silentneko

hey guys,

I have been looking for ways to fix up my cars looks. I have 16x8 wheels on my car that I haven't seen anyone elso on this sight with. I was wondering can my wheels be polished. are they clearcoated. and is the center cap plastic if so would it look cool if I painted the center cap red to match the car. if I can't polish them then I may paint them black to give my car that demonic look. and can II polish with the tires still on. heres the link, thanks

http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/neko/firebird.html

Blue502

Yes, since they are aluminum, they can be polished. And yes they are clearcoated. Don't know about the center caps. Those are probably the most common wheel to come on a thirdgen TransAm, but it seems that everyone is getting rid of them to be different. Polished up would certainly be different, and I think it would look real good.

silentneko

I was thinking about getting some after market rims, but I would buy 16x8s and since I have them already it just seemed like a waste of money. plus they grew on me. I have not seen many around here, there are alot of the ones that look like them only deeper like the ones from the base model firebirds,but none like mine. should I clear coat them again after I'm done.

Blue502

Powdercoating might be your best bet. Not sure though.

silentneko

you mean clear powdercoat or black powdercoat? and what about the center cap

88 WS6 TransAm GTA

iTrader: (1)

Here is a topic I posted the other day... the process is for GTA wheels, but would work for yours as well... just to get a rough idea. Also, I would paint the centercaps, and lugnut caps the same color as the car, just to give it an even more distinct look!
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...7&goto=newpost

silentneko

I was thinking more of polishing the face of the rim, to make it look more like crome. like you guys with the iroc rims have been doing.

deadbird

The wheels aren't aluminum but, will polish just the same. The little cap in the center however, is aluminum.

silentneko

if not aluminum then what are they made of. they are not magnetic, and didn't all trans ams come with aluminum rims. they are very light in wieght also, at least I think so.

deadbird

If I'm not mistaken (which, I could easily be), they are a magnesium alloy (or Mag wheel as popularly called).

I started on mine but, never got finished with them. I sold them to a friend & got the GTA wheels instead.

silentneko

wait up magniesium, as in mag wheels. aren't they better then aluminum rims. and if not what is the comparison to them. I was thinking of gta rims but I like these a little more.

deadbird

I don't know about better since they are made using a metal alloy and are heavier but, I'd say they are at least stronger.

silentneko

are they really heavier, my old rx-7 had 15 inch aluminum rims on it and they wieghed alot more then my rims on my t/a. either way they are better then steel.

deadbird

I never weighed the 2 off the car but, the GTA wheels seemed a bit lighter when swapping them out (both sets of wheels had the same brand tires). I'd doubt the wieght between the 2 would be anything worth mentioning & I agree... either is better than steel.

The machine marks in the (my) wheels seemed to be a heavier groove than on other wheels I've seen so that may make polishing a bit more time consuming (which kept me from doing all that great of job on mine). Or, my wheels were machined with a dull carbide... who knows. I didn't like them enough to put that much work/time into them.

toosloz

gta rims are lite....about 22lbs a piece