What are my options for my pony wheels?

strattoc

Member
Jan 8, 2011
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16
Cali
I did some searching but most of the threads are too old to have any pictures.

I had planned on just buying new wheels and tires when I got back from the desert in Nov but plans changed and money is going into a different direction so I'm probably gonna stay with these wheels since they have z-rated tires with good tread anyways.

They are 16" chrome pony wheels, the inside of the spokes are black paint, the chrome looks to be good but it seems that there is clear coat over the chrome and is all hazy with water spots and wont polish out. I've always liked the look of pony wheels but I hate my wheels because they wont stay shiny looking and theres a couple of gouges in one rim that looks pretty bad.

Is it possible to strip the clear without screwing up the chrome? I'd also like if the black wasnt on there. The center caps look awesome and I polished them up. I know I can paint them with the argent spray paint I just think thats a last resort. The caliper paint is gonna be changed as soon as I pull the wheels lol.
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Pics are bad, but those look polished to me...not chrome.

But hard to see in pics. If they require that much maintainence, then they def lean towards being polished, especially since the black inserts were more than likely added at some point.
 
Yeah I thought they looked polished too.... I've tried to hit them with the power ball and it didnt affect them in the least bit. Well if they are in fact polished I know I can hit them with some high grit paper and get rid of the black and the build up on them, but then they wont match the center caps.

I cant get any close up pics of them tonight because the weather and its dark out but heres a shot right after I washed them, although close up they still look like poo poo.

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Yeah I thought they looked polished too.... I've tried to hit them with the power ball and it didnt affect them in the least bit. Well if they are in fact polished I know I can hit them with some high grit paper and get rid of the black and the build up on them, but then they wont match the center caps.

I cant get any close up pics of them tonight because the weather and its dark out but heres a shot right after I washed them, although close up they still look like poo poo.

0510111854.jpg

Looks like you got a little poo poo on your hood! Just messin' man! :D But from your pic the rims look great. But I can see how you might want to do something about them once you get up close.
 
Yeah my hood paint if flaking pretty bad, I'm not too worried I'm going to buy another hood soon.

I'm thinking about getting some paint stripper and getting the black off the wheels and polishing them out. That is if they arent chrome. I'll have to give em a shot because I would much rather have polished than painted.
 
Here are some more not so great quality pics of the progress..... Let me just say this I wish I wouldnt have even started this now! Everything was all fine and dandy until I striped the paint off and underneath is a pitted texture, looks almost like the whole wheel would have been like this because where there is still paint under the center cap you can see its like a textured type deal. So after hours of sanding the insides of the spokes I'm still left with a crap ton of pits and a crappy looking wheel.

What would be the easiest way to get rid of this? I thought about going and getting some sanding bits for my dremel and doing it like that, I think that would be the quickest way to remove the material and smooth it out.

And of course I took the wheel off before doing anything to it, but since its my DD i had to put it back on.

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I am 99.9% sure that pony/10 hole/turbine wheels are all some sort of alloy and not steel. If you had access to a right angle die grinder, they made scotch brite discs for those and that would do the trick as far as getting rid of the pits and shining it up some. After that, you could use a metal polish for the fine work to finish the job.
 
I also looked at it this way, I can always strip that paint off and repolish them because I just scuffed the polished surface, which can always be returned. But most likely I will have them blasted and powder coated the same color as factory or maybe a bit darker. I actually like the painted way more than polish. If I keep these wheels I will probably buy a smaller height front tire when the ones I have wear out and lower my car and give it a bit of a rake look.