Talking about wheels, guess what I'm up to?

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Thanks for all the comments. Okay, here is my story. At least I waited about 5 years before I made up my mind to pull the trigger and drop off the polished centers to be powdercoated this morning.

I don't know why, but I kind of like the black wheels on a red car. I could not find a nice C4, but here are some that caught my eye and looking for the similar look:







Here is how it looks with the current set up:



Some will like this look, but I thought it was to much shine and bling for me.



Here is my daily driver Honda Ridgeline so you can see where I get the blacked out look from and my taste.

Tom,

The tires are Michelin Pilot Sport and it was a package deal when I bought the CCWs so I could not resist John's deal since he had a truckload and uses the same size for Vipers (335/30/18 shown here)



Continued..........

[HAWAIIZR-1]

As Darryl mentioned, polishing the back side is a good idea. I did a test for a few seconds and will definitely do them all but I am going to buy the powerball from Mothers as I don't want to do this big surface by hand.

I'll post pics when I get the centers back next week and assembled, then later on the Z. Wait on that darn new style right side tensioner to install and drop the motor in so I'm getting close.

Craig

[HIZNHRZ]

Hey Craig, the black centers will look sharp on your Z. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of your completed work of art!

I'm not sure it's worth it to me to take the time and polish the inside of the wheels but I am able to get about the finish you have in your photo with relative ease. I start with a regular steel wool pad and metal polish. This seems to cut right through the road grime. I then hit it with a 0 steel wool pad, then a 00 pad, then a 000 pad, and finish up with a 0000 pad. I do wipe the dried polish off as I go from one pad to the next. If you find a process that works better/faster, please let me know.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by HIZNHRZ

Hey Craig, the black centers will look sharp on your Z. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of your completed work of art!

I'm not sure it's worth it to me to take the time and polish the inside of the wheels but I am able to get about the finish you have in your photo with relative ease. I start with a regular steel wool pad and metal polish. This seems to cut right through the road grime. I then hit it with a 0 steel wool pad, then a 00 pad, then a 000 pad, and finish up with a 0000 pad. I do wipe the dried polish off as I go from one pad to the next. If you find a process that works better/faster, please let me know.

Thanks Scott. I have this thing about always trying to be unique.

I am trying to prep for this Corvettes in Paradise show in a few weeks (if I can finish and get it running) so I thought the deail behind the wheels would be nice since the center would be black and should be able to see it. Thanks for tips and it makes sense to me. Mine have hardly been ran so if you see the difference on the left versus the right on the photo it was not very dirty to begin with. I sprayed Tuff Stuff on and let it sit for awhile so I could wipe off all the dirt, grime and tar with a little rubbing with Billet. I'm going to also coat it with REJEX that I like for keeping everything cleaner. I really like working with the steel wool and had just been using the 00 but now have 0000 too. I like the recommendation in stages and used it on all the aluminum suspension parts too. Very time consuming but it look unbelievable under the front and rear suspension.



For the front side I used Mother's Billet with regular terry cloth.



Polished off with microfiber.



Then REJEX was used and wiped off with microfiber cloth. I am going to do a few more applications with REJEX before I reassemble the centers.

That is all for now.

Craig

[RICKYRJ1]

Great Job Craig! I agree with the look your after on your car. I remember when we discussed your options. If your going to polish the inside of the barrels I would wet sand them 1st, start low finish high (grit) then apply the metal polish. The Rejex will make life easier when you do have to clean.
I for one would like to take my hat off to you for all the time & effort you have put into your car. Most mortal men would have given up a long time ago.
Hope all is well.

[carter200]

Originally Posted by RICKYRJ1

Great Job Craig! Most mortal men would have given up a long time ago.

As you can tell Craig is NO plain mortal man

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by RICKYRJ1

Great Job Craig! I agree with the look your after on your car. I remember when we discussed your options. If your going to polish the inside of the barrels I would wet sand them 1st, start low finish high (grit) then apply the metal polish. The Rejex will make life easier when you do have to clean.
I for one would like to take my hat off to you for all the time & effort you have put into your car. Most mortal men would have given up a long time ago.
Hope all is well.

Rick,

Thanks for the tip and I'll do that. I think the finest wet/sand paper I have is 1500; is that fine enough? Yeah, the REJEX has been working great for all the parts that I have used it on. Thanks for the comments and this "while I'm in there" thing gets out of hand and I don't know when to stop sometimes. I'm hoping to fire it up and get it back on the road by next weekend but more likely a little later.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by carter200

As you can tell Craig is NO plain mortal man

Carter,

You are pretty funny and thanks for the vote of confidence.

You know you will be the first person I call when I start the beast up for the first time in who knows how long and when I win the trophy at Corvettes in Paradise Concours!!!! I hope I can make the ZR-1 family proud.

[RICKYRJ1]

Originally Posted by HAWAIIZR-1

Rick,

Thanks for the tip and I'll do that. I think the finest wet/sand paper I have is 1500; is that fine enough? Yeah, the REJEX has been working great for all the parts that I have used it on. Thanks for the comments and this "while I'm in there" thing gets out of hand and I don't know when to stop sometimes. I'm hoping to fire it up and get it back on the road by next weekend but more likely a little later.

1500 is fine then apply the polish. They do not have any clear on them correct? what kind of look are you looking out of the polish? bright? mirror finish? makes a big difference in work needed.
I have hit that statement "while I'm in there" so many times you start to believe your never done.
Keep up the great job.

[GrayZ]

Dear Craig:

You're wheels look amazing either way u choose, still havn't finished my gas pedal woes.