Old style cragar ss vs the new style ss

[cook_dw]

14x6 & 14x10

[whitetop]

Love the look and the painted lug nut pocket
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cook_dw</div><div class="ubbcode-body">14x6 &amp; 14x10






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[Resurrected69ss]

Whitetop was the name of the place Bolton classic wheels? I called a place in California and they recommended me to him he does hexevalant chroming.

[whitetop]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Resurrected69ss</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Whitetop was the name of the place Bolton classic wheels? I called a place in California and they recommended me to him he does hexevalant chroming. </div></div>

That was not the name but it could have changed a name..the place I sent my wheels they did chrome plating on wheels I think mostly from manufacturers.
I will try to find the info.

[Salvatore]

You are the man Dave. Start writing the book!

[TheNovaMan]

Not knowing was killing me, so I called Stockton Wheel. When they re-chrome a Cragar, they cut the center out of the rim shell, send both pieces out for re-chroming, and then weld the center back into the original rim shell. I'm not sure how they avoid destroying the rim shell, but they claim they can reuse the original. It turns out that's a very good thing, because they can't get 15x4 rim shells anymore. I asked the man if he knew whether the chrome shop they use does hexavalent or trivalent, and he did not know. Right now, it runs about $325/wheel to have them do it. That sounds suspiciously inexpensive to me.

I also called Advanced Plating. They don't do wheels, but they do use hexavalent chromium in their baths [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[whitetop]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TheNovaMan</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> but they claim they can reuse the original. It turns out that's a very good thing, because they can't get 15x4 rim shells anymore. </div></div>

My original were used. Again after lathing the wheels apart some of the steel tab is going to be gone so you have to have a welder build back the steel tab and machine or lathe it down to specs as it would have been before Cragar welded them together originally

[whitetop]

The wheels I had redone are a 100 times better than original Cragar quality. One wheel had the tire valve 3/4 across the opening between the spokes-not lined up properly and several places had poor casting quality( small air pockets in the aluminum) or indented bevels, gouge marks that were originally just plated over from the original Cragar plate job and Pauls fixed that up.

70's Cragar wheel quality was horrendous.

[TheNovaMan]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: whitetop</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My original were used. Again after lathing the wheels apart some of the steel tab is going to be gone so you have to have a welder build back the steel tab and machine or lathe it down to specs as it would have been before Cragar welded them together originally</div></div> What I can't understand is how they can reuse the rim after they've cut so much metal out of it to free the center. Does a 4&quot; wide wheel become 3 13/16&quot; wide?

[whitetop]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TheNovaMan</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: whitetop</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My original were used. Again after lathing the wheels apart some of the steel tab is going to be gone so you have to have a welder build back the steel tab and machine or lathe it down to specs as it would have been before Cragar welded them together originally</div></div> What I can't understand is how they can reuse the rim after they've cut so much metal out of it to free the center. Does a 4&quot; wide wheel become 3 13/16&quot; wide? </div></div>

You lathe cut from the backside of the wheel along the 5 tab points it is welded to the rim. The outer steel rim is not damaged. What you are cutting is the weld and part of the tabs-why the tabs need to be built up with weld afterward and then lathed down