I picked up a set of the 14" LE wheels today. I know they are going on my car but I'm trying to decide what to do with them before I put them on.

They are in decent shape, although it looks like they've been painted once. I gave them a quick wash and they cleaned up alright, but there is some gunk that will probably only come off with a degreaser and some elbow grease. I'm also considering painting them black or a dark gray of some kind. My car is misty blue metallic, anyone have pics of a car this color with dark wheels? Any opinions on what to do with them?

Here are the wheels:

 

Those look like the original painted finish is in pretty good shape. I would just clean them up, it's hard to find those in decent original condition like that.

 

Any recommendations for tougher cleaners that wouldn't do harm to the finish then? Is Simple Green safe to use on painted surfaces?

 

i have the same tred. i bought it with the car. the writing one the tire is white on my car. it looks really awsome. it really ties the tires into the rest of the car and makes it look nice. you wouldn't think white lettering on a tire woudl do tha but man does it look sweet on my 84 gsl-se

 

Zach, as far as the cleaner goes, I've plugged it before and I'll do it again... search the web for "Marine Clean". It's made by POR-15 and works to clean ANYTHING. I've never seen anything eat away brake dust like this stuff, and I've used products that are no longer sold to the public. It won't harm paint, rubber or glass, just the dirt and grime you want off. And my sugestion for what to do with your wheels... I'd do one thing for certain. Ditch those Cooper Cobras. I've got a set on my Civic and they are completely awful in the rain.

--Danny

 

Danny, thanks for the recommendation. I'll look around for some.

Don't worry about the Coopers, I just bought the wheels today and the tires came on there. I've got a set of Falkens on order to replace them

 

Also when you get the new tires mounted, have the balancing weights all put on the inside of the rim.. not outside, they look nasty that way IMO

 

Sometimes they HAVE to put weights on the outside to balance them properly. Ask me how I know this.

 

leave them, there so nice i wish i had some

 

yeah, get them ballanced right. leave the weights on the out side. if one weight on each rim ruins your rep, then you didn't have a good one to start with. so much better doin triples with proper balancing.


late

 

Personally I hate "BLACK" wheels on cars. . . just my 0.02c worth. . . I think they look pretty good as they are, will be nice with your new Falkens. How much did you pay for the wheels?

 

Static balancing, which is where they put the weight on the inside, SUCKS!!

 

I gave $100, not a bad deal but the finish looks worse than in the pictures. I went ahead and mounted them this evening as I'm expecting my tires to come in tomorrow.








Finish on them is subpar but I can't complain to much for $100. My Falkens should arrive tomorrow with any luck

 

Nice! Remember your friends--you are my driver (j/k)

FS

 

Don't worry man, you can help me out on any problems I may have at school and I'll let you bum rides off me

Oh yeah, I decided to go with the Falkens over the Sumitomos (as you could probably tell). Most people agree that the Falkens grip better and when I shopped around, I could get just as good of a deal on Falkens as I could the Sumitomos when I shopped 14's. Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

Then next time I buy tires, expect a phone call

Problems? Man... You shoulda seen my rex when I got it--was in terrible condition I went in and out of everything to get her runnin as well as she's runnin now!
Don't worry, if I'm in a good mood, I won't charge ya anythin

FS

 

HEY! I know where those rims came from!!!! LOL

 

Zach, do you have plans for your old stock rims? I'm looking for a good set!

Ray

 

Ray,

A friend of mine is supposed to come pick them up today but I haven't talk to him. If that doesn't work out, I'll let you know.

 

Thanks Zach, I am in the Atlanta/NE Georgia area, so it could work out nicely. Or anyone else out there trying to find a home for their stock rims? (properly compensated, of course!)

Ray

 

What I have done in the past is use a good cleaning wax on them, something like McGuires, and use a tooth brush in the crevices. This should break up the baked on brake dust.

 

I painted the centers on my LE rims a dark metallic grey... they match my GS perfectly...

Dan

 

Sorry ray, my friend came by to pick them up the other day so they're gone.

 

ive got a set of stock rims!!! i have plenty