Sweet! I just picked up the spare set I bought to replace my stockers. My right rear has a few tiny cracks in it, and I was getting nervous. They were done in Gunmetal (Anthracite) with a nice clear coat. The rims were bead-blasted, and the outside edges were smoothed down due to some really bad road damage. They looked like crap before...but after the coating...man..they look absolutely fantastic. Brand new, and the entire wheel looks beautiful. No blemishes, no scratches...I love 'em. Almost better than shelling out 2000 bucks for some bling-bling wheels.

What I really like, is the clear coat brings out the design of the rim, more...you can plainly see the arch of the spoke, and the contrast between the "edge" of it and the surrounding metal. It really changes the entire look of the rim.





Wha'tcha think? Hi-Tech Coatings in Kapolei, Oahu, HI did them for me...I think they look incredible. Now...I just need some quality tires. The ones currently on my car are all-weather tires...they absolutely suck on dry land.

 

Looks very nice. How much?

 

Looks great! post some pics when you get them installed.

 

What about your center caps?

 

nice, get them on the car, then post them

 

For the old ones, just spray paint them with silver wheel paint. Worked like a charm on both of my cars.

Dunno about the new ones - can't powdercoat that, can you?

Oh, and the powdercoated rims look fantastic. How much did they nick you for?

 

Looks great

! I thought about having my stockers powdercoated, but that would be coming out of my "new wheels for the FD" fund.

 

The center caps...well..dangit...you can't powder coat them...so the I'm gonna experiment with them with some nice paint after going at 'em with a dremel or sander to smooth'em out. I think I'll probably just paint them a matching gunmetal color, or possibly see what they look like without them on.

I read someone didn't put them back on, and said it looked fine, so we'll see...

As for the price...well..I'm in Hawaii, and everything is more expensive over here...I wish I had bought a spare set, and had them done when I was on the mainland...I could have gotten it done for 50 bucks a rim...instead, it was 75 for two coats, bake, and a clear coat. They also smoothed everything out on the rim, all the nasty road damage, chips, etc.

And yah..I can't wait to see them on the car, myself.

 

My wheels are powdercoated in a similar color. For the centercaps, I went to a local auto parts store, and dug through the spraypaint cabinet until I found a close match (bring one of your clean wheels with you). Once clearcoated, the caps looked fine on the wheel.

 

How about making some aluminum discs that would fit in the center of the wheel. Get those powdercoated to match the wheels and then cut the top off some stock center caps and attach your metal discs with double-sided foam tape (or something like that). I believe the Volk centercaps I have are like that -- plastic stuff in back to clip to wheel with a metal disc to match on the visible part.

-Max

 

what color is that...they look freakn great

 

Those are beautiful. I'm sold. Any chance you could ask the powdercoating shop whose powder it was and what the color code/part # was?

 

Wow! What a difference. They look fantastic!

 

that would be cool if you could get a rotor shaped center cap that goes in the hole and spins when you stop

 

Those came out great man!!

I agree with the statement that it makes you think about NOT spending the big cash.

Can't wait to see them in person this weekend.
Hopefully we'll be able to throw them on the car and go for a spin!

Talk to you Oahu boys later!!

 

Thanks Dave...thanks guys. I don't know what powder it was, but I can call and ask. I do know the color was "Anthracite" but again, I'll have to call to get the #.

Heya, Limitz...that would be bling-bling... Cooper, I'm going to see how they look without the caps, and then with some matching paint on them. See which one I like better. I really don't like the older Mazda symbol...but it matches the rest of the emblems on the car...so...well?

 

I called and he was really helpful with the info. It's color is Anthracite, the powder brand is Tiger DryLac, and the code is #09/80170. I hope that helps for those of you looking to do this yourselves. He also used a generic based clear coat on it as well.

 

those look great! i can't wait to see what they look like on your car...post pics!

 

VERY NICE. i have a silver car also so post some pics with the new RUBBER!

 

Will do..haven't figured what type of tires to put on it yet, though. I have really horrible tires on the current rims, so I don't want to use them..they're made for the wet places like Washington and the UK...they were great there during the bad weather..but the dry, hot land of Hawaii shows you just how badly they make the car handle.

Hmm...gonna have to go look at what's a good sport tire..

 

That Anthracite color does look pretty sweet! I just bought a set of old 18"s that I am thinking of having polished and cleared. But now you got me thinking... I bet these rims would look nice doen in that same color:
Is your powder coating shop in the SF Bay Area by chance?

 

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-03s (or is it DS-03s?) anyway, great on asphalt and can cut water when they need to.

 

they look great. post pics on the car when they get mounted. i have the same color car and was going to paint mine a similar color, but the pics convinced me to spend the extra $$ and have them powder coated.

 

A customer of mine has a set of new yokohama AVS ES 100's. they are the rears 245/45/16 i think. The tirerack sent out 2 sets of rears for some reason, and as you are finding out, shipping back the unneeded tires is very $$.. So if you wanted those they are available....Although I was going to get an old set of stockers and put them on mine, But i have more to do still on the car . ( Dash is back in though ) I'll let him know if you want. And i could bring them over with me if you get them.

I personally use the AVS sports tires out here. They are great in the dry and very very good in the rain we get here. Suprised me actually!
My sizes are 265/35/18 in the rears and 235/40/18 in the fronts

They are on the womens FC right now though! ( Hence why I am looking for a new set., She won't give them back!! )

 

Those wheels look amazing, it makes me think how the stockers would look in the 'bronze' that the ADVAN Model 5's are offered in. I love the Gunmetal but I think it would just be too dark for a MB, perfect for a white or CYM though.

Goodyear has scared me after the fiasco with the Eagle ZR's used on the Mustangs... Mustangs handle like crap to begin with but these tires caused several to loose control in wet weather.

I am a fan of Yokohama, I will be getting AVS ES100's whenever I replace my current mid-performance Yoko's.

As for the center caps I seem to remember someone(the name escapes me at the moment) with a 99-styled Titanium gray FD had some awesome Mazda center caps that would be perfect for your wheels. I wanted some myself.

~Kris