PSUice944

I'm starting to like this new format!...

Ok, the situation:

I have an abused set of Ronal R9s that were once chrome, and finally got the tires off for storage and refinishing reasons. Turns out they are 16 by 8&9"! I thought they were 8s all around as the size on them were 225/50s on both sizes. That was one bit of "exciting news", with the other being that I got connected to a powdercoating place that will strip and coat your wheels for $25/rim. NTB rocks!

So some concerns in my evil planning:

Any tips for the powdercoating route? I know how the system works (spray and cook) plus the various "primary" colors, what colors would look good on my wheels? Do they do a powder-chrome? Do they do a clearcoat too? Maybe I should think colors, as my car is painted "lightning blue metallic", or wholly freakin blue as seen on a Saab 9-3 Viggen. Thoughts?

What tire sizes will work for me on these rims, 9" is freakin wide, and on my 86 944na no less!

Any modest tire suggestions for summer street/track/rain only? Heres hopeing Firestone will begin to go under and discount their SZ50s!

Any input is appriciated, now if only i had that digital camera for "posting purposes"

IceShark

You can go pretty dang wide with 9" rims, that will not be your restrictor. You need to look at offset and clearance - the outer fender is going to be your problem. Pick a target and maybe you can get 245s up front and 275s (which may be at the extreme for those rims) in back if you roll the fenders. But if you have an N/A you don't have the power to justify that so go for handeling which your current size may be just perfect. Unless you want the looks.

As far as refinishing, the chrome is going to be stripped electrochemically. You may want to ask about hydrogen embrittlement after all the monkeying around with the original chrome plate and now the strip job.

There is no way to do a powder "chrome" job, outside of silver paint. And to rechrome the wheels will require a repolishing job of the base metal which ain't going to happen for 25 bucks a wheel unless they are about perfect and your Dad owns the shop.

There are some highly secret ways to put paint on wheels to build up the paint thickness and get it to hang together and resist everything that will be thrown at them. Powder coat is a nice compromise.

Tabor

I have been very happy with the Bridgestone RE730s. They are Bridgestone's wet weather Ultra High Performance tire. They are fairly priced, and wear great!

However, I went looking for tyres that would fit 8x16 and 9x16 rims, and I didn't find any! However, I know that Porsche made 15x9 fuchs, so all you have to do is find someone who has them, and ask them who they buy tyres from.

;-)

PSUice944

275s! Wholly crap thats a lotta stinkin tire! I'd look like that Viper I saw (from behind of course ), just the pumpkin and tires, couldn't really see any axle...

Sounds like tire availability and cost will help to determine the size I get. Didn't know about the electrochemical stripping of the chrome, as I think they usually just sandblast or beadblast for prepping.

Now for an extended question:
How do you roll fenders? As I remember there were some sidewall/corner tread scuffing from the fender on the 225s, so I think I'm going to have to go that way.

Thanks much

Tabor

remember that the wider the tyre on the front of your car, the more it will want to jump out of ruts in the road. I believe the term is called "tramlinig".

IceShark

No, there is really no other way to get chrome off, besides electrochemically is the easiest. Chrome is pretty damn hard and if you tried to sand blast it off you would eat up the exposed base metal in a flash. If they are not going to remove the chrome, which they may not be planning on for that price, BTW, you then have the issue of corrosion flaking off the chrome (and paint on top) in the future. And depending on how thick the powder coat is you probably will be able to see the chrome chips if you look close. I would be careful about going too cheap on this project.

You didn't mention you were scuffing already. Front or back? You need to pull together a whole bunch of facts, starting with wheel offset. And if you are planning on going really wide I would spend some money to go to the local tire shop and have them slap some test tires on to make sure they clear before buying the final tires. Maybe you could work out some sort of deal with them.

Rolling fenders: take a look at the inside sheet metal lip at the top of the wheel well. Yours will probably stick out in an L shape. You roll the fenders with a baseball bat (use a wood one) slowly working it between the tire and fender by rolling the car forward and back. The objective is to bend that leg of the "L" back up against the fender making it a "U" to give a bit more clearance. In practice you also end up bending the fender out giving more clearance. You need to be careful not to go overboard or crack the paint on the outside of the fender. Also scrape off the undercoating so you can make a tighter "U".

If you are already scraping the fronts then 225 is getting to the max without changing rims out to a new offset. Remember you are really going to whack them on the fender in a sharp turn with down force.

deni durrell

Anyone have any ideas about tires i.e., which brands are better than others for certain things? I am looking for stiffness in sidewalls mixed with longevity. This would be All Wether for stictly street use. I know all tires are different but these I have been considering (and leaning towards the RE730):

Michelin Pilot SX MXX3
Bridgestone Potenza S-02
Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position (what's the difference?)
BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW
Bridgestone Potenza RE730
Kumho ECSTA Supra 712
Yokohama AVS S1
Pirelli P7000 SUPERSPORT
Pirelli P6000

Also, I am looking for a some 6-7 spoke rims, but the only thing that I've been able to find has been Tech Art. The "Performace" series are nice - except they appear to come only in 18" size and way too big! The car in question is a 83 NA and with offests being 23mm. Second choices would be BBS or Fikse (which is a lot of $$$).

I'm toying with a 225/45-16 (16x7) up front and 245/40-16 (16x8) in the rear measurement scenario. At this height I could probably use any tire.

TIA...