Just wondering what is the best/easiest method to avoid scratches n stuff when painting rims (the outside at least)... by itself, or with the tire on?

I picked up a couple of new BFG Radial T/A 245/60/15 tires (one store I went to said they were discontinued??) Anyway, looking at 15x7 rallye rims as well that a local guy has for sale which are painted gray already. I had some #14 (Silver Pewter Metallic) rattle cans made up though for rims.

 

Another thing... 245/60/15's all around... too big/wide on front? I am using Hotchkis 1" drop springs, so I am not sure how much clearance there will be.

Other than that, I was thinking of 235/60/15 or perhaps 225/60/15 for the fronts.

 

Definetlely paint with tires off. This way the tires stay paint free and the bead seat area can be sanded or sandblasted. Also, the wheels are easier to handle.

Load the old tires/wheels into your daily driver and take them to the tire shop and buy/special order the tires and have them pull off the old. Take the wheels for blasting and painting. Lastly, when the new tires arrive, return the wheels to the tire shop a week or two after (to ensure paint cure) so they can put the new tires on. Threaten to beat the guy who scratches them.......
Take the wheels/tires home loose and install yourself!

Keep in mind that having the same size tires all around allows you to rotate them without issue.

 

Thanks. I just had them painted at the body shop (too cold to paint outside now) separately, and had the tires (245/60/15) mounted. They had to put the weights on both sides.

Now I have to get another pair of rims for the front and new tires. Still don't know what size to get though, especially taking the Hotchkis springs into acct.

 

Came out great!

 

They came out beautiful.

 

Ken, is your color code 14? That looks very familiar. I didn't realize that 15" wheels had the same stud pattern as 14's. Those 245s should really hug the road when they get powered up. Should have told them to use tape weights, and nothing would show on the front.

That looks like one of the newer style SS111s. Does it use the same trim as the old ones or the newer square cut ones?

 

Yes, #14 (Silver Pewter Metallic) which is the original body color. They mentioned sticky weights, but I think the paint is not fully cured, plus I never heard of them anyway. And IIRC, the outer trim ring covers it up and not in the way. Will find out for certain though once the ring goes on. I had 255/60/15's BFG TA's on the rear 20 years ago, but had like 215/60/15's or similar on the front.

As for the older/newer style, no clue. All I know is that they look the same as the old ones I had on. I just assumed they are all from the ~80's. Square cut? Do you mean those 5 inner rings? The few I have lying around have more of a rounded corner.

 

Same color as mine. The sticky weights work great. They have an adhesive back and don't slip like some of the other ones. The trim ring does cover it up, mostly. You can still see the clip on the wheel. I would recommend sticky weights to anyone. You will still end up with some big clip ons on the back, but not the front.

The older ones have bolt on center caps. The newer ones are like the ones you have there with the snap on caps. Put some locktite on the screws that hold the inner spring clip. The spring used to come loose quite a bit and need tightening. You could hear the centers rattling as they rotated. Just a FYI trivia thing for you: In 68 when these style wheel came out there was no trim bezel around the 5 openings. They had slightly raised surfaces that were painted silver. The bezels came later.

Yup. Well if you run into a problem LMK. I have some spares of either kind if you need them. They are stainless and just need a good buffing.