I wanted something bigger than the stock 15s that came on the RX. I really wanted to keep the mesh look, but couldn't find any that I liked that I could afford. So I went with 5 spokes. 17" Hot Wheels (don't know the model name offhand). They've got a nice lip. Came off a Fusion. I gave $150 for the set via CraigsList. I was worried a little bit about the offset, but they work really well. Might get 1/4" spacers for the rear sometime in the future, maybe not.

Rear tires are brand new 225/45-17 General Exclaims. I've got a set of them on my Contour SE (and they were on my Contour SVT at one point) and I really like them. I didn't really want to buy a full set of new tires, so I used a couple of Fuzions that I had sitting around. They're 205/40-17s. Put them on front. It gives a nice staggered look to the car without actually having staggered wheel sizes.

I can definitely tell the difference from the added weight of this combo over the BBS wheels. But it's next to impossible to find a 17 near that light without forking out a small fortune. However, the car still handles like a go-kart, and I can still break the rear end loose, so I'm happy with the end result.

Not knowing the history of the car (I aquired it in April), when a brake job was last done, and seeing that the calipers were a filthy faded red, I decided to do a full brake overhaul. Completely rebuilt the front and rear calipers, had the discs machined, and went with a nice eye-catching yellow instead of the done-to-death red. The brake fluid was a nice dirt-brown, but the discs and pads were in pretty good shape. The discs didn't need to have much machined off, and I replaced the pads anyway. I had much less trouble with the four-pot fronts than I did with the single-pot rears. Go figure. The disc hubs had been painted red too. After test fitting the wheels, I realized I needed to paint the hub black, since the openness of the wheel let the red show. Stuck out like a sore thumb. I really like the end result. I can't stop looking when I get out of the car and walk away.











I got lucky in a couple of ways. First, this car uses the same size tires (and plus sizes) that the Contour does. 205/60-15 stock (with a common plus 2 being 225/45-17). So I was able to reuse two tires I had laying around from my SVT. Then I found out it also uses the exact same lug nut too. So I was able to save $40 and use the tuner lugs I had on the SVT when it was sporting aftermarket wheels.

I still have the stock wheels. If I get the time, I might try my hand at wheel restoration. They're in pretty rough shape, with a couple of them with bends in the lip, and at least three with some rather sever pitting of the aluminum. It'll be a challenge.

Even though the Fuzions I put on the front only had about 5000 miles on them, I ended up having to replace them today. Turns out that redneck tire shops in small towns just can't seem to mount a 40-series tire without destroying the sidewall. Belt started separating on the driver's tire. By the time I made it to Discount Tire in Dallas today, the sidewall was severely bulging around a FULL 1/3 of the circumference! Jesus! I was scared each one of the NUMEROUS potholes in Dallas were going to give me a blowout. So now I've got 225/45 Generals on all four corners. SOOO much quieter. Fuzions are noisy as crap!

 

What steps did you take to clean and paint the calipers? I've got much more open wheels now and want to paint them black.

 

I bead blasted them to bare metal, primed them with high-temp primer, and then sprayed them with caliper paint.

When I disassembled them, I went so far as to separate the two halves on the front calipers. I masked off all the open holes and smooth surfaces that didn't need bead blasting or paint. However, I made the mistake of not replacing the sealing O-ring between the two halves when I put them back together. So now on the driver's front caliper I have a small, slow leak between the two halves whenever I hit the brakes. Stupid mistake on my part. I'm going to have to pull that caliper, replace the O-ring, and repaint it. The brake fluid has bubbled the paint all the way down the joint. Stupid stupid stupid.

Ah well. Live and learn.

 

nice vert, the brakes are looking good.

 

It is looking great John!