18" Mini lites - advice needed please

[hogpowr]

Guys/Gals - I purchased some 18" mini lite style wheels from ET Mags. I have a Sublime 1970 Challenger. (thats bright green for the non mopar people).. The car has a lot of matte black on it, hood, front air dam, rear spoiler etc.. I'm planning to powder coat the wheels matte black as well. Here is my question.

Should I black out the entire wheel or leave the outer lip polished? If anyone has pictures of black mini lites with polished lips or completely black I would appreciate it!

thanks!

[TheJDMan]

IMO, black wheels are SO overdone that they have become cliché. Here's an alternative idea, Eastwood sells a product called Elastiwrap which would allow you to color your wheels and if you did not like them you could just peel off the coating and try something different. Here is a quick demo of how it works.

http://www.eastwood.com/elastiwrap


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGgGLmVpHQs

[go-fish]

Mini-lites + Black = : (

This = : )

[srh3trinity]

I am with JD on this one. I have had plasti dipped wheels for two years and when I did it, it wasn't very common. Now most of the oem's se) cars with black wheels and soccer mom's have black wheels. Try some plasti dip. It can look nice and peel right off when you get tired of it.

[hogpowr]

plasti dip. hmmm. I will check it out!!!

[626Chevelle]

I personally like black wheels on certain cars. I do have them on my chevelle. But it depends on the color and them of the vehicle too. I think mini lites would look good all black depending on the vehicle. I am thinking about buying some minilites for my 72 and have them powder coated all black. With that, I am going to have some custom white lettering outside the tires to bring it all out. Some people use markers to fill in the tire letters. I found someone who will make white tire letters maching the tire brand lettering and any font size. They use a strong glue and somewhat melt the rubber letter to stick to the tire. And its all under warranty.

Something about all black mini lites says all business. Are black wheels becoming very common yes, but in magazines. I dont see them to much at shows or cruises and i live in Los Angeles. I attend shows, races and Pomona Classic Car Swapmeet. Its not as common as you might think. Trust me. Youre just used to seeing them here and in magazines. Just my opinion

[626Chevelle]

plasti dip. hmmm. I will check it out!!!

Plasti Dip is cool but dont buy that trash in the can. The can is good for emblems and little things, or maybe to get a visual of what it might look like. Get them professionally done. The quality of materials and amount they use is different then the can stuff. Its still cheap too. You can tell when a car has been completed by a can and a shop. So im going to assume the same for the wheels as well.

[hogpowr]

I would love to see some pictures... regardless of cars. anyone have a black w/ polished lip wheel? or an all black wheel? I've seen alot of black wheels as well,but I haven't seen any black minilites... I have a lot of other black on the car and not much chrome or stainless at all. I think the all black would match better.. but again, still trying to decide.

[cornfedbill]

Mini-lites + Black = : (

This = : )

X2. I think the black would be far too much. I would leave them as cast with the rims machined like they come from ET.

The positive note is that, if you use Plastidip, it is not permanent. You can return the wheels to the as delivered finish.

[67-LS1]

I like the black look with polished or machined rim. Is it a fad? Possibly, but what isn't?
Remember Pro-Street?
I have never used Plastic-Dip but it sounds like a good idea. But powder oating is more durable and can also be redone when the style winds change

[626Chevelle]

plasti dip. hmmm. I will check it out!!!

Almost forgot, plasti dip is a coating and will actually protect your wheels.

[TheJDMan]

I have never used Plastic-Dip but it sounds like a good idea. But powder coating is more durable and can also be redone when the style winds change

Yes powder coating is more durable AND more expensive AND you must dismount the tires AND you have to find a company to do the job.

With Plasi-Dip or Elastiwrap you don't even have to remove the wheels from your car if you don't want to AND if you don't like the look you just peel the coating off AND you can do a set of 4 wheels for around $50. The coating actually protects the wheel finish, I plasi-dip my chrome pickup wheels each fall for the winter and peel them off in the spring.

http://www.eastwood.com/paints/elastiwrap-coatings.html

https://www.dipyourcar.com/Kit-Wheels-cat/

Coating wheels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYX_5cS1go

Removing coating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLazYjrmP2I

[hogpowr]

thanks guys. I just ordered a wheel kit from plastidip. will see how it goes!

