chrome or polished slots?

[rahail240]

love this car to bits. probably enhanced photo but has any one had there slot

mags chromed or would a mirror polish be just as good? the car looks like 918 orange with a spook spoiler.would like to know if anyone has car in same colour to confirm code.thanks.

[ZIII]

918 it is......

Here's a color, sorry, colour chart..... http://zhome.com/History/ZColorGallary/index.html

The mag's look chromed to me.... It would be hard to get that kind of shine/brilliance from a polished mag....

[Arne]

The mag's look chromed to me.... It would be hard to get that kind of shine/brilliance from a polished mag....

Sorry, I don't agree. My years of experience selling and servicing vintage mags lead me to conclude that those are far more likely to be polished, rather than chromed.

First, chrome is a big problem on old school wheels that use shank lugnuts. The chrome-on-chrome contact galls and chews both the wheel and the nut.

Secondly, the alloys used back in the old days for these wheels don't take chrome well. It would be difficult to get a set of four that didn't have rather serious chrome flaws. And if you got a set, having the chrome stick will be a problem, partly because of the alloy, and partly because of the aforementioned galling at the lug holes. Once the surface of the chrome is broken, all durability bets are off.

It is possible for decent quality aluminum wheels to be machine polished to that level, although it'd be hard to keep them that shiny. But you might have to polish more than four to get a full set of that quality. If the alloy is porous or inconsistent, machine polishing will reveal every pore or soft spot in the wheel.

My wire mags aren't that shiny, but look pretty good from 5 feet or so. But up close they have bad spots from porous and/or soft spots in the alloy.

[ZIII]

My years of experience selling and servicing vintage mags lead me to conclude that those are far more likely to be polished, rather than chromed.

I will be happy to defer to your years of experience…. However, when I look at your wire mags they do look polished and when I look at the subject mags they look much more brilliant. Now, this may have a lot to do with the photograph and how things are doctored.

[rahail240]

thanks for confirmation on orange code.The slot mags that i've bought aren't in the best of condition so i would see the above problems arising.not sure what to do now because that photo has inspired me on how i want my 240 to look.i've attatched another photo with shiny mags,tell me what you guys think.many thanks.

[Arne]

Good quality aluminum alloy - dense and consistent - will polish just like a mirror. But it is VERY difficult to find vintage 14" wheels of requisite quality. The set I found and had polished was not even close. But the only way to know how well yours will clean up is to polish one or more of them. And don't be surprised if the results you get vary from wheel to wheel.

[rahail240]

thanks arne for all your advise.at least now my expectations when my wheels

return from polishing will be realistic.your a star.::

[26th-Z]

I have to agree with Arne and say from personal experience that it is possible to polish the wheels to that level and it is very difficult to keep them that way. My slots are cast with "Japan" in the casting and have been on 26th forever. I have polished them many times. They look stunning for about two weeks and then they just look great. That IS a great example picture. An old Nissan dealer poster photograph. Great look to the Z with the front spook and rear spoiler.

CW-

[MikeW]

I polished mine several years ago and they still look fairly good. I don't think they've degraded all that much. Perhaps it's because the car is always garaged and not driven very much. One thing I considered but never followed through on is the POR clear coat product:

http://www.por15.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1435/.f

Has anyone here actually tried this?

[Arne]

Clear coat over polished aluminum never lasts, in my experience. Problem is that if the wheel is polished well, it is very smooth, and there is no "roughness" to help the clear coat adhere. POR is great stuff, but that doesn't really change the surface condition of the wheel.

[mars23z]

I agree that they are polished witch in my opinion looks better then chrome on an older car. Since we are on the subject would someone look at my gallary and tell me if it looks like 918 or 110 red. Sorry the pics arent that great my code has worn off and it looks more orange then red, but it is an early 260 and I think 110 is the only color offered on the 260. I know the car is still the original color,did they offer 918 on early 260's?

[rahail240]

looking at all the pics of 918 orange and believe me i've looked at many i would say the colour on your car looks to be 110.