Ok...

I did some shopping today and I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a set of SSR GT3 wheels. Discount tire quoted me $2100 out the door for 19" 8.5 and 11. Which i thought was a steal!! I have always had my heart set on black painted wheels, so i figured i could just have these wheels taken apart sprayed black and then reassembled. I seem to be getting mixed reviews on this though. A forum member Kevinw23 had the EXACT same thing done with no issues, but dameon from tire rack told me absolutely not.

I called a local paint shop today and he said he would do it, but wanted $600. This seems a little on the steep side, but he said he'd do a "top knotch job."

Has anyone here had experience with 1) painting over powder coated wheels and 2) taking apart and re-assembling 3 piece wheels???

Thanks in advance for the help....as always!!!

 

I've painted & cleared alot of wheels......currently are having some lips powdercoated because of a particular issue on those particular wheels. I've run the full gamit of dis-assemble myself to custom finishing parts and sending off to Fikse or HRE.
Are you talking about painting just the centers?.......or both the outer lip and the centers?.....$600 is a rich but not off-the-chart if we're talking 4 outer barrels and 4 centers, multiple coats with clear w/flex.
Re-assemble is time-consuming, requires silicone sealant.......hardware is unpainted.
Most wheel companies no longer ship wheels in pieces (the way I used to buy them so I could custom color with out tear-down step).....now days, liability is too high for them to ship product in any other than 100% complete-n-ready to go.........so either you give them specific instucts for them to color.....or you buy a perfectly good wheel and tear it apart .

 

I had the exact wheels.. i took them apart and had them hand painted... so that way is color matched my red car 100%! He charged me $400 after I took them apart, but the GT3 wheels were a PAIN to paint the right way! If you could powder coat and match that would be better. Mine were taken apart and I never ever had an issue with them!

 

Hrm...After another conversation with tirerack they said they were "welded" together. I thought that sounded like kindof a line. He said there were issues with getting a correct "key" to take the bolt out with, meaing it wasnt a regular torx or hex head?!?!??!

What i would like to do is have JUST the centers painted...the lip can stay chrome. Thats ok with me.

I've called 25 tire places today and no-one has ever done it, but a few people were willing to give it a whirl. Every paint place in town said they would paint them, but they wouldnt take them apart..."no way"

any thoughts here guys...is this worth giving a whirl?? bruce...did you take your's apart yourself??

thanks in advance

 

ya i took mine aprat myself. THe bolt I used for the backside was a torx for a axel... kind of a pain in the *** to find the right parts. I think it came off a Mac or Snap on truck to be honest. but rim halfs are welded together.. the center is bolted in

 

what do you mean by "the bold I used for the backside??" did you use different bolts to reassemble? Did you have to torque them w/ specific settings?

Would say it's not big a deal to take apart and re-assemble. I would hate to buy these things and then have it not work out...

 

sorry I meant bolt/ Socket... sorry long day at work..

as far as torque setting I do not remember. I had a friend that worked at Fikse and he told me at the time... but now I do not remember.

it will go back together jsut fine!! just tighten them in star pattern

 

Chrome lip and 'welded'?.......sure you don't mean the standard polished & cleared outer barrels? (unless someone had them chromed ).......if they are are actually welded together then I would walk from them.
Any speed shop can dis-assemble.....re-assemble 3 piece wheels.

 

why not just buy something like
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/19-PO...93416505QQrdZ1

from ebay that is already black and spare you the hassle? I've been researching wheels for my C4S and the SSRs don't get a lot of positive reviews on the boards and aren't super lighweight, so a knock off might be a good alternative

 

Nice out of the box thinking... Hire this man!!!

 

Those were the wheels that initially turned me on to the SSR's. I posted them up and got about 15 flames fired at be saying basically "if your gonna skimp...dont skimp on wheels!!!" and "those are junk" Everyone told me to go ssr?!? I'm not opposed to those wheels, but i would hate to loose a bunch of performance over splurging and extrak $1k. I may be going that route anyway though, turns out the deal that discount was offering was kindof bunk..they quoted me wrong and now the price is about 1k more...

Has anyone seen a pic of those knockoffs actually mounted on a car that's not a crappy hazy pic like the one in the ad??

Also...how hard would it be to spray that ugly nasty polished lip....i hate big lip wheels

thanks!!!

 

Remeber I'm only offering out feedback.... here

Considering that the shop will need to pull these wheels apart then retorque (40 pc of hardware per each) after that resealed, the going rate is $75-150 depending on where you go. Then after this if he's doing a "great job, he'll strip the wheel down, prime, paint, clear and if he's really top-knotch he'll bake the paint on. It's a whole lot of work for $600 considering......

$600 is actually cheap if he's doing a "top knotch job".....

My advise to you: "Don't Powder Coat!" Take it from a guy in the business..... Please don't PM me, I don't want to be kicked off the forums.

-Eli

 

I wouldn't say any..... Try to go to a wheel shop who has experience in doing this sort of thing... Most of your speed shop don't have the experience one would want to worry about at 140MPH.

-Eli