AmericanPie

I just bought a set of polished and clear coated ZO6 wheels (Speedlines). I'm curious how to tell whether they are original factory-polished or if they were once painted wheels that were stripped and polished by an individual. Whoever did it, did a very nice job.

The centers around the lug area are painted but maybe they were all like that from the factory. There are some other markings on the barrels that might give me a clue but I don't know what to look for.

lt4obsesses

I believe Speedline was the OEM manufacturer. If they look great, that's really all that matters, right?

Ron C!

Should have "Speedline" on the inside of the wheels, between the lug nut holes.

Adwest52

Those look like Z06/Z16 wheels based on the finish.

Fcar 98

That’s what I thought when I first saw them.

AmericanPie

^^^ That's what I'm kind of hoping for. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter because as @lt4obsesses mentioned, they do look very nicely done. It would just be kind of cool to have some OE polished ones, just for the relative rarity.

Although the lug areas are painted and clear coated, the barrels are bare aluminum with clear coat. So maybe they are Z16 wheels.

Vetteman Jack

Do the wheels have a GM part number on the inside of the spokes? If so, take the number to a dealer and see what the parts guy says.

grinder11

Unless they say Alcoa!!

Ron C!

If they are original Z16 polished wheels, they are Speedline. If they say Alcoa, they are stripped and polished early wheels.

redzg

I’ve read more than one thread over the years that noted the painted wheels as having more porosity in the aluminum, as result from the manufacturing processes. Your wheels certainly don’t look very porous to me.

AmericanPie

I did a little digging and here's what I've found.
Other than the intended final finishing process (painted or polished), the two versions of the wheel should be the same; I assume the castings themselves are identical.

The part numbers that are cast into the spokes on my polished wheels correspond to early/mid 2002 to 2004 Speedline cast wheels:
Front: 9594808
Rear: 9594810

However the 2004 Z16 factory-polished wheels are supposed to have different part numbers:
Front: 9595433
Rear: 9595434
If genuine Z16 wheels actually have these part numbers cast into their spokes, then I'll have to assume mine were originally the painted versions, and were subsequently stripped and polished. However if ALL Speedline castings had the original part numbers of 9594808 or 9594810, then my mystery continues....