1st you pull to bits, then you strip the paint, then you buy new lips, then...

[JamesE30]

Started rebuilding my Simmons V4 Mesh wheels recently.
This will be a long running thread with plenty of time between updates.

But anyway here is the story so far.

Australian made, Simmons 3 piece wheels, 4x100 PCD, 57.1 CB, about +20 ET. 15x7" with a 3" stepped lip. The lips were in excellent condition with only a few very slight grazes on 2 of them. The centers looked good from 10 feet, but up close you could tell they were spray bombed. BTW I paid $760 AU for them but the guy gave me $260 back because the tyres turned out to be rubbish (been sitting for 2 years)

I bought them about 2 months ago with the plan of one day rebuilding them as 16"s (the centers are the same size). But because of offset problems with 16" barrels, not wanting to run spacers, and since My car is an early model (soon to be m-tech 1.. [I've have an almost complete M-tech 1 kit sitting in the garage for ages.. which reminds me, I must get round to painting tha... um anyway!]) I decided to keep it old school and rebuild them as 15"s.

Here is how they looked when I bought them:
(from the eBay ad)




I did mount them on my car and take some photos but I cant seem to find them.. I'll post if I do

Any way I dropped them off to have he paint stripped about a week ago an picked them up today. Here are the results!


SOOO CLEEANN!!


This is the area I was talking about below:


slapped onto the lips:


Next to the car lol

Mad offset!

[JamesE30]

You can see in the tight corners there is some kind of inconsistency in the finish. I was warned about powder coating them as these corners can cause areas of negative charge where the powder won't stick.. I decided to get them done anyway, if they failed, I'd try something else. But they don't have the colour I wanted (as close to BBS Nogaro Silver as possible) not to dark, not to hard to keep looking clean. So I decided to sleep on it, which is where I am now.

As soon as I sat them next to the car, I decided I wanted them to be silver. I think I'll have them powder coated silver in a couple weeks. the fronts sit hella flush, but the rears are a little far in, so In the mean time I'm saving for 4inch lips for the rear making them 15x7F ~+20ET and 15x8R ~0ET.

The wheels wont be going on the car until I install my new lowtec suspension I'm waiting ever so impatiently for! ;) In the mean time it's on the bottles in my avatar.

Also What colour bolts do you think would look good? I was thinking about having them chromed but they are already black and the contrast would look nice...

*Check back to this thread, as I'll be updating it each step of the way!

[Danny]

Have you thought about just having them painted?

At a bodyshop or something?

It might be easier to reach the crevices with paint, but what do I know?

[JamesE30]

Have you thought about just having them painted?

At a body shop or something?

It might be easier to reach the crevices with paint

Yes this may be an option too, but I've heard that powder coat is less prone to brake dust stains than paint. At least I can choose any colour, I may end up just dropping them off at the painters in primer.

...but what do I know?

Um, I don't know, what do you know? Have you had wheels professionally painted before? I'd love to hear peoples experiences.

[Danny]

Well I know that if you powder coat a wheel and it begins to chip, it will keep chipping.

But a painted wheel is easy to touch up with some 800 grit and a can of touch up.

[eurohick.]

powdercoat, if done professionally, hits the entire wheel the same way. Id rather have a wheel done that way than painted, and its often cheaper as well.

i loved my simmons but they were simply too soft for my roads, i think the lips bent if i used jedi mind tricks on em.

[Farbin Kaiber]

powdercoat, if done professionally, hits the entire wheel the same way. Id rather have a wheel done that way than painted, and its often cheaper as well.

i loved my simmons but they were simply too soft for my roads, i think the lips bent if i used jedi mind tricks on em.

The trick is to learn to control the force young padawan learner.

[JamesE30]

powdercoat, if done professionally, hits the entire wheel the same way. Id rather have a wheel done that way than painted, and its often cheaper as well.

i loved my simmons but they were simply too soft for my roads, i think the lips bent if i used jedi mind tricks on em.

Did you have your Simmons powder coated? How did they turn out? If I go Silver I'll try powder coat If I go Nogaro, It'll have to be paint.. hmmm

[indecline]

How much did they originally cost and how much was it to get them stripped from the paint?

Looks clean & OEMish.

[JamesE30]

How much did they originally cost and how much was it to get them stripped from the paint?

Looks clean & OEMish.

I negotiated them down to $500AU with the seller (A hell of a good deal IMO)
Paint stripping and bead blasting was $130AU for all 4, and powdercoat is going to be another $120AU.

[JamesE30]

OK UPDATE!

I got some dish... like 4" of dish. Bought second hand, in great condition, NO scratches, just years of dirt and dust. So I mounted one to one of the centers to see how it fits and well.. they are wide.. like TOO wide.

I measured my current lips to be 3", where they are actually 2.5", meaning instead of these being an inch wider, they are an inch and a half wider..

I have 4 new lips, all 4" wide, I only needed 2 so I was planning on selling 2 to start with. But now that I've seen how wide they are, I'm thinking of several options...
They cost me $680 shipped, I figure I can get at least that back if I sell all 4 after a good polish, and at least $300 p/pair if I sell 2.

Here Are my options

1. Sell 2, and keep 2. Meaning I have to run stretched tires on the rear. Wheels would be 15x7 Front and 15x8.5 Rear. Fenders would need sevear rolling (possible cracked paint) and Hope that my new lowering springs tuck the top of the wheels in a bit more..

2. Sell all 4 and buy 2 brand new 3.5" lips from Simmons. Making 15x7 Front and 15x8 Rear (what I want most - The stance I was going for orriginally) New lips are about $320 installed (each).

3. Use all 4 making all 4 wheels 15x8.5, and look into bolt on fender flares and cut away original arches..

4. Put 4" lips on the rear, sell the other two, and buy brand new 3" lips for the front. Making 15x7.5 Front and 15x8.5 Rear. rolled fenders and Stretched tires all round..

Here are the pics

Standard 2.5" lips


New 4" lips


Side by side


mounted



Nearly flush?... They stick out about 1/2 an inch, but with the car settled on tires, and the new lowering springs it could come in more with camber



Ideally I want option 2, Since I want to fit some respectable sized tires. What do you guys think?

[golde30]

run all 4 big lips. 15x8.5 isnt too wide.

[JamesE30]

run all 4 big lips. 15x8.5 isn't too wide.

But the wheels will stick out past the fenders over an inch in the front and about 1/2 an inch in the rear.. That won't fly with our road regulations

[golde30]

hmm...they look worse without tires on than with. i say just put one together, mount a tire and see what it will really look like, and go from there. mite as well try it while you have them.

[e30this]

hmm...they look worse without tires on than with. i say just put one together, mount a tire and see what it will really look like, and go from there. mite as well try it while you have them.

+1 I agree. You will never truly know what it will look like till you mount a tire and sit it on the ground.