Mine are rust and green paint. The tech who did the hub centric recall apparently got carried away and blobbed every frickin' bolt with paint. Any trace of original plating is now gone and I'm trying to remember how they were finished so I can have them replated. Chrome? Nickel? Other? I seem to recall they weren't too shiny but that may be because they were already tarnished when I got the car, or just bad memory.

My belief is that the steel bolts were first copper plated, and then cadmium plated.
If you have ever seen corroded copper with a bluish green color, then you should recognize the coating on the bolt as the remains of the copper plating.
This is similar to the "triple Chrome" plating on bumpers. First a layer of copper is plated on the steel, then a layer of nickel, and finally a layer of chromium. The copper bonds readily to the steel. This allows a better adhesion of the nickel. Finally the chromium protects the nickel layer from corrosion. The bright reflective silver color you see is the nickel layer, while the chromium is so thin as to be transparent.

The copper is also softer & in several plating layers on a rougher piece (e.g.: for a CW resto-rechrome) so that it can be the material polished to make the bumper or other chrome piece(s) baby-butt-smooth.

The Lug Bolt finish was know as "Silver Cad" (cadmium) plated, & were not super shiny as the chromed aftermarket repros of today. More akin to the anodized wheel finish of the 2L Fuchs, or the silver painter Pedrinis & Baby-Gas Burner Mahles alloy wheels & the stock/base silver painted steelies.


Tom
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Thanks guys, this is very helpful! I actually don't care for the look of super shiny bolts on these wheels so happy to hear it was a cad finish. Tom, do you know if silver cad would be the same as clear cad? Clear cad is one of the finishes the plater I'll be using offers. As nice as the patina is on these bolts, I think they could look better.

Click to view attachment

That looks exactly like the corroded copper layer. The finished cad look should be a dull silver finish. I have about 3 sets that I want to have refinished. Cad plating is getting difficult to find.

These are bright silver zinc plated on my 2.0L Fuchs.....

Any recommendations on where to send bolts for refinishing?

Your right, it does look like copper oxidation in that pic, but if you have them in hand, you can see that the dark green stuff is definitely paint from when they dobbed on for the recall. There are even brush marks in the one on the left. When I first got the car 35 years ago, it was more obvious as the bolts still had their finish and the blobs of green paint on the centers. I think the lighter colored green in these pics may be oxidized copper though. It isn't paint anyway and does look like green copper.

I'm sending all my stuff to Quality Plating in Salt Lake City. Eric Shea recommended them to me. They still offer cadmium plating. If that is too expensive, I'll probably go the bright zinc route like @Cal showed. Those look nice without too much bling. BTW, great wheel in general Cal. I see a lot of these with the petals and rims over polished for my taste. Yours look perfect. What's your secret?

Thanks Brent.....the Fuchs are 100% original and not restored. I use Simichrome polish and a lot of elbow grease to keep them clean. I have a set of NOS original center caps that I'll be installing once the new Michelin's are installed. The polished caps should finish off the Fuchs and lugs nicely.

Any idea how much Quality Plating gets for doing a set?

Cal,

will the simichrome remove the anodizing on the wheels? are you polishing with a scotchbrite or something softer...

I really need to clean up my Fuchs

I'll let you know when I find out.

I think I have 3 sets to be done. 2 for sure. I would prefer to be happy with the results the first time.

Steve @turk22 , I haven't used simichrome with a scotchbrite on Fuchs.....just a soft cloth. It doesn't effect / remove the anodizing.