MKV Build Thread by dustinwark

5 minute(s) of a 134 minute read

Well not a real update I suppose, but I am getting anxious for my new wheels so I threw on my winter wheels to get an idea of how they will look. I think they would look pretty clean with small tires and spacers, however I will not be running spacers and they will have clunky snow tires on. Pretty much all of the updates for the next while will all be wheel related.

9/24/10

The next project for this car is one of the most drastic changes to its appearance, wheels. This is something I have LONG debated on what kind, size, and finish. I did know that I wanted to lower the car (to an acceptable height) and to fill in the void behind the wheel with nice big brakes before switching to a nice set of wheels. Well those two things are checked of the list so it was time to search for the perfect set of wheels. 

It seems like I change my mind every week. I love the look of simple, but nice OEM wheels which led me to look at manyts and Charlestons. That lead me into looking at other flat face non-lipped wheels like CH. I began to drift from my favorite style of wheel (net) which I had always told myself I would get and started looking at wheels I normally wouldn't like Audi flat fives. I then returned to my original intention of getting a net-style pattern wheel, but I had decided I wanted a nice polished lip. I began to daydream about CCW classics and BBS LM. I also had a hard time deciding on a finish. I love matte black wheels, but hate them on black cars, silver looks best, but it is boring. I had told myself my budget was $1000 for wheels. So I turned to replica wheels. 

After many heated threads (not mine) I had decided against going the cheap and easy way out. From the beginning of this build I told myself I would cut no corners and do it right. With Phil and Mark's help I came to my relationship with VRWheels. I found a set of LMs that were out of my old budget, but I felt were a reasonable price and would be a sort of investment. I like the idea of getting a used set that I could fix and make my own. The set was 18x8 +40 5x114.3. After talking to Phil I had decided to go ahead and have them redrilled. This way I can run spacers if need be and it would open up the market if I ever sell them to a different community of enthusiasts.

Money sent, wheels shipped, and now they are here, this time 5x112. The plan for them at the time being is to purchase some 205/40/18 yokohama s-drives and put them on ASAP so I can run these wheels for a couple of week before winter. I like the gold finish more than I though I would so it will be a nice change of pace. However gold is just not my taste. Mid-October the wheels will be taken off for my winter project of refinishing them.

First thing will be to remove the faces and send them off to Kevin (goblin) for a unique matte wrinkle grey finish. I will be ordering new wheel bolts (polished-look) and new center caps (polished-look). I will be doing a high polish on the lips. I am not sure at this point what I am going to do with the barrels. I am not going to polish them as they will be filthy within a week and I don't feel it would be worth the effort. I will either just clean them really well or have the p/c'd matte black. I might be flipping the faces depending how the wheels sit with tires on.

Here are some picture of how they sit now, pretty dirty, lots of work to do!