TI HEEL REI THE. All cars gotta have 'em, but do they all have to look the same? Here are four ideas for making your wheels stand out in a crowd.

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Elinor Garrison
5 years ago
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PHR PROJECT CAR REI THE TI HEEL All cars gotta have 'em, but do they all have to look the same? Here are four ideas for making your wheels stand out in a crowd.

We know how to buy wheels and tires." (Yawn.) It's a necessary evil, but that doesn't mean we have to go down the same path.

2 PHR PROJECT CAR REI THE TI HEEL All cars gotta have 'em, but do they all have to look the same? Here are four ideas for making your wheels stand out in a crowd. By Johnny Hunkins Photography by the author When most magazines get a new project car, the first thing they do is throw on some new rolling stock and say: "Look how clever we are! We know how to buy wheels and tires." (Yawn.) It's a necessary evil, but that doesn't mean we have to go down the same path. Yes, we did score new wheelsthe same killer-looking Vintage Wheel Works V40s you saw last month on Brian English's '69 Chevelle. These wheels flat-out rock; the spokes are straight (not curved like a Torq Thrust), and have a peak in the center. It's a subtle difference, but it really looks good. The centers of these two-piece wheels have a rough, as-cast texture, and the outer hoops are highly polished. We also loaded up on a set of Nitto's premier sticky street tires, some NTOI R-compounds. The combo looks and works great on our '68 Chevelle project car. Now that you know that, we can talk about something you might also be interested in: making your new (or existing) wheels look way better without spending a fortune. We wanted the wheels to be integrated into the overall look of the car, so we decided early on that we'd paint the V40's wheel centers in a color that would complement the SS stripes we planned on laying down. We found the right graphite color in Dupli-Color's line of High Performance Wheel Coatings. One can of this stuff is all it takes. And, it's just $5.99. The change was immediate and dramatic. We apologize ahead of time to the super guys at Vintage Wheel Works for all the pesky phone calls they're going to get about a wheel color they don't even offer, but so be it, we gotta be different. 54

These are the knock-off 14-inch slot mags we bought the Chevelle with. We ended up throwing them in the office dumpster. No telling what magazine they'll show up in next.

3 These are the knock-off 14-inch slot mags we bought the Chevelle with. We ended up throwing them in the office dumpster. No telling what magazine they'll show up in next. Rather than use the plastic chrome wheel caps that come with the V40s, we decided to make our own billet aluminum block-off covers. We had 'em made on a $130,000 waterjet cutting machine, and they only cost $37 for the set. Another $10 bought a can of Mothers Polishin' Pad, which brought them to a spectacular shine to match the outer hoops. Speaking of which, if you've got a tired set of oxidized rims, a Mothers Polishin' Pad is a good way to get them looking cool in short order. The next thing we tried was Dupli-Color's new tire-paint-in-a-pen, but the verdict is still out on that one. (Good thing we tried it on old tire first.) We suggest they repackage the paint in a spray can and let us make a cardboard template for spraying the letters Before ordering wheels and tires, we used our Percy's Wheelrite tool (about $90 from Summit) to measure the available space. Set the tool at the desired wheel diameter and offset, then bend the thick wire to the desired tire profile. If anything rubs, then change the diameter, offset, or tire size. Make sure to check the front clearance with the car's weight fully on the suspension, and check with the steering at full lock. The rear is much easier-all you have to do is put the jack under the differential when checking clearance. on the sidewall. The oversprayed "race tire" look would be cool. In spite of our wheels starting out looking like almost every five-spoke on the planet, we've now got wheels that stand out from the crowd. But you can't buy 'em like this-you'll have to do it yourself. Fortunately, it won't cost a lot. Here's how we did APRIL 2007 POPULAR HOT RODDING 55

PHR PROJECT CAR REINVENTING THE WHEEL "You want to do a cheap build? Show tech on how to make your own parts. I'll climb down off my soapbox now. Sorry to vent on you guys.

