Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online! Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online!
Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online! 
-
Latest | 0 Rplys
Go Back   Automotive Forums .com Car Chat > Geo > Metro
Reply Show Printable Version Show Printable Version | Email this Page Email this Page | Subscription Subscribe to this Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 04-28-2008, 05:39 PM   #1
RossT
AF Regular
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: bismarck, North Dakota
Posts: 372
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

As most of you know, 12 inch tires are becoming very hard to find. My 93 metro will need a new set soon. The current ones are dry rotting after only 15,000 miles. I chose to upgrade to the 13 inch steel. I will have a better choice of tires and hopefully better ride.

So, I went to the junk yard and couldn't find any newer metro rims. So i checked the list of what fits. I found a late 80's early 90's front wheel drive Mitsubishi Mirage with 13 inch rims 4.5 inch (114.3mm) bolt pattern and neat center caps, so I bought them. They weren't to rusty.




Price of the rims was $15 each. $60 total

Next step was to have a tire shop remove the old tires. $10 total

Next step was to clean them up before painting. I searched and found several methods of paint stripping and sanding etc.. also sand blasting.
I called a local shop and they said to bring them in. So to save my time in prep work I had them blasted.





All I can say is that they look awesome!

Blasting cost $10 each (includes front back and tire bead) $40 total.

My total costs thus far is $110 for the 4 rims.

I will post more pics as I do the finishing work. I have the 10x1.25 bulge
lug nuts on order. I plan to use duplicor or VHT spray can wheel paint in black with a clear on top.I have heard really good things about these brands. I am not sure if I will paint the center caps or not. They look nice in their pollished crome finish now and will match the crome lug nuts. But I may paint them black to match the rims. What would you do?

More to come this week.

Ross
RossT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2008, 06:10 AM   #2
Woodie83
AF Enthusiast
 
Woodie83's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: College Park, Maryland
Posts: 573
Thanks: 1
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Very nice, look like the originals to me. I'd paint the wheels black, with chrome lug nuts and center cap, and pick up some chrome plastic trim rings.
__________________
Woodie

98 Metro and 06 Aerio SX

Don't waste your vote on one or the other of the Republicrats, vote for Gary Johnson and really do something for a change
http://www.garyjohnson2012.com


Woodie83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2008, 08:59 AM   #3
DOCTORBILL
Geo Metro Lover
 
DOCTORBILL's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Eastern Washington State, Washington
Posts: 1,622
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

VERY nice thread and great photographs !

I wish others would post photos of this quality!

Nice work.

I understand that if you buy the right height and width, you can almost match
a smaller sized tire in radius.

Go to:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Three years ago I bought an extra set of 12 inch rims and got 12 inch Snow Tires.

I'm kind of committed to 12 inchers - wish I had gone the 13 inch route...Damn!

DoctorBill
__________________

DOCTORBILL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2008, 08:44 PM   #4
Johnny Mullet
AF Enthusiast
 
Johnny Mullet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Ashtabula, Ohio
Posts: 968
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via MSN to Johnny Mullet
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

I actually prefer the original sparkle silver color, but black rims with chrome rings and nuts look sweet also. I was thinking of upgrading to 14" from my 13" wheels, but we will see.
__________________



Johnny Mullet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2008, 01:23 AM   #5
91Caprice9c1
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Long Beach, California
Posts: 587
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Man those look sweet. Makes me want a blast cabinet =) And thanks again for the quality pics.

-MechanicMatt
__________________
1996 Caprice 9c1 - Daily Driven Project Car

1993 Geo Metro - Accident

1991 Caprice 9c1 - Destroyed

91Caprice9c1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2008, 12:58 AM   #6
RossT
AF Regular
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: bismarck, North Dakota
Posts: 372
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Ok, I was able to get some more done today.

I ended up buying all duplicolor wheels coatings. Self etching primer, flat black wheel paint, and clear wheel coating.



Using spray cans is not as easy as you would think. I had issues with the paint occasionally spray a large "glob" of paint. It took some partice to get it right.

I found that that a 2X4 worked nicely to keep the rim off the ground. I could roll the rims on the 2x4 to paint rather than flip the rim over and over again flat on the ground. Also by having the rims upright, any dripping pain from the can drip would go on the ground rather than the rim. I had to also paint the tire bead area, cause that area was sandblated too.

Here are the rims with several coats of primer.



Here are the rims with several coats of flat black wheel paint.



Here are the rims with several coats of clear.




I had to do the primer, paint and clear coat on the same day. The instruction on the can don't want you waiting more than 1 hour between coatings. If you do, they say to wait 7 days for the paint to totally cure before recoating.
They said the clear would "wrinkle" if you waited more than 1 hour to recoat.

I then polished the center caps with stainless/crome pollishing compound.



Here is what the Mitsubishi Marage rimls look like with the center cap laying on the rim.



I ended up using 2 cans of primer, 3 cans of black paint and 1 can of clear.
It became breezy and I used more paint than I should have.

Total cost of paint was $40

Total cost of project thus far is $150. Its ending up being more than I wanted to spend. I am almost at the point where aluminum rims would have been easier.

