erufle

I've had my 2001 convertible for 4 years and put just a hair less than 1000 miles per year on it. The car is in great shape with just 47,000. I was working my way down a list of maintenance issues and inspections I thought were necessary when I got to the point where I had to take off my perfect set of magnesium wheels. Now, I'm not really surprised but its taking way too much effort to break these lug nuts free. I weigh a little over 300lbs so its not a matter of not putting out enough effort. I assume these are stock lug nuts, they have grey plastic outer covers that screw onto four shiny yellow nuts and one locking nut. They look like brand new nuts and the car never sees water so I don't think they are rusted on. I'm going to apply some penetrating oil to try and loosen them up anyway. Before I go and throw all 300lbs into it and crack one of these gorgeous wheels there's nothing special I need to know about taking them off is there? They don't have reverse threads do they? I mean its righty tighty, lefty Lucy, correct? I'm really not stupid, I figure someone tightened them down with an air wrench set at 150lbs. Please let me know if you have had experience with the magnesium wheels I've described. It would break my heart to ruin them.

erufle

I went ahead and chanced it by turning compressor up to 140lbs and they came off. There were casualties. One of the keyed lug nuts is stripped and I chipped my perfect set of mag mags for the first time. I found the chip and super glued it into place but it still shows if you get close. I want to find touch up paint to make it look better. Does anybody sell it?

vettenuts

I would try GM to see if they have it. Otherwise, check some of the wheel houses. I always hand wrench mine and use a torque wrench for installation. If someone uses air for installation, who knows how tight the nuts really are. I got stuck on the side of the road once because someone air gunned my lug nuts and I had a flat and couldn't get the tire off. Myself and a state LEO who stopped spent 20 minutes getting that tire off

jakecol

Recommended torque is 100 ft.lbs. when you tighten them.

grantv

And in a star pattern, I always go right of center; just me.

erufle

Ya'all

strand rider

You were smart to ask, I snapped a wheel stud clean off of a new hot rod Toyota , learning the hard way they don't make all of them like they used too.

johnfog

There seems to be two slightly different looks to the magnesium wheels. A silver or light charcoal color and a color described as champagne, bronze, gold. I had a bronze GM color mixed at a local paint store and it matched perfectly on my 2000 magnesium wheels. The code was GM WAEQ163D, WA163D.

erufle

. . . is where I ended up finding it. They take 2-3 days to mix the color fresh but my guess is that it is worth the wait. They seem to have a liberal return policy. I bought three pens of paint and some lacquer to do it just as they instruct. Two pens of color cost $15.00 a piece and I believe the clear coat was $10.00 something thinner I dont remember, but Iit was all around $50.00. I intend to try the milenium yellow on some tiny spots if I can find some I didn't just put 3 coats of paint sealant and two coats of wax. I think I want to wait until the cars all waxed and I have all the wheels off to fix THAT spot. Then I'll just use some paint prep, let it dry good, then fix the chip and lightly scuff all 4 wheels and gobr 'em couple of coats of clear gloss from a can, .lightly sanding with 2-3000 grit.

erufle

Johnfog. Thats the code I gave them and it sure looked right on their site . . . we will see. Its a unique color and hard to describe. Just walking the 20' from where the accident happened I forget what it looked like.

Triton170

Actually there is only one true magnesium wheel on the C5. It is easily identified by the slightly wider spokes and the small round center cap. The color is bronze, code N73 (WA163D). At least that is what it says on the bottle of GM touchup paint I have. It is pretty hard to find but several of the supporting venders sell it. If you can’t find the exact touchup paint GM color Light Sand Drift (not sure of the code/number) is VERY close.

I normally torque them to 75-80 pounds the re-torque to 100. Star pattern of course. Also be sure to put a very thin coat of dialectic grease on the big rubber “o” ring seal on the back of the wheel. It will help with the seal and will also help preserve the rubber.

The 50th Anniversary has a similar looking wheel but it is actually regular thin spoke wheel that is painted/coated in a gold or bronze like color. It is made of aluminum.

One bad thing is these wheels are very easy to chip. The power coat/paint will flake off with just the slightest impact.

I love mine.

erufle

My Android won't send messages over the internet to the forum unless I use the app. I went right from email to the forum. Let's see how this turns out.

erufle

This time anyway

QCVette

On mine, I tried the GM paint from the dealer and it wasn't quite a match. I tried the Duplicolor BGM0482 (Light Drift Sand Met) (49 WA220C). It was a better match on my wheels.

Like some said, and you found out, the wheels chip very easily. Be careful and also when getting tires mounted.

Good luck.

DaDuck

AutoZone has spray paint and Touch up (brush in cap) paint that matches Magnesium wheels.

erufle

Actually, the wheel took a pretty good smack from an old torque wrench I was using to loosen it up. Lesson learned; use an impact wrench, make sure it's in reverse, crank up the pressure on the compressor, and hold the impact wrench firm and straight upon the nut. Breaker bars have a habit of slipping off the nut, even if you are using a six point socket. When they do they head right for the spokes. The wrench tends to stay in the center of the wheel.
I'm not sure if I was lucky in finding the chip and super glueing it in place or not. There was just a little piece of the chip that I could not recover and what I did recover didn't fit perfectly due to the duper glue starting to set.
As far as the paint code goes Paintscratch showed only one for magnesium wheels that year but they don't seem to mind guarenteing there work and having another go at it. I've bought several new cars that included that same batch of touch paint you find in the stores. The paint usually matches but by the time I really need it It's too old and dry. Paintscratch takes a different approach to the problem and they even give you specific procedures to follow. I'll let you know if it works. By the way, does anyone know what kind of filler you use on painted wheels just in case I have to dig that glued on chip and start from scratch? I should ask paintscratch.