4 PHR PROJECT CAR REINVENTING THE WHEEL "You want to do a cheap build? Show tech on how to make your own parts. I'll climb down off my soapbox now. Sorry to vent on you guys... " -earthquake68, Team Cheve//e message forum The V40 wheels from Vintage Wheel Works have classic looks, with a modern flare. They're cool as delivered, but we wanted to make them nicer. Our rear wheels (shown) measure 17 x 9.5, with a 5.5-inch back spacing and have a GM 5 x 4-3/4-inch bolt circle. The fronts are 17 x 8 with a 4-3/4-inch back space. These two-piece hoops have media blasted centers, machined and polished outer hoops, and are cast aluminum from virgin 356 and heat treated to a T6 factor. Center cap and lug nuts are included. For tires, we went with our favorite rollers: Nitto NT01 R compounds (245/45ZR17, front, and 275/40ZR17 rear). You can buy stickier tires, but they aren't street legal. The wheels were masked off using fine-line masking tape and some 2-inch masking tape. Note how I cut a "donut " out of cardboard and taped it to the back. The idea is to get the Dupli-Color graphite wheel coating only on the rough-cast center section of the wheel. It pays to take your time masking off unpainted areas-the wheels will look so much better. Before mounting the tires, I wanted to check the fender-to-rim clearance and compare it to the measurement I got from the original set of rims. Here, a wrench on a string acts like a plumb bob so I can measure the horizontal distance with a ruler. The V40s were about 3/8 inch closer to the fender lip, which will make the Chevelle look considerably better. It looks like I'm having way too much fun with this spray can. The Dupli-Color High-Performance Wheel Coating went on smooth and easy with no drips or spurts. A light coat was followed by two heavier coats at about 30-minute intervals. I'm lazy, so making the wheel centers the color of brake dust will save me loads of time down the road. REV UP YOUR TIRES! not a marker per se, instead of " coloring " the letter We've used a lot of Dupli-Color stuff in the past few months, so you'd think we had stock in the company, or space, you make a series of paint dots. Ultimately, we decided not to use it on the project Chevelle, because maybe huffed too many paint yellow or white just d idn't match fumes. We like the NASCAR-forto the rest of the car as we'd the-street look, so we wanted try Dupli-Color's new Hot-Tires tire hoped. We do, however, plan on using it on our road race paint (HT-300, yellow; HT-100, white), which comes in a paint tires for project g/28, our '76 Camaro project (which is now marker tube and costs about in an Alabama bodyshop). It $8. The idea is to color inside would be great if Dupli-Color the raised letters, filling in the offered its tire paint in a spray letters evenly with paint. It's a can. We'd love to see what time-consuming operation-it it looks 'like sprayed over takes about 20 minutes per tire a template for that race tire but the results are worth it. It's overspray look. 56

5 The following day, I took the plastic wheel cap that came with one of the V40 wheels down to Advance Waterjet & Engraving in Anaheim, CA. I traced the cap on a sheet of paper, handed it to my man Mike, who then turned it into 1/8-inch thick billet aluminum hub block-off plates. This $130,000 machine uses highpressure water to cut through metal, and can make lots of custom stuff on the cheap. We paid just $37 for four covers, and they're the only ones on the planet like it. If you want some, just call up Mike at Advance. The CNC program for the plates will be on file. The waterjet is great, and we'll be back for sure. Fresh out of the Omax JetMachining Center Model 55100, these hub block-off plates aren't quite ready for the project Chevelle. I was going to scuff them with 100-grit paper and call it a day, when publisher Ed Zinke suggested I polish them to match the rims instead. See, sometimes publishers can have good ideas! The Mothers Polishin' Pad worked like a charm. Just pull off a few inches from the rolled-up cotton wad, and pol ish. When it turns dark gray like this, use a clean towel to buff it off. It really is like magic, but don't take our word for it. Yeah baby! We're rolling now. All buffed out, the block-off plates give the Chevelle a serious, race car look for the street. Bye-bye plastic center caps! With graphite-painted centers and billet aluminum hub blockoffs, our Vintage Wheel Works V40 wheels will turn heads for years to come. In fairness to Vintage, the stock V40 looks absolutely killer, but we wanted more. We got a unique look for just a few bucks more, but you can do the same things to just about any wheel, including the ones you already have. If you're down on bucks and have a weekend to spare, you can transform the look of your car for next to nothing. HOW MUCH DID WE SPEND? We spent $2, to get the look you see here (which also counts the Dupli-Color Hot-Tires tire paint pen we opted not to use). That's a little higher than a run-of-the-mill set of five-spokes with new street rubber, but not by much. The thing we want to point out is that only about three percent of that amount (roughly $61) went to making this rolling stock look really cool. Between the graphite Dupli-Color wheel coating ($5.99), the custom hub block-off plates ($37), the Mothers Polishin ' Pad ($10), and the Hot-Tires paint pen ($7.99), you have the makings of a one-of-a-kind set of rollers. For a few Jacksons and a leisurely weekend in the garage, you can make any tired set of fivespoke wheels look like ours. Vintage Wheel Works V40 wheels (17 x 8, front, 4-3/4-inch backspace) $ each Vintage Wheel Works V40 wheels (17 x 9.5, rear, 5-1/2-inch back space)... $ each Nitto 245/45ZR17 NT01 R-compound (front)... tires $174 each Nitto 275/40ZR17 NT01 R-compound tires (rear) $197 each Dupli-Color High Performance Wheel Coating (graphite, WP102) $5.99 Custom hub block-off plates... _ $37 Mothers Polish in' Pad $10 Dupli-Color Hot-Tires tire paint pen (yellow, HT-300) $7.99 Total: $ APRIL 2007 POPULAR HOT RODDING 57

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