New look for my old wheels.

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Old 04-11-2012 | 03:14 PM
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New look for my old wheels.

Wrapped my 5 spokes w/ gloss black 3m scotchprint, pretty dramatic change, now w/ a chin spoiler and painted headlights on deck (if I can get brave enough to bake part of my car, lol) I should be complete.

Before

After











Last edited by blnewt; 04-11-2012 at 07:47 PM.
Old 04-11-2012 | 03:24 PM
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I'm not the biggest fan of "murdered out" cars, but that actually looks pretty good, where did you get the gloss black scotchprint? I'd been debating playing with some plastidip for my wheels, but this looks like it might be a better option.

I think the painted headlights would look really nice as well, I'd like to do mine sort of a shadow/blackchrome color, but currently don't have the guts to do it to my car with 1k miles on it haha.
Old 04-11-2012 | 04:57 PM
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Originally Posted by BLamb
I'm not the biggest fan of "murdered out" cars, but that actually looks pretty good, where did you get the gloss black scotchprint? I'd been debating playing with some plastidip for my wheels, but this looks like it might be a better option.

I think the painted headlights would look really nice as well, I'd like to do mine sort of a shadow/blackchrome color, but currently don't have the guts to do it to my car with 1k miles on it haha.
Thanks for the kind words, the wheels are actually 2-tone now, the part that wasn't previously silver aluminum was a graphite/gunmetal color so I left that and just blacked-out the silver, photos don't really show the 2-tone but in person it has a cool, subtle contrast.
I'm keeping the headlight overlays until I get the time (and the courage) to remove & bake my lights, probably paint it a black or black chrome. Here's my source for the vinyl, really great place to deal with.
3M 1080 Vinyl Wrap - Gloss Black
Old 04-11-2012 | 05:07 PM
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Definitely looks a lot better black.
Old 04-11-2012 | 07:48 PM
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Originally Posted by jesse550
Definitely looks a lot better black.
Thanks, even my wife agrees
Old 04-11-2012 | 09:38 PM
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That looks real good. If somebody told me they were going to vinyl their wheels, I would seriously doubt that they would turn out that good. Now come and do mine, haha.
Old 04-11-2012 | 10:03 PM
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Hard to believe that nobody has pointed out that wheels are functional parts of a car. On a high performance machine like the G, wheels serve as heat sinks under heavy braking. Transfer from the brake rotors transfer to the hubs and on to the wheels. The 3M Scotchprint material was never designed to last under repeated heat/cooling cycles, not to mention the corrosive effects of brake dust. Maybe the OP can baby his Infiniti for awhile, but I predict that this film will begin to peel, flake and fall apart over time. The heat will make it difficult to remove and I hope it won't ruin those wheels.
Old 04-11-2012 | 10:54 PM
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Originally Posted by dkmura
Hard to believe that nobody has pointed out that wheels are functional parts of a car. On a high performance machine like the G, wheels serve as heat sinks under heavy braking. Transfer from the brake rotors transfer to the hubs and on to the wheels. The 3M Scotchprint material was never designed to last under repeated heat/cooling cycles, not to mention the corrosive effects of brake dust. Maybe the OP can baby his Infiniti for awhile, but I predict that this film will begin to peel, flake and fall apart over time. The heat will make it difficult to remove and I hope it won't ruin those wheels.
I didn't vinyl the whole wheel, just the outer lip and outside of the spokes. Even when I was really braking hard under an extended period to cure my caliper paint the wheels weren't hot, sure they get warm, but not hot to the touch. There's one guy over on the BMW forums that's been vinyl (carbon fiber look) wheels for the last couple years and hasn't had any problems that I'm aware of. I'm not doubting that your concerns are legit, especially if you were to wrap an entire wheel, but even a gloss black car that's been wrapped and sitting in the baking sun over the years can still remove the vinyl safely if it's been installed correctly and hasn't exceeded its' "peeling life". But time is the ultimate judge, so if there is any issues I will post them.
Old 04-11-2012 | 11:07 PM
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I think chrome lip w black spokes would have been killer!
Old 04-12-2012 | 03:43 PM
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Its such a drastic difference in look after the black vinyl on the wheels. Looks great. Nice work, OP.
Old 04-13-2012 | 06:03 AM
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those wheels look like the Maya's i used to have on my IS350..are they 3-piece???

Old 04-13-2012 | 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Redpit
That looks real good. If somebody told me they were going to vinyl their wheels, I would seriously doubt that they would turn out that good. Now come and do mine, haha.
Thanks for the compliment, I've done a few vinyl projects now so it's not too hard

Originally Posted by botlfed98
I think chrome lip w black spokes would have been killer!
I did the spokes first then the lip, the look was OK but I prefer the solid black, if I kept more chrome on the car I may have gone that route.

Originally Posted by thebals
Its such a drastic difference in look after the black vinyl on the wheels. Looks great. Nice work, OP.
It definitely changes the look quite a bit, I'm very happy with it. Thanks for the kind words

Originally Posted by Freshness
those wheels look like the Maya's i used to have on my IS350..are they 3-piece???
These are TireRacks' Sport Tuning "Flight" wheels, just one-piece. About as close to copying those Mayas as they could legally be I suppose

BTW, nice wheels & car

Last edited by blnewt; 04-13-2012 at 10:17 AM.
Old 04-13-2012 | 01:51 PM
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night n day different, looking good n what about mufflers n tips, will be black out except the tip circle trim ????
Old 04-13-2012 | 02:13 PM
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Is the grille painted or wrapped?
Old 04-13-2012 | 02:30 PM
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The close up photo looks amazing. But when stepping back, the whole-car picture blends so much that I just don't care for it. The way it is, the rotors stand out, and regardless of how clean they are, since they're kind of small, that's not entirely a good thing. Sorry, man, put me on the haters list.

I'll tell you something I do like... the black painted calipers with the little Infiniti logo. Very nice detail, and making the absolute best out of not having the sport brakes. Well done.



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