Here are some pics of my GT wheel refinishing (they were originally gray). The first pic shows the wheels after the paint/urethane was removed using permatex spray on gasket remover.

This next pic is with the wheel sanded down with 420 grit then painted with black urethane wheel paint.

All that is left to do is sand the bare aluminum with 600 grit, polish to a chrome like finish then coat the entire wheel with a clear urethane coating. Then go out looking for tires. I'm thinking about 225/50R15's. Does anyone have this size on there car? Or how to compute the tire tread width? With my car lowered I have certain parameters I need to stay within. Any help on the tread width would greatly help. Thanks in advance.

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 05-30-2000).]

Looking Good Hey how about polishing the entire wheel to chrome finish, then clearcoat it?? Anyone have any pic's of that??

[This message has been edited by Haze_Performance (edited 05-30-2000).]

Yeah! what did the spokes of the wheel look like when you stripped the paint off, Oreif?

Oreif
I am getting that 86 GT in this week with a new set of 245/50/15 XP 2,000 tires on it! I will get you the measurements from them when I get it, if you remind me to get them for you lol
FD

Haze--I think someone posted that the spokes are fairly rough and would need way too much sanding to be worth it. I only remember that because I brought up the same question as you and that was the response.

How long did it take to redo just one wheel Oreif?

Your wheel looks fantastic. Can't wait to get mine done - hopefully in the next couple of months.

I think I'm gonna try that too. Only I'm gonna polish the outside face including the "lace". And just paint inside the "lace".

You're wheels looks Great !!

The wheel take about 4 hours per wheel start to finish. Once you spray on the gasket remover, It takes 20 minutes for all the paint and clearcoat to bubble. I then used a small brass brush and a small very fine file to scrape the softened paint off. Next I washed them off with soap and water. Then I washed the wheel off with "prepsol" (It's a solvent to remove grease, wax, ect.) Then taped and painted them. This morning I sanded the outdside ring and the inside bare areas and polished them with mothers aluminum polish. Then I prepsol'd it again and sprayed clear poly over the entire wheel. I should have all wheels done by the end of the week then it's off to get tires!
Haze ~ the spoke area is VERY rough. Unless you have a dremel tool and lots of hours to spare you may be able to get them smooth but that will take a lot of effort due to the small detail areas.

I heard that the numbers (215, 225, 235,245, etc) are the width of the tire in millimeters. So I would assume that a 225 series tire is 8.8" and a 235 is 9.0". I measured my 235/60HR14's and they are about 9.0". The guy also said that the 50, 60, 70 etc is the percentage of the width for sidewall height. So a 225/50HR15 should be 8.8" wide and a sidewall of 4.4". Does this sound about right?