Red wheels

[jendon]

I've seen some beautiful restoration where the wheels are red and the tires have nice wide white walls. Is there any special significance other than looking sharp? Thanks for any suggestions, Jenne

[Lumatic]

They do look sharp. I was thinking about doing my rims sometime. What's the best way? powder coat? Another question Jenne's questions brings to mind is performance wise any advantage to aluminum rims other than looks? Coker makes ST whitewalls for about $250 each. There is also a rubber based white tire paint from Iceland. I tried it and it peeled off my tires, but would probably work on other brands. They refunded my money no questions asked. Looked real good for a couple of weeks. I would not try whitewalls again. Too prone to getting scuffed up. etc.

[Ganaraska]

I asked an old timer about this. In the 50s it was the thing to do. He told me when he bought a car the first thing he did was paint the wheels red. This was before mag wheels. It was just something to make your car a little different, that did not take much money, time, skill or talent.

Black primer, flames, red wheels, and whitewalls have become a cliche of the fifties look.

[streamair]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

They do look sharp. I was thinking about doing my rims sometime. What's the best way? powder coat? Another question Jenne's questions brings to mind is performance wise any advantage to aluminum rims other than looks? Coker makes ST whitewalls for about $250 each. There is also a rubber based white tire paint from Iceland. I tried it and it peeled off my tires, but would probably work on other brands. They refunded my money no questions asked. Looked real good for a couple of weeks. I would not try whitewalls again. Too prone to getting scuffed up. etc.

One 'Performance Enhancement' that aluminum provides over the standard steel wheel is that they won't rust. While they are a bigger initial investment, they do last longer because of this.