Help me decide on how to finish my Volk GTS' ... Poll (photoshop thanks to boostlee)
 

Thanks to BoostLee I was able to get some pictures of my new wheels in a few different color variations from when I test fit them. The Rears in this picture have an 8mm spacer, I have a 10mm spacer now for when they are mounted, but these pics give a fairly accurate picture of what each variation would look like.

I need to refinish these do to the previous owner staining the lips with acidic soap so I have some options as to what color to make them. The re-polishing route is the most expensive, black route is the cheapest, but that is not really a main concern.

Options are

1) Re-polish Lip and leave center OG volk color, mercury silver
2) Powder Coat lip Gloss Black and Center Flat or Matte Black
3) Re-polish Lip and powder coat center GunMetal

Im torn between leaving silver and the black/black route..

LMK what you think! Thanks

Here are the pics

http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...ims-silver.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...rims-black.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...s-gunmetal.jpg

The all black has always been my favorite!

voted keep silver w/ polish lip; definitely a clean and status look; my favorite wheel finish
Also put it this way: it is a look that will never get old with the times & brings definition to any car color; in my honest opinion, black, grey or any other color wheel finish distracts your eye from the rest of the car, while silver /polish lip compliments any color and matches just right without drawing away too much attention;
It comes down to your personal preference tho

I think you lose the detail of the wheels if you get them done in black, the gunmetal being a lil darker in color than the sliver looks good and kinda goes with your blacked out rear and since you have the rear blacked out I'm going to guess you have blacked out fangs, my vote is for the gunmetal

Gunmetal with polish! It looks great in person, ive seen a set on a 350 and they looking really nice

:iagree:

Gun Metal with Polished lip.

I think you should do flat gunmetal center, satin black lip, with a red time-attack stripe. That would go well with your car too I think.

Like this -

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/3...hoot033kl5.jpg

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/7...ition019ba.jpg

the brakes make a world of a difference too

and im guessing that was your car prior to the gtr... very very nice...

Hey boost, could i bother you once more to do the black lip with the gunmetal center... sorry!!!!


to me the photoshop was perfect!! I appreciate this very much!!!

190 views. 16 votes, and as suspected its about even...

i used to have these...i think on your white z, these would look the best IMO and wont get tiring quickly. good luck.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...s/DSCN1187.jpg

Damn that black Z looks sick!!!

I like #3!

All black FTW

:tup:

Thats the nicest 350z I have ever seen good job!

I actually agree with that!

humm... for PW i think #1 or #3... i kinda like the clean look for whites.

option two as i have that as well but my center is gun metallic. just a word of caution its a pain to keep satin black lip clean

second option would be number 3

Stay classy... Polished w/MS = win.

I agree

Kinda hard to get detailed on this pic but it will give you the idea

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...829022copy.jpg

:tup:

boost I cant thank you enough... it wont let me rep you anymore.. can some people please rep him for me ?!?

Repped!

Chuck, I really like the idea of the black lips with the matte gunmetal centers.

I know my wheels are not the same as yours but will give you a better idea hopefully. These are painted satin black lip and gunmetallic center.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/0c305081d0.jpg
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/22debf4602.jpg
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/67fb5e2d41.jpg

Just one word of caution its a pain to keep the lip clean

Can you show a pic of the staining? You might just be able to polish it out yourself instead of going to great lengths and money to redo them.

Oh do please provide us with some advice. I have some haze on one wheel, and the other wheels have hairline scratches from the wintertime sand (no choice since even in late Spring to early Summer we still have sand all over the place).

Mine are formula silver. When asking about the Phantom style, I was told that it looks good, but makes the wheels look small.

Not to go too much off-topic, but it's not that different from how you would fix your paint.

I would start with some good wheel cleaner like Sonax, then give them a good claying (you can even use the wheel cleaner as lube, but your clay will dissolve).

Then take a good polish (as the rims aren't bare aluminum, you can use polish made for paint).
Depending on the damage you can use just a fine polish or a more aggressive polish followed by a finer polish.
To make it easy on yourself you can use a Mother's mini powerball/cone (but don't use their polish).

If the damage is more severe, you can always step it up to wet-sanding them and re-polishing them as described above with aggressive and then fine polish.

Thanks! What is described as severe? Mine is a bit of a haze and a bit milky in some spots. The clearcoat is still good, and it is not peeling.

Sounds like you should be fine with some fine polish.
(I would use M205, but there are a lot of good products out there from our sponsors)

the volk lips are anodized and have a clear coat on them.. polishing them may make it look better but I do not believe it would look uniform

docaam I love your wheels... I got these on the cheap so I couldnt resist but I love the re-30s and your color combo does look great too.

Why not? It's just clear coat...

Well you would want to re-clear it ?

I dont know, one is curbed so most likely I am going to get them re done


And i HATE how close this poll is.... As of now I think I am going to do gunmetal center but not sure on the polished lip or black...

I think they would look better rolling with the polished lip and better still with the black lip...

Yeah curbed is re-do. I thought you said it was just acid stained, which you can usually restore without re-paint.

I would go polished, just because black makes them blend into the tire....

http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...9-img-1094.jpg

the gook on the spoke came off with a cleaning.. he really didnt take the best car of these wheels...

My thing is if i polish that its gonna be dull compared to the rest of the lip as far as shine... I can re clear but you will see the transition... I dont think I could re polish these and be happy with the outcome... 3 out of the 4 wheels have stains like that in more than one spot.

But regardless I am def getting them done... going to be dropping them off tomorrow if they are open to Al's Hubcaps on Long Island... When i called him I never spoke to a more confident person about his work, I read he did good work on the BMW forums , its either him or action powdercoating but I heard some negatives about action and none about Al's hubcaps.

Chuck you helped me with some H&R spacer advise in the past so I figured why not :tup:

Thanks fellas. All color combos look good, but I think the gloss black lip looks good on white. With the gunmetal faces, it will match the rear of the car (stillen exhaust tips and the black valance) and it wont let your door handles stand out too much (if you had all black wheels)

What's the turn around time to get the wheels refinished? Do they pull the tires off?

Man it hurts I only had my wheels for less than a year when I was in a hurry one day and drove it to the car wash not thinking about the wheel cleaner stuff they use. It stinks that only 1 wheel got it bad and it's a bit milky looking. All have fine scratches from the gravel. I'll be happy if I can make that one wheel look decent compared to what it is now.

Gun Metal is going to look amazing on your Z
Blacking out is becoming boring.

Chuck, what do you think about a color close to formula silver? I personally like it more than gunmetal. My previous wheels were gunmetal LE-37t, and I didn't want to get another set of gunmetal wheels. It has a nice dark metallic semi reflective finish. It's light in certain lighting, and dark in another angle. It's hard to describe, but it's a sick color.

They do take off the Tires. The price I was quoted was with dismount and mounting and balancing them again.

As far as the silver color I like that too. I'll be dropping them as soon as I make my mind up! Def gunmetal / or darker silver centers still debating on the lip. I will take before/after pics.

And boostlee I am glad my little help was enough to repay me with this useful favor!