These mint condition silver painted and clear-coated wheels are coming right off my 02 firehawk. Less than 10,000 miles on these flawless wheels. The only reason I'm selling is because I have new chrome firehawk wheels coming, they are costing me two grand canadian delivered to my door. These ones for sale are worth over a grand new, I'm asking $800.00 canadian obo. I'll even throw in the chrome firehawk center caps. Please pm any offer to me on these awesome wheels.

 

what cha replacing them with? bling bling

 

I'm replacing them with the same firehawk 5-spoked wheels but going for the chrome ones. My hawk was ordered by someone else who lost their job before they took delivery of the car. They didn't order the chrome wheels. They also didn't order leather and that was my first appearance mod. When I was buying a new car near the end of the summer of 02 there was no birds left to be found anywhere.

 

hey, my buddy has a 94 Trans am and he is very interested in your wheels. They are 17x9's I am assuming, and come w or w/o tires ??? If you could post your email so he could get in touch with you that would be great.

 

i'd assume w/o tires, as he's getting the same wheels, just in chrome... i may be totally off mark, so, sorry if i am.... but thats what i'd assume (also 4 that price, i'd assume w/o tires)

 

If the deal with SSaddicted's friend doesn't go through, I've got a friend who's willing to pay $600 for the set.

Thanks,
Rob

 

drumhawk, wouldnt it be just cheaper to get your wheels chromes/polished??

 

No man, you can get chromed wheels for cheaper then having the existing ones chromed belive it or not.

 

Steve, be aware that MANY of the SLP chrome Firehawk wheels have big problems with the finish on the inside of the rims. The finish is really bumpy, and rough, and very noticeable through the spokes. The problem seems to originate with the wheels being "contaminated" before the finish is applied. Both Larry and I have the same problem with our chrome Firehawk rims, and Larry's car is absolutely mint compared to my daily driver. SLP only warantees the outside surface of the rims, BTW. I plan to get my rims fixed at some point. I'd be very cautious about ordering a replacement set, as they would likely have the same problem. I'd suggest looking into the cost of getting your rims chromed.

 

When I was looking into chroming some authentic ZR1 rims the best quality AND price I could find was in Santa Anna, CA. I belive all 4 wheels with $60 S&H came out to ~US$500 total.

Might want to look into your options before dumping cash on the SLP chrome units. Even if the painted ones sell for CN$600, you're still out CN$1400.

Any chance you could park the firehawk for 4 to 6 weeks in jack stands?

 

When you say "inside" the rims, do you mean the barrel surface visible through the spokes? To my knowledge that area is NEVER chromed. The nickle-plating (the shiney metalic part of a chroming process) is only applied to the outer lip, spokes, and upto the "finish edge" of a wheel. Anything beyond the spokes is rare... that usually gets imbedded with breakdust anyway so it's kind of pointless to spend the money to do the whole wheel like that.

You'd obviously never be able to remove a tire from a fully-chromed wheel as well... not without gouging the chrome plating off and leaving a sharp edge to lay against the next tire you mount to the rim.

Maybe I don't understand what you're describing, but the chrome finish is just the outer few inches of the wheel. (at least it was on the 4 GM rims and 4 after-market chromed rims I have). Most of the info above is from chrome-plating places I contacted last year. I phoned over a hundred shops in WA/OR/CA to figure out what the cost/quality issues were with picking a chrome-shop.

Just FYI, no shops in WA chrome their own wheels... 3 stores would take my money, but their price was suspiciously ~$300 higher than the CA quotes I received. Two of those 3 even swore up and down that no one in WA chromes wheels and that they'd be sending them out of state. Something about EPA standards I belive.

 

Steve, you are right, what I am describing is the "barrel surface", the inner surface of the wheel, that is visible through the spokes. On the SLP Firehawk rims, the inside surface is not chromed, but polished. Unfortunately it is also extremely rough and unfinished, so much so that you can actually cut your hand if you run it over the inner surface of the rim. And the finish of this area actually deteriorates over time, as innumerable black bumps and pits appear over the surface. It is very unsightly, and absolutely impossible to repair with any cleaner or polish. My Firehawk is a daily driver, but I frequently thoroughly clean the rims with soap and water. Every time I do so it seems that the inside of these rims is getting worse. The roads around here are very infrequently salted, so that cant be the reason. My friend Larry's Hawk is absolutely mint, and doesnt get driven in the winter at all; his rims are in no better condition than mine. And SLP will not waranty the inner surface, only the outer one.

(So Drumhawk, I'd think long & hard about giving SLP some more of your hard earned cash, with the very real possiblity of receiving a set of poorly finished chrome rims in exchange. Find out about getting your present rims chromed, you might be happier, and come out ahead dollar wise, too).

 

I'll do that Pat, thanks. I know about the chipping and pitting issues from those SLP firehawk wheels. SLP is having a big sale on tires and mags next month, no wonder! They are selling brand new 275/40Z tires for under 2 bills US. I can get the mags and tires shipped for almost the same price. All I know is I want chrome rims that will fit the firehawk center caps. Any suggestions from you guys where to look for these type of mags or where I can call to check-out getting my silver-hawk rims chromed would be appreciated.

 

drumhawksteve@yahoo.ca

 

Yeah, most GM and until recently aftermarket, barrels were basically "as cast" or "as machined". My stock 16" chrome rims from GM were a bit like that so I know what you're talking about.

Check out this reply I got from Santa Anna Plating. When I got their quote in 2002 they were using a 5-layer coating (Copper/Nickle/Copper/Nickle/Chrome) with polishing on each layer... although the barrels weren't treated. Still, they were the best deal around and the higest quality.

It seems the chroming business must be doing well... They've increased their cost per whell by $10, and now chrome the barrel and do a 7-coat process. They even added a $25 option per wheel to have the barrel polished (which is normally just the spokes/face):

For those who care, a hexavalent chrome is a +6 ion of Chromium and is tough to work with in most situations. Electro-plating makes it much easier to handle I imagine, but the organic chemistry with such an ion is nearly impossible under most circumstances. I'm no chrome-plating expert, but I imagine there's a binding/bonding advantage to using such a strong ion. I'll look into it if any really cares... a stronger bond "might" give a more brilliant "gleam", but I imagine the polishing and bright nickle has more to do with that.