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Wheel Refinishing

S

shoopice

Active Member
Does anyone know a source to have the outer wheel lips redone? The clear coat has some flaking. I did not know if there is an easy fix such as buffing or stripping or if professional servicing was needed. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks
 
I have had 2 sets of aluminum wheels stripped,machined and powdercoated in color and clear. Both sets of them developed blemishes on one or more of the wheels in less than one year from the time I got them done. 1 set was GTA wheels, one was a set of snowflakes.And they get progressively worse.
The same place did all my work and each time it costs about $700 a set.
It's my opinion that powdercoat is not meant for aluminum wheels despite what the claims may be. They look good for one summer than they start getting blems under the powdercoat.

This is where I had the TTA's done. http://www.polishmywheels.com/ and it was a third the cost of powdercoat.
If you need some more info PM me.
t-top012.jpg
 
I had mine refinished about 2 years ago by some place in Troy MI. I think it cost around $450 for all 4. They did not touch the gold part on mine, they just machined the lip down to bare aluminum - took the corrosion off- and recleared. The clear did not turn out looking exactly like factory. I don't know if they layed it on to thick or what. It doesn't look bad and everybody at car shows comment what nice condition the wheels are in but it looks just a little different from stock to me. Others just say I'm too picky. So far they are holding up well but again that was only two years ago. I guess I'd probably do the same thing all over again if I wanted it as close to origional as I could. If the car is going custom I do really like the polished look like WS6 is pointing out.

If you decide that you end up wanting to use the place in Michigan just PM me and I'll look up their number.
 
WOW, what great information! I purchased my TTA in March from the original owner. 26,000 miles and in great condition except the clear on the wheels is starting to pit and peel. I also need to get it on the registry. Car came with full documentation including the market value mark up sticker at the time bringing the sticker price up to $34,900. I'll probably have more questions and really do appreciate the assistance. So far TTA ownership has been great! What a great group of people to be associated with.
I'll try and get some pics posted. The original owner was friend of Fittapaldi and worked on his race team. Pretty interesting guy. Shared some great stories!:thumbup:
 
I hear they are good but very very expensive and there is a long wait. Some hidden fee's as well. If there is anything wrong with the rim they hammer you on rim repair fee's. That's what I've heard from a few people that used them. Check the link I posted. I live right near Wheel Collision and I sent mine to Colorado! ;)
 
Jim - I know this is an old thread, but where did you send your wheels? The link in this thread no longer works.
 
Jim - I gave him a call and he wanted 225 a wheel. I know you said that Wheel Collision was expensive but they quoted me about the same price.
Have you seen their work?
 
8289ta said:
Jim - I gave him a call and he wanted 225 a wheel. I know you said that Wheel Collision was expensive but they quoted me about the same price.
Have you seen their work?
Click to expand...

I have used wheel collision twice and they are awesome. No issues whatsoever.
 
Thanks for the reply Jason. I think I am going to use Wheel Collision. They are about a 90 minute drive from me and I avoid shipping the wheels across country. Hopefully I don't get hit for the hidden fees I have heard about. The wheels look pretty straight, just ugly from sitting in my basement for 20 years.
 
Let us know about the pricing. I know I paid around $700 for 4 wheels to be straightened (although they look straight to me...), blasted, coated grey, and the clear coated with a polished lip. They held up very well to 20k miles of daily use.

Jason
 
Will Do Jason. Although pricing will probably be a little different for what I need done then TTA rims. These are the rims for my 1982 TA. The rims look like Knightrider rims with the bowling ball hubcaps. Hopefully within the next week or two I will be able to find a day to take a trip over there.
 
Quicky one... I have a question.

After you had your rims straightened did the car ride smoother on the highway? Especially between 60mph-85mph. I mean, did it have any vibration at these speeds before or after the rims were straightened? I mean, after the job, did you drive the car and say to your self, "oh yeah, I guess they must have been bent after all, because it is smoother now"

In my case, with the exception of the convertible, I have never had a trans am that did not vibrate when I bought the car, above 60mph, and particularly bad around 80mph. I always had to correct the problem with new tires and/or wheels. Sometimes it could not be fully cured. I could not stand it. You could see the dashboard shake. THe only way to make it stop was to keep changing the speed constantly. Once a steady speed was maintained, this vibration would set in.

I would particularly like to know about this wheel collision center, because it is 10 minutes from me, and I want to buy a used set of gta wheels and have them restored, to use as a second set on my car. (so I don't have to remove the original tires from the original wheels...right now, I have repro wheels for that purpose, but I dont like the idea of driving on chinese wheels...they could fall apart at any moment...I bought them before I realized they were chinese)

My best luck ever was on a new tta after I put new GSC tires. Wheels were obviously new since whole car was new. That car was totally smooth like a bmw running on glass.

(This story is from years ago, before the days of the Hunter road force balance machine, which seems to be able to cure any vibration problem I have had recently.)
 
andre#4 said:
Quicky one... I have a question.

After you had your rims straightened did the car ride smoother on the highway? Especially between 60mph-85mph. I mean, did it have any vibration at these speeds before or after the rims were straightened? I mean, after the job, did you drive the car and say to your self, "oh yeah, I guess they must have been bent after all, because it is smoother now"


I bought the wheels off of a salvage yard and never used them until they were refinished. I mailed them to wheel collision and they made them new again., even taking out the curb rash they had. The car went on 3 800 mile one way road trips and it was very, very smooth.
In my case, with the exception of the convertible, I have never had a trans am that did not vibrate when I bought the car, above 60mph, and particularly bad around 80mph. I always had to correct the problem with new tires and/or wheels. Sometimes it could not be fully cured. I could not stand it. You could see the dashboard shake. THe only way to make it stop was to keep changing the speed constantly. Once a steady speed was maintained, this vibration would set in.

With what I said above, I have never had a car with a vibration like you describe. I also have all of my driveshafts balanced before I drive the car long distances. Maybe that is what your problem is? DontKnow:

I would particularly like to know about this wheel collision center, because it is 10 minutes from me, and I want to buy a used set of gta wheels and have them restored, to use as a second set on my car. (so I don't have to remove the original tires from the original wheels...right now, I have repro wheels for that purpose, but I dont like the idea of driving on chinese wheels...they could fall apart at any moment...I bought them before I realized they were chinese)

If you are 10 minutes from them have the wheels thrown on the machine to see if they are straight. I am sure they would do it free...

My best luck ever was on a new tta after I put new GSC tires. Wheels were obviously new since whole car was new. That car was totally smooth like a bmw running on glass.

Probably not a wheel issue.

(This story is from years ago, before the days of the Hunter road force balance machine, which seems to be able to cure any vibration problem I have had recently.)
Click to expand...

In blue.
 
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