My ISS Forged wheel build progress thread...
 

Who doesn't love a progress thread? :)

I decided to document the process of having my 3 piece forged wheels built by ISS Forged.

Especially in light of all the horror stories lately with other wheel companies with horrible delays, bad customer service and shoddy product. I won't lie that gave me more reason to be weary and justify cheaping out on some $1200 wheels.

I never thought I would pony up this kind of money for wheels but while I do buy used parts here and there I try to put quality and treat my Z right. After dealing with ISS over a week, I feel more than comfortable.

I'm doing this more because I'm excited for the wheels (easily the most expensive mod I've done) and I've been promised pictures of the progress along the way. And heck if by chance this does blow up, well it will all be here :icon17: lol. Plus it helps to educate the community on a members experience. I know we all appreciate when someone posts a "review" tread on an exhaust etc.

So this thread will feature the Timeline, Impressions and lots of pics pics pics.

Wheel Specs

Blonix Wheels by ISS Forged

Model: B-Spec M/8 with Steplips
Size: 19" with Performance Street Fitment (19x10 Front / 19x11 Rear) ohh yeahhhh
Finish: Gloss Black Center Disk
Additional Finish: Brushed and Tinted Clear Lips (Close to 40th color)

I should be able to fit a 285 tire in front and a 305 in back :eek: The rims will be light and trackable as well. I can finally post in the "Meaty Tire Thread" :tup:

This is the standard wheel:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/7...08d1f49707.jpg
Blonix M8 Forged Wheels by Iss Forged, on Flickr

While I love looking at other cars with mirror/chrome lips, I don't like it on my car.

My wheel should look like this with my options:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6...280a16a187.jpg
ISS Forged FM-10R I Glos Black Center Tinted Brush lip by Iss Forged, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6...6ccaf710f5.jpg
ISS Forged FM-10R I Glos Black Center Tinted Brush lip by Iss Forged, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6...7d4f92a8b3.jpg
ISS Forged FM-10R I Glos Black Center Tinted Brush lip by Iss Forged, on Flickr


Ok, so I've drawn you in with pictures...more reading...

First Impressions

I've been working with VJ from ISS Forged. I will say working with VJ is like working with Tony from Fast Intentions :tiphat:....if you know anything about anything, thats saying ALOT as Tony has a god like following here and its well deserved. Top notch customer service.

I'm sure in the wheel business there are a lot of "tire kickers" who just disappear. Comes with the territory I guess but VJ has been awesome answering all my questions and then some, more detail than I could have asked for. More patient than the other 2 companies I've inquired with in the past. Very prompt on email replies, never a vague response. Always tons of info.



Timeline

July 19th - Started emailing VJ, asking questions and sending pictures of what I had in mind. Daily back and forth.

July 25th - I finally decide to follow through and say yes to the dress...I mean wheels.

July 31st - I finally sent back the form with my CC info to take deposit.

Thats it for now pretty much. They should get started as of August 1st and should be a 4 week turn around roughly...so I'm expecting September 1st. Also being one of the first few sets sold, free shipping as advertised :)

So as pics and details come in, I will post in here, discuss etc...

I'll go check in on your wheels since they are part of a handful of wheel companies who produce and manufacture wheels in-house. Find another vendor on this forum who does that as well.

Go ahead I'll wait.... :)

You won't be disappointed.

lol, you're right, thats one reason why I went with them.

W.O.W actually seeing that you had these wheels too made me pretty confident...I know you don't F around and know your ****

As evidenced in that "short tails scammer thread" that only some will recall before it was erased :rofl2:

All the good threads get erased!!

I like that tint on the lips you went with. Good choice.

I was sad that thread got erased as well...

Super sexy wheels though, good luck!


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

I'll be interested to see what these look like on a 40th. I wonder if they can do a bronze tinted lip?

You wont be disapointed, im on my second set of wheels with them and love them

I should have those numbers soon.

I think they can, if not my other option was to powdercoat the lip but I think this tinted look is nicer

Good to know :)

Hey VegasZ,

we can definitely get you a bronze tinted clear!

there is no limit what so ever to the available colors we have :tup:

if it is available in powder coat, then we can do it in house for you

if you'd like to do a color match we can also do OEM color code matching :driving:

i'll have pics for you soon Sean!

-VJ

I am interested in the F10 in this color scheme. Possible?

YESSIR!!

Gloss Gunmetal Center Disk with Bronze Lips :tup:

The Gunmetal Center Disk is one of our standard finishes so that comes free of charge

the Bronze Lips is part of our custom finish options

PMing you with details now!

:tup:

Thanks. Sent you an email more more pics.

everything going well...your setup is going to turn out crazy as well!!!

cant wait to get it started

I'll have pics for you as soon as your wheels come up to their turn on the CNC

i hope the anticipation is brewing Sean!! hahaha

-VJ

Looks like we are going to be having a few more awesome 40th's with aftermarket wheels to add to our 40th thread. I just made an order for some wheels too unfortunetly not nearly as baller as these.

I love the look of clear tint lip you picked TheGreatOne, and the Bronze/Gunmetal will be hot on the 40th too VegasZ.

Oh you know it is hehe

Would love to see what you go with Serenity...I find the 40th out of all the Z's looks pretty good with stock wheels due to the close color match but when you select something aftermarket....gets very tricky.

