Wheel opinions - paint or polish?
 

I have a set of 626 Turbo 15 x 6 wheels that I plan on puttin gon my '79 GS with GSL-SE suspension. I'm trying to decide whether to polish them, or paint them. If I paint them, the centers will be graphite, with polished rim.

Here's the wheels as they are now, clear coat stripped and cleaned, but no polish yet:
http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag...heels-left.jpg

Here's a Photochopped version with the centers painted:
http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag...heels-grey.jpg

The 205/60-15s shown in the photo will be replaced by 205/50-15 Falken Azenis or Yoko AVS ES-100s. Eventually the suspension will be lowered a bit, as well.

Opinions?

I don't like the look of the painted at all. I don't know if another color woudl be better, or if polished is just the way to do it...

I used to have one of those turbo 626's...

Those are nice wheels, I'd just polish them.

i would polish them,they would look really good

Might want to repaint the car before you mess with the wheels, and in my opinion brown for any part of a car looks like complete ass.

put the clear coat back on

put the clear coat back on

put the clear coat back on

put the clearcoat back on

Put the clearcoat back on!

Put the clearcoat back on!

Put the clearcoat back on!

Put the clearcoat back on!

Ban him! ^

I think it depends on if you keep your car red or not. Red with dark wheels look pretty good, but polished rims look good on pretty much anything.

I think polish.

Rotortiller, just push the button once:)

polish em

powdercoat or satin finish polish nada de paint

the above post id from the exhaust leak in Minnesota not a cheesehead. how dis appen?

I'd have to go with polish.

Quick question on the wheels: how good are those things as far as brake ventilation goes? They look hella nice, but I would think they restrict air to the brakes pretty bad.

It's supposed to be grey - "graphite" - like a lot of the tuner wheels. Looks a little brownish on some computers...
Just thinkk dark grey.
And it's a lot easier to paint the wheels than the car. I gotta start somewhere! :) Eventually it will be repainted. Probably like this: http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag...nzai_SA22C.jpg
Keep in mind that this will be my autocross/street toy, so it can be, um, flamboyant, like a race car. I have a GSL-SE that will be my daily, and remain much more sedate-looking. The 626 wheels will probably go on the SE when this car gets r-compound rubber. Or, I have another set of the 626 rims - I guess that I could polish one set and paint the other.
Oh, and FWIW, I'm not crazy about brown, either...

Sooooo... I'm guessing that you think I should put the clear coat back on? :)

Shouldn't be any worse than the 'plus' wheels, stock GSL-SE wheels, or FC 'phone dials'. Should be better because of the larger diameter. Little more airspace around the rotors. Also, I have a GSL-SE suspension; the backing plates have scoops to direct air into the center of the rotor. I could easily add a hose if needed.

I'd love to powdercoat, but I'm cheap. I'll buy one of those Eastwood home powdercoat guns eventually, but I have to find an oven to use first. I think a 15" wheel should fit in an oven, right? :)
The paint I intend to use is designed specifically for wheels. See here. I'd like to see how well it works. They do make it in clear, though...

Painted one of them, just to see how it looks. I used the Duplicolor Graphite wheel paint. Cleaned and degreased, sanded everything with 400 grit, then the lip with 600 grit, then 000 artificial steel wool on the lip, then polish the lip with Flitz (good stuff.) 2 coats of graphite, 1 coat of clear, no clear on the lip, so's I can keep it polished.
Pictures:

http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag...whl_grey_1.jpg
http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag...whl_grey_2.jpg

On the car (well, posed beside the car looking like it's on the car from a distance and the right angle...)
http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag...mock_close.jpg

And photochopped to make the tire blend a little better, and overlay the wheel on the front, too:
http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/imag..._grey_mock.jpg

I like it.
I still have another set of wheels that I can polish instead, so no harm done.

I guess I'm a little late to add my 2c, but polishing the face of the wheel, and painting the surface of the holes black would be pretty sweeeeeeeet!