CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion - Wheel Stripes on C6 ZO6 Wheels (Tutorial w/PICS)

So I put some wheel stripes on my black ZO6 reproduction wheels lately and I remember seeing some threads about people asking what they looked like. The main issue obviously is that the spokes go out to the edge of the wheel and the stripe doesn't have a completely flat area to adhere to. After doing it I think it looks fine and you can only see the distortion when viewing at an angle, not looking head on which is how you normally see the wheels. I have black wheels and I think the red does a great job of giving it that little bit of contrast between wheel and tire plus it matches the painted calipers too. I love subtle mods and always remember; the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little "extra".

Super easy mod to do, 100% reversible, and cheap... let's get started.

Materials:
Pinstripe tape: I went with 1/8th inch bought at O'riley's
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0257.jpg

Blade: for cuttin stuff
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0260.jpg

Denatured Alcohol: used to clean/prep wheel finish so stripe will stick
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0225.jpg

Adhesion Promoter: I used a promoter around the curved edges of the spoke to insure no lifting would occur
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0206.jpg

First I started by washing the wheels and tires, no brainer. After trying to stripe one wheel on the car I quickly decided to take them off the car and lay them flat on a work bench. You will have so much more control from that angle vs bending over and trying to get a consistent stripe around the vertical facing edge of a wheel on the car. It only takes a few minutes to do anyway.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0259.jpg

Clean the outside of the wheel off with the denatured alcohol to remove and polishes, waxes, or sealants that may be on the wheel.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0261.jpg

Next I used the edge of the promoter pad to apply a light swipe over the curved edges of the spokes. This will help the stripe stick much better. A word of caution though, don't get crazy and spread the promoter over everything, it can stain the paint a little bit and you will have to go over it with some polish to clean it up. No big deal but I just concentrated my application to where I really needed it, nowhere else.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0262.jpg

Begin taping being sure to stay tight with the edge of the wheel. This is where the wheel being off the car comes into play.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0263.jpg
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0264.jpg

When you make it around you want a little bit of overlap, then just trim off excess.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0265.jpg

And done
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0267.jpg

Here is what the spokes look like from an angle. You can see it isn't quite perfect but it also doesn't really matter and when you are looking at them on the car you don't notice it as much.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0266.jpg
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0269.jpg

Repeat for other wheels
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0268.jpg

Throw the wheels back on the car and enjoy the optical stimulus that is wheel stripes.
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0310.jpg
http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/IMG_0309.jpg

Thanks for looking. As always post up questions or comments if you have any. Mark