[srh3trinity]

As far as plasti dip durability, mine has been on my daily driver for two years and it looks fine. There are threads out there about cleaning products, but I just use mild products. I used cans from home depot and if you take your time it goes on smooth. Took doing a wheel twice to get it down. The first coat will be splotchy and looks horrible. You can't cover it all with that coat anyway. I think I did about 4-5 coats.

[hogpowr]

I'm still leaning towards going all black. but here is initial mock up.... what do you guys think? will be at car craft show in milwaukee this summer and attacking cones.. also plan to hit ultima battery street car challenge at road america.

109518

[manOwar]

I'm diggin' the silver center/polished lip look!

[hogpowr]

thanks. gonna mess around with the plasti dip.. will do full black. and will also check out black with polished lip.

[srh3trinity]

That looks killer as is. I am interested to see a black mini lite wheel so I will stay tuned.

[TheJDMan]

I'm lovin those wheels! Post some pics once you have Dipped them.

[rlodad]

Mini-lites + Black = : (
This = : )

I couldn't agree more. I don't understand the whole black wheels thing, but I am old and old school. With black wheel wells and black wheels you are essentially spending $2-4k on wheels you can't see! I love mini lites and would do them just as in the pic. You can always ruin them later if you wish.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

here ya go homie... I think we all want to see this.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/02/Bradschallenger2014-1.jpg

[hogpowr]

nice... thats cool

[High Plains Mopars]

Black centers with a machined lip would not look bad, as shown above. IMO, any colors that tend to mute the appearance of the spokes or center of the wheel will give an appearance of motion while sitting still. A wheel at speed blurs the center section into a single color. Darker colors on centers tend to do the same thing. Black is a bit stark but something darker like charcoal, titanium, or other dark greys may be a nice compliment to the bright green without being as stark as pure black.

IMO, I'm glad to see more teams in Nascar dumping the all black wheels. It doesn't look sinister to me, it simply looks unimaginative. Even more so on a street car where there is less concern about miniscule differences in heat soak and thermal efficiency compared to racing.

[626Chevelle]

I think the all black or black with polished lip looks good. Yes it is simple but you have a lot going on with the car as it is (Front and rear spoiler, Stripes, the loud color, black hood, front spoiler is polished aluminum, chrome bumpers, etc).

I would keep it simple. I would paint the front spoiler black as well. If you do that with a polished lip or all black i think it would look good. If the Car didnt have a lot of those things, then i think a silver wheel with polished lip would be good.

If you think it looks to boring, i would buy some custom white letters for your tires. Not a lot of people do that. There a shop that makes them here in Los Angeles. I think it looks mean, clean and like a race car.

109781

109782

109783

[go-fish]

There a shop that makes them here in Los Angeles. I think it looks mean, clean and like a race car.


Do you know the name of the company and/or location?

[626Chevelle]

Do you know the name of the company and/or location?

I have to look for their business card. They are a tire shop located in El Monte. Any font, any size, any tire. They will match the font style of your tire. They place a strong as glue and melt the piece to the tire. The letters are made of tire rubber too. I seen several vehicle they had on display at Pomona Swap Meet and they look awesome! Like they were stock

Some people use pens with white ink and it looks like crap.

[626Chevelle]

Do you know the name of the company and/or location?


Bro, really sorry for the late response. Heres the info on the guys that place the white letters on the tires in the LA area.

Cortez Tire Service
2557 Durfee St
El Monte Ca 91732
626-400-7415 626-488-3249

[Richio1]

Here you go. Drivetv has some great stuff. Not to hijack your thread but hope this helps.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwYl-5sqkUk


Looking forward to seeing the dipped wheels and your thoughts on how it went and how you like it.

[hogpowr]

115063115064

Plasti dip went on as described. I will say it went on a bit more "blotchy" than I was expecting, but once everything dried the appearance is fine. It's held up fine to this point.

[626Chevelle]

Bro that Challenger looks perfect! Like i said, simple is better and cleaner. Im glad you painted the front spoiler black too! I like the vintage trans am look and thats the theme for my 72 Chevelle. Im actually going to plasti dip the whole car a pearl olive green with fender hash marks, and those ET Wheels that you have currently have. The wheels would be last though. Im starting to like the trans am more than a pro tourning restomod look. Its all business. Congrats on the car


115063115064

Plasti dip went on as described. I will say it went on a bit more "blotchy" than I was expecting, but once everything dried the appearance is fine. It's held up fine to this point.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Your challenger is awesome!