I knew that at some point during this off season I was going to have to get myself some new rubber. After looking at my 25 year old wheels I figured this would also be a good time to get them back into some kind of presentable form. So a few weeks back I started this undertaking.
First I parked the car in the garage leaving myself enough room to move around it. Normally the wife parks her Focus next to the Corvette. I explained to Jane that I had to do this and it would only be for a short time. I then proceeded to put the car on jack stands and remove all four wheels. I ensured her it would only be a couple of weeks at the most.
So now that I had my wheels loaded up in the truck, I headed over to where my son works and got him to take the tires off the rims. While I was there I had him check the prices on a few different tires that interested me. Then loaded up the rims and headed off to Wheel Wizards in Hamilton, just a short drive.
My wheels were looking kind of rough as can been seen in the following pictures. I had heard good things about Wheel Wizards from some of the local cruise night guys. The clear coat was cracked and none existent in some spots. There was quite a bit of oxidation and a bit of road rash as well. Must have been the previous owner bumping some curbs, as I am sure I couldn't have done it.
When I got to Wheel Wizards, they said no problem at all, and that they could make them shine like they once did. Then I had them run me some prices on the same tires my son had priced. I was quite surprised to find that they beat my sons price by a considerable amount. In the past, he had always done me well in this kind of venture. I guess because they were going to do the wheels, they gave me a good price on tires. I said go ahead and order me a set of BF Goodrich TA KDW 275/40/17. I currently have BFG's on both my truck and my wife's car and have been very happy with them. So I figured why not put a set on the Corvette. They said as long as the tires were in stock, that I could get my wheels back in about a week and a half.
Well as luck would have it, the BFG's had to be ordered in; so it was going to take a little longer. After three weeks I gave them a call and they told me there were not in as of yet. Maybe next week, call back then. Now my loving wife was starting to get a bit perturbed, as she was wanting to get her car back in the garage. See, she still works (keeping me in the lifestyle I have grown accustomed to) and really hates to scrap her windows in the morning. And with the forecast of snow I was now being told that I would have to get up and clean her car off. That just doesn't fit in my daily plan, so I called again and explained the situation. The guy at Wheel Wizards must be married, because he fully understood. And said call again in another week. Well, in another week was Christmas, so I let it go until the new year.....And I only had to go out and shovel once.
So yesterday I picked up my refinished rims with the new BFG KDW tires all mounted balanced and ready to go on the car. I was very pleased to see my wheels. They looked 100% better. The new tires also look great. They even threw in some of that wheel wax and polish they sell. In short I was very happy with my endeavor.
The clear coat on the wheels were chemically removed. Then they do a light pass on the CNC machine, taking off a few thousands of a inch. Then they are into sanding through the grits to make sure there is no tool marks. Then the wheels are buffed to a bright shine. I guess other than the machining, you could do a lot of this work yourself. I have seen some great results that other have done. However, I opted for this route, and would do so again. Time will tell if I like the tires or not, but so far so good.
Before picture :
After refinishing.
And a nice shot of the BFG KDW .......kind of a cool looking tire:
Thanks for your time...kind of a long post, but now that the wife can get her car in the garage, I don't have anything to do but sit here ........
First I parked the car in the garage leaving myself enough room to move around it. Normally the wife parks her Focus next to the Corvette. I explained to Jane that I had to do this and it would only be for a short time. I then proceeded to put the car on jack stands and remove all four wheels. I ensured her it would only be a couple of weeks at the most.
So now that I had my wheels loaded up in the truck, I headed over to where my son works and got him to take the tires off the rims. While I was there I had him check the prices on a few different tires that interested me. Then loaded up the rims and headed off to Wheel Wizards in Hamilton, just a short drive.
My wheels were looking kind of rough as can been seen in the following pictures. I had heard good things about Wheel Wizards from some of the local cruise night guys. The clear coat was cracked and none existent in some spots. There was quite a bit of oxidation and a bit of road rash as well. Must have been the previous owner bumping some curbs, as I am sure I couldn't have done it.
When I got to Wheel Wizards, they said no problem at all, and that they could make them shine like they once did. Then I had them run me some prices on the same tires my son had priced. I was quite surprised to find that they beat my sons price by a considerable amount. In the past, he had always done me well in this kind of venture. I guess because they were going to do the wheels, they gave me a good price on tires. I said go ahead and order me a set of BF Goodrich TA KDW 275/40/17. I currently have BFG's on both my truck and my wife's car and have been very happy with them. So I figured why not put a set on the Corvette. They said as long as the tires were in stock, that I could get my wheels back in about a week and a half.Well as luck would have it, the BFG's had to be ordered in; so it was going to take a little longer. After three weeks I gave them a call and they told me there were not in as of yet. Maybe next week, call back then. Now my loving wife was starting to get a bit perturbed, as she was wanting to get her car back in the garage. See, she still works (keeping me in the lifestyle I have grown accustomed to) and really hates to scrap her windows in the morning. And with the forecast of snow I was now being told that I would have to get up and clean her car off. That just doesn't fit in my daily plan, so I called again and explained the situation. The guy at Wheel Wizards must be married, because he fully understood. And said call again in another week. Well, in another week was Christmas, so I let it go until the new year.....And I only had to go out and shovel once.
So yesterday I picked up my refinished rims with the new BFG KDW tires all mounted balanced and ready to go on the car. I was very pleased to see my wheels. They looked 100% better. The new tires also look great. They even threw in some of that wheel wax and polish they sell. In short I was very happy with my endeavor.
The clear coat on the wheels were chemically removed. Then they do a light pass on the CNC machine, taking off a few thousands of a inch. Then they are into sanding through the grits to make sure there is no tool marks. Then the wheels are buffed to a bright shine. I guess other than the machining, you could do a lot of this work yourself. I have seen some great results that other have done. However, I opted for this route, and would do so again. Time will tell if I like the tires or not, but so far so good.
Before picture :
After refinishing.
And a nice shot of the BFG KDW .......kind of a cool looking tire:
Thanks for your time...kind of a long post, but now that the wife can get her car in the garage, I don't have anything to do but sit here ........
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