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Restoring chrome caps and rims

valkster

valkster

Legacy Registered User
City
Greeneville
State
TN
Hello. I purchased a set of 5 chrome factory rims and center caps recently that already had most of the old clear coat removed by another Jeep enthusiast. I have read some posts on the forum about restoring the wheels and whether to re-clear coat or not. I think they have a bit too much shine for me without the clear (and I am restoring to stock as much as I can) so I am in the process of preparing them for a new clear coat. My question is, did the center caps have clear coat on them from the factory? Mine are raw chrome but the previous owner had removed most of the clear from the wheels so I do not know if the caps where originally clear coated or not. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark
 
all of the ones that I've run across never had any clear coating on them
 
And I forgot to mention that the metal they are made of (I don't know the English name but only the Italian name and it would not help..) is such that if the chrome starts to come off they are basically a done deal, no way to fix them unless you want to have them re-chromed that I doubt would be worth.
 
Thanks on center caps!

I appreciate the input. I will buff them up nicely and leave them that way.

Thanks,
Mark
 
Black paint on rear caps

Thought I would hop onto this thread with another question-
Most rear caps have faded black paint or missing paint all-together....
Anybody got any tricks for restoring this black around the jeep logo???
 
Mask/paint/remove

Hi, I am doing this now on mine. I am carefully masking off the circular OD and painting inside of that masking. Then, carefully wipe the logo and any missed areas from masking with a rag and thinner. Do not wait long after painting though. I have seen this technique used on chrome and aluminum trim on old cars with wide side moulding on the doors that have painted areas and it works well. It takes a steady hand and patience. Hope this helps.

-Mark
 
Steadiness...

Yea, I've contemplated that technique - even thought about waxing the "JEEP" letters with a q-tip before spraying - then wiping after the paint has set a bit. Either way, a steady hand is vital:fingerscrossed:
What kind of paint did you use- Gloss or satin?
 
Refinished caps - final product

Well - after a w/e of stripping wheels and refinishing caps here are some pics of the finished results -

I used brake cleaner and some elbow grease to strip off the old faded paint - this also acted as a good degreaser. To help with exposing the chrome after paint, I coated the letters (very carefully) with some wax. I also coated that very outer ring (about 1/4" wide) with wax as well - it's very difficult to mask a circle that small with painters tape!!! I did mask the outside vertical surface with one strip then slipped a cardboard collar over to protect the rest of the cap from overspray (much easier then masking the whole thing!!)

I let the paint set up about 20 min

The hard part was then stripping the paint off the lettering and outer ring - I used a very specialized tool .....A piece of cloth over the end of a butter knife. I DAMPENED the cloth with brake cleaner and slowly and methodically scraped over each letter. Adjust the knife to "fresh" rag after every "stroke" - otherwise, it seems to smear it around. Too much brake cleaner might drip onto the background paint then you're starting over.....Also, make sure you have a good hold of all of your rag - it can easily dangle down and touch the wet paint and screw up the finish.

All told, it probably took an hour per cap - not too bad. Trying to decide if I want to clear coat...afraid that extra layer may add more problems in the future...
 
Last edited:
Yup - gloss black. I've yet to see what they looked like from factory- so it was a guess...
 
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