I think I will keep the caps crome. The lugs will be crome, and I am thinking of 13 inch crome trim rings. I will have to see how the the rims look with tires on them.

What do you guys think?

1. All black wheels with black center caps and crome lugs?
2. Black wheels with crome center cap, crome lugs and crome trim rings?

More to come...
RossT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2008, 11:55 AM   #7
Crvett69
AF Moderator
 
Crvett69's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bellingham, Washington
Posts: 1,751
Thanks: 0
Thanked 73 Times in 73 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

black center cap
Crvett69 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2008, 04:28 PM   #8
DOCTORBILL
Geo Metro Lover
 
DOCTORBILL's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Eastern Washington State, Washington
Posts: 1,622
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Again, nice photographs!

Tell us what camera you used and how you edited the pics - for everyone who would like
to do as well....!

I hope your rims won't get scratched up when they mount the tires.

Where I live - Farm Country - everything gets filthy immediately - I should paint
all my cars dull brown as if for camouflage.

DoctorBill
__________________

DOCTORBILL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2008, 05:58 PM   #9
RossT
AF Regular
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: bismarck, North Dakota
Posts: 372
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

The camera is actually an old, 1st gereration, digital camera that I bought in the year 2000. The pictures were taken under low res., about 640X480. Most software that comes with digital cameras have a function called "quick fix". The quick fix will edit the image to a standard contrast, brightness, colot etc. 90% of the time the quick fix results in an outstanding edited photo.

I use the free photobucket.com to host the images. Its really rather easy to do. Just follow doctor bills instructions. You then post a link in your mesage to your photobucket account. With photobucket you can also do video. I may try that when the tires are on.

Ross
RossT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-12-2008, 07:31 PM   #10
RossT
AF Regular
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: bismarck, North Dakota
Posts: 372
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

The "bulge" nuts came in. They were on backorder, so if you are thinking of using them you should order them in advance.

Once again, these are the lug nuts that allow you to put rims on your geo that normally fit the bigger studs (such as going from 12 to 13 inch rims). The nuts are 10x1.25 so they fit the smaller studs on the earlier 12 inch rim geos. The nuts are "bulge" to fit the wider hole on the 13 inch or aftermarket rims.

Here is the bulge nut next to a standard 12 inch wheel geo lug nut





Here are the bluge nuts held up against the larger hole on the 13 inch rims





Tires are on back order too. I am going with the highly rated kumho solus-21 175/70-13 These are for daily driving and not performance.
RossT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2008, 11:31 AM   #11
2007chevyaveo5
AF Newbie
 
2007chevyaveo5's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: independence, Kentucky
Posts: 10
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Very nice.
__________________
Big Nate:
Proud Owner of:
2007 Chevy Aveo5 LS
&
2007 Chevy Aveo LS Sedan
(Both are Victory Red and have E-Tec II 1.6 I4, Auto Trans w/Hold)
2007chevyaveo5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2008, 11:32 AM   #12
2007chevyaveo5
AF Newbie
 
2007chevyaveo5's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: independence, Kentucky
Posts: 10
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Very nice.
__________________
Big Nate:
Proud Owner of:
2007 Chevy Aveo5 LS
&
2007 Chevy Aveo LS Sedan
(Both are Victory Red and have E-Tec II 1.6 I4, Auto Trans w/Hold)
2007chevyaveo5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-15-2008, 07:52 PM   #13
dwendt1978
AF Regular
 
dwendt1978's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hamilton, Michigan
Posts: 155
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Wow those are pretty nice! Get them done soon so we can see the final result. I'd go with the chrome trim ring and it's a toss up with the black center cap or the chrome one.
__________________
dwendt1978 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2008, 07:14 PM   #14
RossT
AF Regular
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: bismarck, North Dakota
Posts: 372
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Well the tires came in from tirerack.com They were on backorder.

These are the Kumho Solus k21 in 175/70-13 I went with this size to give me a little more tire width. My family has this thing about scraping the curb....

'

The tires are the highest rated in their class. I mostly wanted an all season tire with good winter ratings. The 12 inch kumho powerstars on my metro now are really bad when it gets cold on the ice and snow.





One thing that I notice with the tires mounted is that they are heavy. This will eat into my mileage around town somewhat. The speedo will be about 4% off, so I need to take my miles driven and add 4% when figuring out MPG

The trim rings are on order, I will post before and after pics of the metro soon.
RossT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2008, 07:18 PM   #15
RossT
AF Regular
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: bismarck, North Dakota
Posts: 372
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

Tires were $46 each. With shipping $220 total for all 4 tires

Cost was $60 to have tires mounted/balanced and weights put on the inside of each rim.

Total cost of everything so far is $450 Much more than I was thinking when I started this..
RossT is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply

POST REPLY TO THIS THREAD

Go Back   Automotive Forums .com Car Chat > Geo > Metro

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:12 PM.

Community Participation Guidelines | How to use your User Control Panel

Powered by: vBulletin | Copyright Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
 
 
no new posts