necessary to state that a de-chromed forged wheel is not restored to original strength. That's the downside of buying used wheels. It's hard to be sure of their history.

[Nickatnyt]

Originally posted by scottb
Send them to Al Reed. He'll take care of having them "de-chromed" and will polish them once the chrome is gone. Be aware that chroming can cause the wheels to pit, and it's sometimes not possible to polish out the blemishes.

Has anyone de-chromed their wheels themselves? If so, what did you use?

[mark '87 930]

I'm looking to eventually restore my fuch's. In saying that, I want to keep them stock.

Does anyone have any pictures of what they should look like stock. I don't want to polish them, but I will try to remove some of the road rash. The petals are faded bad as well, so really the whole wheel needs to be finished.

What did Porsche use as a process for finishing? Is the center matt black or shiny? The outer rim is anodized right?

[David E. Clark]

Originally posted by dafischer
Al Reed does great work at reasonable prices. He did one polished set for me, and I'm sending off another set for an RS look next week.

Contact info:
Al Reed Polishing
3010 E. Coronado #A
Anaheim, Ca 92806
714.632.3907

Disclaimer: No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer.

Ditto. Mine were anodized by Al Reed. Great work and, as a bonus, when I called he personally answered the phone. No big anonymous corporation here!

[mark '87 930]

I would love to send them out, it just doesn't make sense for me as I'm in Canada. Shipping is overpriced and there is the risk of the cross border 'mis-haps'