What should I know chroming rims and gold plating rivets?

I am REALLY considering chroming my lips and plating the rivets gold.   The face I think I'll leave alone to save cost since it really isn't bad except for a few nicks and some.    The reason I want to chrome my lips is because the original work clear coat is hazing and has tons of nicks and scratches everywhere.    I don't want to polish the lips because the space between each rivet has damage also.    Even if I did take the rim apart and polish the lips completely it still would be hell polishing these inbetween each rivet....I'm sure anyone with these style of rims would understand...I myself have been through Racing Hart Type C and Type C2 and SSR GP-O. and they all have been a bitch to clean.    Therefore I want to chrome so maintenance is a snap.    

Since I've never chromed anything...what is the usual cost for a job like this?   Most likely I'll be taking it to a rim repair shop.   Also how much would plating the rivets gold cost?   It looks like about 44 rivets per rim so times that by four.

Below are the rims I want to get redone.
[IMG]http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll56/tony42378/P1010732.jpg[/IMG]

chrome costs a lot, doesn't always stick, and any impurities on/in the metal will cause problems down the road.

Chrome pits when used on your wheels.. if you have salt air its even worst like in hawaii.. 
 
Gold comes off becuase its only a very thin layer of 24 k gold that they use..

for the gold id go with type 2 (99%)or above gold in the electroplating. they have different grades of hardness too. should look into that so it lasts longer. standard gold plating isnt that great.

and chrome is hard to get a good job done cause like the previous posters said if theres any imperfections at all it chips,flakes, and pits. 
the best method is the thin hard chrome (no idea where they do that) instead of the cheap triple dipped thick softer chrome.

i think u should just take em apart and get them polished :shrug:  
 good luck with whatever method you end up choosing. should come out nice with the gold rivets.

Oh! or you can anodize or paint the lips, but thats not as good for resale as polishing or chroming.

Wow...chroming is more of a bitch then I thought.   Electroplating sounds like a good idea...   I'll look into it all.

My leons have chrome lips. I have no problems with it whatsoever. Ill never go back to a raw polished wheel. Way too hard to keep clean even if you dont drive on them at all.

original chrome tends to be much more durable, however when/if you have a problem there is a good chance of it becoming a recurring issue.

Mine werent originally chrome. They were polished/cleared.

well best of luck to you then. not saying it will be a problem but corrosion is very hard to completely eliminate from aluminum. once chromed over it can continue to spread unknowingly until the affected are is large enough to cause peeling. that's how my wheel guy explained it to me anyway...

you are scaring me.....STOP

You could always consider powdercoating it a chrome or polished look and it would hold up a lot better I think...you could also just repolish and reclear them.
 
For the gold, I would think some anodized or zinc/cadmium plated hardware would hold up a lot more to the elements...this way you can do it in a more flat gold that won't be a gaudy like the gold plating might be.

I actually want the gaudy...I want it to sparkle with the lips.   I like shiny things....

[QUOTE=Blitz;224770]I actually want the gaudy...I want it to sparkle with the lips.   I like shiny things....[/QUOTE]


You said it best right here!  Chrome them bitches hahaha!!!! We have a chrome guy that does it good.  wheels are sandblasted polished then chromed.  triple chrome plating is what he does and it comes out sick!    We arnt the cheapest but the quality is in the chrome.  We also did Nissan4u2nvs wheels and many more!  

[img]http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-34767620486819_2038_8403503[/img]

Do you guys have a place that can do the rivets in gold?

[QUOTE=Blitz;224801]Do you guys have a place that can do the rivets in gold?[/QUOTE]


Well usually places that do chrome can do gold.  We do have a place that can do gold.

[quote=Blitz;224770]I actually want the gaudy...I want it to sparkle with the lips. I like shiny things....[/quote]
 
Then anodize it so it'll hold up.  Like someone else said, actual gold plating will probably come off as soon as you tighen down the rivets...but I could be wrong.

you have to make sure the rivets are done correctly, i have put a couple sets of wheels back together and i have had one set where the gold plating came right off.  depending on the wheel the rivets might be grooved where you can just tighten the rivet from the bolt on the back side, if not just use a allen head to keep it from spinning and still tighten it from the backside.

You can also polish and clear the lips. That's something you can do in your living room/garage.

If you want sparkley then polish the lips and spray a clear with a flake in it for a crazy effect. Toss a pearl coat in it if you'd like. Someone locally sprayed his lips with a white metallic flake with a pearl coat over it and it looks crazy.

damn. i wanted to do that to some used wheels. pearl the lips and the face.

chrome is dope.

but too vote polish and then clear coat.

before
[IMG]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/ale89se/037.jpg[/IMG]


after
[IMG]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/ale89se/009.jpg[/IMG]

Chrome the lip and polish the faces its the best combo. Then throw a coat of clear on the face and keep a good chrome polisher on the wheels.