I spent the past few days cleaning the old rims. They are not in the best of shape, they are rather "patina-fied" as most Cragars are. Since I can't seem to find anyone that will rechrome them, I figured I'll just run them as is. I used a lot of Simichrome and cleaned up the chrome (where I could find it) as much as possible and then masked off the center lug nut areas and sprayed them flat black. Works for me. So I guess I am returning her to her "Rat Rod" beginnings.
Here's the extent of the masking and spraying. Not too high-tech:
Oh, in case anyone is wondering: The original 1970 vintage center cap is on the right. Note the heavier design and thicker walls. The cap on the left is the later 1970/80s cap (made in Taiwan -it figures)...
The other way to tell the old style from the new is that the old style has a slightly thicker font to the letters and no circled "R" trademark under the name. THere is also a noticeable difference to the background "wrinkled" area.
The finished set:
