What to do with rusty, peeling CragarSS's?

I am thinking to buy new would be less money than to have rechromed. After all, they are only Cragar SS wheels. Just like McDonalds.....over 10 billion sold.

 

I like the fat trim ring, now tape off the faces of the spokes and clean/sand/paint the webbing between the spokes to define them better. I think you'd have something.

They do get kind of a "chubby" look with the trim rings, but with the right tires and on the right application, I think it'll look pretty cool, and keep people guessing.

 

Sorry man, to each his own but that trim ring looks like lip stick on a pig!!!

How about this, bead blast the living **** out of those wheels and................................................



then some tasteful Pin Stripe work:.

 

Doesn't Wheelkid do the paint process that looks like chrome. MEdell had his 34 grill done with this process - looked pretty decent.

 

I don't think that those particular beauty rings look too good on it. Maybe if they were the kind that are flat on the outer edge and angle in sharply instead of rounded and fat looking.

 

Love those! What brand are those tires?


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as mentioned earlier, i took some $10 peeling/flaking ones and blasted them and used the cast blast spray paint. for how much time,effort and money i have invested in them i think they look great. summitt sales new tri bar spinners or reg caps also.
lots o pic in the build thread here. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=612409

 

Most Gragar SS I have ever seen are a steel outer rings with an Aluminum center. Turn the wheel over and you will see each of the 5 spokes has a piece of steel embedded in it and welded to the outer steel rim. On some rare offset SS I have been known to grind the welds and separate the center from the outer ring, re chrome, re true, re weld. This also works well for dialing in your own offset by moving the center in or out on the steel rim before welding..............

 

Have you considered DIY nickel plating them?

You could blast, clean & degrease them then set up a bath with vinegar & salt, use a charge controller or small battery, add a layer of copper for the nickel to stick to, then mix up another bath for the nickel.

Here's a non-specific overview: http://www.ehow.com/how_8074590_electroplate-home.html

 

I'd like to see how re-chromed ones look from WheelKid. Being they're a 2 piece wheel, I think it's going to be hard to get the right look, unless they're separated at the welds, rechromed, and re-welded; it's just that I've never seen it done either way. I "think" ET Wheels did a white centered Cragar S/S look-a-like back in the day. A lot of the old Junior Stock type cars/racers did their own re-make/re-painting also. We have Cragar S/S on my 56 Delivery, and on the nephews 51 Bus Coupe, and keeping corrosion at bay is a never ending job. Has anyone used the "new" Cragar one piece wheels? Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Yeah, I paid 10 apiece for them to set up my 34 ch***is with. They're really close to the size and offset of the "real" wheels I plan to use on the car. I even bought a pair of $10 farm implement tires at the last swap meet to approximate the tires size I plan to use on the rear of the car...for ch***is set-up only. When I'm done the cragars and tires will be retired to the swap meet circuit.
This winter when the snow is *** deep I may sit them on my lap over a blanket and sand on them while watching re-runs of Pinks..then paint the rough part and leave the chrome spokes....
I agree, the rings look like ****. Maybe after sanding/painting and mounting tires, they might look a little better...we'll see.
Thanks to all for suggestions..just what I wanted.
And Ryno...your wheels look great! Love the spinners against the "cast" gray paint.

 

Here's a couple pics of the ones I was talking about earlier, these ones had fading on the steel outer but no peeling. The center was highly pitted so I stripped the centers using a die grinder with some of those cartridges using for cylinder head porting and other abrasives until it was just raw aluminum, then I polished them. I think they turned out pretty good, not like new but pretty nice and the only cost was the supplies and elbow grease.

 

Those Cragars were pieces of **** when they came out in '58. They come out of the box with rust on em!

 

Ugly *** wheels, always have been and always will be. Have never owned any and would let my car sit before I'd ever run a set. What would I do with rusty peeling Cragar's? Would somebody please open the garbage lid for me?

 

There was a thread earlier this year that talked about KOLOR KROME paint. This might be an option. Here is a like to the paint:
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/metalCast/

 

Just put em on an equally rusty, peeling van, problem solved!

 

I'd run em as-is on a "survivor" hot rod/custom.

 

I like Andy's idea.....Put them on the van dude!

 

Ive touched up sevral old cragars, first by cleaning them up the best I can with SOS pads then spray chrome spray paint in the lugnut area and sides of the spokes etc.as needed,Then I spray the tip end of a small foam brush with the silver paint and try to foam brush a even p*** around where the rust ring or rings are genrally at around the wheels.

They still wont look new but with some new lugnuts and some real clean tires they will look pretty decent if they arent completly too far gone.
( I have made some pretty rough ones look pretty good.)

 

I love mine! How often do ya see 4 spoke ones??? Mine aren't perfect,but neither is my car! But they match up nice!! What they looked like when I got them.

 

Had a pair of rusty 15X8 (4.75) ET mags with 3-1/8" backspace that fit my rear fendered 33 Chevy perfectly. Put them in a clear garbage bag then inserted my sandblaster nozzle and sealed the bag around my wrist.

After blasting, used my HF powder coating gun with silver/clear powder. Just powdered the outside and cured them one at time in my garage former kitchen electric stove.

Look fine until I can locate a permanent set. (before-after pic)