jim-81

I have been thinking about this for a while and have decided to paint my rims black. I had a friend photoshop a picture of my car now and with the rims black and it looks awesome. Anybody have any pointers on this? I don't think it's too complicated. I thought about powder coating but I don' t have the cash for that now and I thought that that might be too permanent. Not sure if that can ever be removed. I don't want to ruin the wheels.

I figured I'd lightly sand them with 1000 grit or something just to scuff them up after a good cleaning of course.

Here are the pics...




BEFORE



AFTER (photoshopped)

2012widebody

Such a good looking car. I say go for it. Black wheels look much better to me than chrome any day of the week.

cv67

noo dont do it. Those wheels look so good they way they are;have such a nice clean look to them
Summit sells some bart? wheels that look similar powdercoated black they are cheap too....try those.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/c...iABEgLKg_D_BwE

jim-81

holy cow those are cheap!!

jim-81

I actually had not even thought about buying new ones already black. Figured they would be really expensive. I am going thru the site now. Does anyone have the stock rim specs handy? I have stock size 255-60-15 tires.

15", bolt pattern ?, center hole size ?, offset ?, backspacing... ?

thanks

427Hotrod

They say you can tell the age of a Vette owner based on wheel color. On new ones...old guys have chrome/polished and young guys have black/titanium etc.

I'm a shiny guy and I think your car looks great as is.

The roundy rounder wheels are certainly an option for little $$$. I wouldn't mess up the original ones.

JIM

claysmoker

Don't! The current wheels look really good. Black makes it look like a ricer.

cagotzmann

for 255 60R 15 wheels the factory wheel size is

15x8" 4" bs = -12mm offset. Standard GM hole pattern.

jim-81

you know, the more I think about it, if I can find a set I like at a reasonable cost then I would just go that way instead of painting the original rims. Probably a better option all round.

leadfoot4

The steel wheels are a far less costly alternative to powder coating your OE wheels, if that's what you feel inclined to do. The only thing that you'll need to be careful of, is caliper clearance between the calipers and the backside of the wheel's centers.

Corvette calipers are "wide" and take up a lot of real estate, although most of the oval track wheels are also designed to clear big brakes, on big, heavy, late model stockers.

My suggestion would be to contact either Bart or Aero wheels, as they both make the wheels in a 15x8, as ask them directly, about clearance.

OldCarBum

Both look great. It just depends on the look you are after.
My question is why would you want to add rolling weight to your car by going to a steel wheel?
Before you buy online, find a tire store that carries the wheel you want and have them fit check the wheels front and rear for clearance, then you will get a true picture of that style and color wheel on your car.
If you do paint your wheels make sure you purchase a good quality paint that will stand up to the elements and heat your wheels are subjected to.

ctmccloskey

I agree that the Black sets off the car in a very unique way! Me personally, I prefer the polished versions.

Maybe consider some of the new Vinyl spray and spray them with that. That way if you don't like it as much as you thought you can just peel it off. Eastwood carries the paint in many colors now, it is great for racing stripes or any mod you are experimenting with!

Another option is to get somebody to Chrome plate your rims with "Black Chrome". That makes a really beautiful shine and it would be unique! I remember back in 1976 when the new Harley Davidson "Cafe Racer" came with a Black Chrome exhaust, it was gorgeous!

Good Luck with which ever way you go! You already have a BEAUTIFUL Corvette!

wendellp601

Duplicolor has a product called "Custom Wrap" that is "peelable".
You could try a can of their Gloss Midnight Black and peel it off later if you change your mind.

**disclaimer** I have not used this product myself.

https://duplicolor.com/product/custo...emovable-paint

76strokervette

I know a local business that black chromes wheels.I have a picture of the shifter handle I made for my car in my profile with that coating with a chrome button. The black looks incredible. If you are interested I will send contact information.
Dave

Kacyc3

Remarks like that irritate me, just for the reason I am neither old or young and have loved black wheels with a machined lip since I first saw these wheels in black instead of gold. They were also on the Buick GNX in black of course.

Tonio

Another NOOOOOO! vote here. Your car looks fanTASTIC as is. Murdering out the wheels is so cliche.

theandies

I cannot stand this black rim fad. It looks like crap IMO.
But it's your car and you can do what you want.

If those are original rims I wouldn't do it. You'll ruin the rims and ruin the look of your fantastic '81

BLUE1972

I would use the PLASTI COTE removable spray paint - made for rims. The kids use it on their rice burners and change color at will.

It will not damage the wheels if you remove it every year or so.

It also protects the wheel from small rock dings.

I watched the neighbor kid do his rims in less than 3 hours including cleaning them - they were a mess. Looked great after he was finished.

Then during the summer he changed colors...

81vettski

i like it. Matches the interior too.

randy ransome

Black wheels make your car look like your hub caps fell off.