I think the tinted lip will work out really good

I am going against the grain. I ordered a set 18 x 10's all around with 36 offset. I am going to be running 275's on all four. The fronts should be fine but the rear is going to need a large spacer. The wheels are Wedsport SA55. I went for lightweight square setup and looks were secondary. Hope I don't regret it.

Nice :tup: looking forward to see the setup!

thats going to look HAWT!! :driving:

either way, they're wheels, if you dont like it, sell 'em and give me a call!! :tup:

I'm definitely interested in seeing it, sounds pretty good.

One great thing is being able to rotate your tires :)

Yeah that was part of the reasoning. I went through my stock rears in 10K miles and the fronts have a lot left in them. Getting the extra mileage is important since I drive her on a 600 mile round trip to Sacramento about twice a month.

Hmm what about lug nuts? I'm thinking with a nice pair of wheels like this I should be getting some high quality lug nuts

Also color....I was considering Neo Chrome :confused:

- Mainly cause they have no specific color
- If scratched by installation/removal...can't really tell
- minor cool factor

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...eYd3g60_57.jpg

However it could look completely terrible.

Other option is just stick to Black and that might be more inline with the clean look of my car. If VJ or anyone has some suggestions, would be awesome.

Also not sure the quality gap between lug nuts that are $80 vs $150 (I wouldn't touch anything thats $35 or less on Ebay)

Be extremely careful with Project Kics Lugs!

There are certain Project Kics lugs, especially the R26, that are basically one-time use race lugs
they are made of a softer aluminum that normal aluminum lugs which makes them significantly lighter than normal aluminum lugs

These type of lugs are meant for track use only and are meant to be replaced after 3-4 wheel on/off because the aluminum severely stretches to hold tension on the nut...this is fine if you will be regularly replacing lugs, if you do not regularly replace the lugs than these should NOT be used i.e. a street car.

We have had our own experience with this on our shop track Evo X. On our 6th wheels on/off, 9 of the 20 total lugs split in half and we had to replace all our studs because most of them we had to cut to get the lugs off.

I am in no way saying that these are bad lugs!!! They are the absolute best when it comes to race purposes, just not for street use

For street use, brands like Muteki or NRG are great...they are made of denser forged aluminum that is a bit heavier but you can take them on and off as much as you'd like

also important is read the package and do not over torque aluminum lugs!!!!

Good thing to know, thanks for the info!


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

life of a tuner my friend!

I cant tell you how much money I've spent on mistakes or mis-judgements on my part while building my Rx7 FD...but in the end it all worth it when you learn you car and its parts and you have your pride and joy sitting the way its supposed to :tup:

:driving:

Ahhhh, see, glad I asked, thanks again for the wisdom/knowledge VJ :tiphat:

wow you can go two years without taking your wheels off?!?

Hey guys, got an update from ISS on my wheels

I figured I was going to check in on Friday but boom, pics in my inbox today :tup:

Looks to be coming along nicely


-the raw forgings

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2282.jpg


-after the raw forgings came out of the CNC Lathe

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2283.jpg


-the CNC Lathe turned forging with my design cut out

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2279.jpg


-My center caps in their holders about to get cut

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2281.jpg


- All four of the center disks cut out and waiting on the rack for the mounting pad height and lug pattern to get cut


http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2278.jpg
http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2277.jpg
http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2276.jpg


:excited:

Cool!

Wonderful Pics!
 

Verrry Nice! Please continue to document progress.

indeed lol

Thanks. Will do, been a very good experience so far! Pretty cool to see what a 3 piece forged wheel goes through...

Sean your wheels are going to turn out awesome!!

It's really been a pleasure working with you man

Thanks VJ, same here!

These teaser pics just got me more anxious, might loose it when I see pics of the brush aluminum lip lol.

Think I settled on getting These Muteki Lugs and locks. I might just go all black though


http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...MUT-32905T.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/j...eki/32901B.jpg

you're definitely going to lose it man...theres no question about that!!
i'll make sure when i get those pics to send you an email before telling you to sit down...then send you the pics hahaha

great choice on lugs...we use the Mutekis here all the time
just make sure when you go to put them on, you use a good torque wrench and torque them to the amount it says on the package

and NEVER EVER EVER EVER go near these wheels or lugs with an air impact gun!!! EVER EVER EVER!!!! LOL i cant stress that enough!

lol if you see someone going to use an air gun, ninja kick them in the head and drive away!!

always screw the lugs on by hand, and then torque them down with a torque wrench

:tup:

Where did you purchase these? I might need a set.

Good to know, thanks VJ. I guess I've always been using cheepo torque wrenches as I never know how much I've torqued them, I just go till they can't turn anymore

Actually I grabbed this pics from an Ebay store...very good pricing. Also there is a vendor here selling them, I noticed their thread in the Vendor section on page 1

Muteki is garbage. Anthony has them and it's trash. You'll need a can of paint if you plan on keeping them. I had Project Kics but they faded badly and rusted so I just bought some open ended black forged lugs. I'll text you lol.

Lol now I kno what the finish product will like hehe

Thanks, I'll look into it.

I was told to stay away from Project Kics if used on a daily driver. Maybe I'll try the 7075 aluminum lug nuts that are being sold through this forum. Very reasonable, $50 I think...

Woot!

Got another update from VJ on my wheels...

Step Lips machined! :tup::happydance:

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2368.jpg

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMAG2369.jpg

neat they are sending progress pics.