my wheels arrived today!

[khughes]

I came home today to find 2 nice big surprises! 2 huge watanabe boxes with my nice shiny new wheels in them!!

I ordered a set of 16x8 (0 offset) and a set of 16x8.5(-6 offset) Watanabe R wheels. The wheels were ordered as magnesium coloured with machined silver rims
Unfortunately when i pulled them out of the box (man are they LIGHT!) they are all magnesium (so no silver finish). Not sure what is going to happen yet, i have emailed the guy who ordered them for me to see what the best course of action is :(

anybody know somebody in sydney who would be able to machine the rims and polish them up? i have no idea what it would cost to do, but it may be an option to fix them rather than send them back to japan and wait a month for them to finish the wheels at the factory, but ultimately it will be up to the company i bought them off.

I didn't have my camera with me today, but i will get a photo tomorrow of them and post it!

I had been waiting to see the wheels before trying to decide between painting the car red or grey... let me tell you it still hasn't helped!
Kent

[Alfadog]

Pffft!

Pictures first!

[Datstan]

Yeah would love to see a pic or two, Im trying to decide if I should get some of these or widen what I have already

[kyteler]

I have a simple solution for you Kent, don't have a polished lip! :D They look so much nicer without (no offense Lachlan ;) )

[g72s20]

Hi Kent,
There was a mob in Kings Park (Valediction Rd? western side of Sunnyholt anyway) that specialised in Mag wheel repairs. Straightening, polishing welding etc.They did work for NRMA and such. I'll have a dig around when I get home to see if I still have their details.
Jim.

[g72s20]

...Failing that there is this crew as well, not too far away.
..Thornleigh (http://www.wheelcentrerepairs.com.au/?showPage=Home)

[khughes]

I know i know... and i forgot to take photo's yesterday too :( i will try and get my friend to take a picture of one of the rims tonight

as for polished vs not polished, i don't agree.. polished rims always make the wheel look a lot fatter (well in my opinion), which is ALWAYS a good thing :) and besides, i paid extra for the "special finish" so it should be sorted out..

i was surprised how brown and golden the "magnesium" colour is, i would have expected it to be more of a gun metal grey..

Thanks Jim, i will give the thornleigh guys a ring and find out how much they estimate it to cost, i could easily imagine it costing over $100 a rim though :(

I have to say, so far the guy who ordered the rims for me has been very curtious, polite and professional, once the problem with the wheel finish is resolved, i will post his details online here for future reference

[Alfadog]

Hey Kent, don't be too worried, I would expect just to polish the rims probably $40-$50 per wheel. Mine were $400 to paint the centres and polish the lips.

And I agree in regards to polishing (which is why I had it done I suppose LOL). It depends on the colour a lot, but with C110's I think generally the polished lip is good. They look a bit weird without it IMO. Though without flares, I'd definitely have all gunmetal.

Best of luck sorting out the little problem!

[khughes]

i just spoke to the guys at the wheel centre repairs @ thornleigh, they say it is hard to tell without looking at them, but if they can do it it would be between $100-$150 a wheel

so i guess they will be going back to japan sometime soon!

[khughes]

here you go!!

it is pretty overcast today, so the colours don't quite look as bronzed that they do in the sun

[halz]

I would like a set of Watanabes for my 240z (in the future). Personally I think the Gunmetal or Black colour without any polishing looks the best. My Z is metallic green and I think the dark rims would give it a tougher look... so don't be in too big a hurry to have them polished!

[theianmonster]

if you don't mind me asking, whom did you order from and how much did they cost?

[wedgey]

two companies at kings park

virgin wheels
unit 11/20 Valediction rd
ph 9679 9999

custom painting and wheel repairs
unit 11/ 11 romford rd
Kings Park

9621 3355

both within two km of each other
suburb of blacktown 2148
new south wales Australia

hope this helps

robert

[khughes]

thanks wedgey,

that is not too far away at all! at this stage i am still waiting back from japan on what is the best course of action (either send them back or get them fixed at their expense), but to be honest i would prefer them to go back to watanabe to be done properly.
Having said that though there have been a few people pm'img me about buying them from me, if anyone is interested in them, you are certainly more than welcome to the wheels, there won't be any discounts though, you would have to pay what i paid for them (and i will basically order a new set).. the only advantage for you is that they are here now in sydney.... oh and they cost over $2000 so pm me only if your really interested.. as soon as i get the email to say send them back, they will be going back.. i don't want to have to wait too long for my proper wheels :)

The wheels are for a C110 240K with the offsets 0 and -6, i am no expert, but i don't think that would fit the Z cars.. sorry :)

[g72s20]

Virgin Wheels
unit 11/20 Valediction rd Kings Park. ph 9679 9999

Thanks Rob, that's the mob I was trying to remember in my previous post.
It would be interesting to know how this job would be done. That quote seems awful high for what I imagine is some straightforward lathe work followed by some judicious buffing ? ..but I have no idea what may really be involved:nervous:
A real conundrum Kent! The cost of freight back to Japan, and then back again to Australia would have to make the supplier look long and hard at options.
You keep 'em at a discount for incorrect supply.
If you sell these, supplier gives you a better price on the repacement set. (Goodwill for your inconvenience)
Supplier pays for any work to correct the wheels to original order.

Assuming the supplier is amicable to fixing this and maintaining a good sales relationship, what is their most cost effective option? Any budding sales managers out there??

[akwikz]

Kent,
I would be very interested in how they end up fitting. These are the wheels I plan to buy once the car gets here. What size of tire are you planning? And did they supply the correct lug nuts as well?

Brian

[khughes]

Thanks guys,

Miki, my supplier, has contacted watanabe for me, and watanabe admit they did stuff up the order. their suggested remedy is to refund me the AU$56 (per wheel i am sure) special finish charge and send me a free watanabe sticker!!

As i am pretty stuck on the idea that the wheels need to have polishes rims, this is unacceptable to me, so Miki is trying to get them to agree to pay the remainder of the cost if i get them fixed up here.

My other option (and to be honest the one i think will work out for the best, for all concerned), is to sell the wheels to somebody here for the price i paid for them (minus the finishing fee of course).. so basically you get a brand stinkin new set of 16" watanabe's with the correct KPGC110 offset, they are already landed here in sydney, so you just have to pick them up (or Australia post should be able to move them).

I do need to know very urgently though if anyone wants them, as Miki and watanabe are waiting my reply.

The wheels would cost you $2340 minus the refund i recieve (probably $224). That is for the 4 rims, and 4 valve stems and watanabe valve caps.. oh and you can have the watanabe sticker too :D

Yes they are very expensive for a 16" wheel, but they are damn light, and chances of these offset's coming up 2nd hand is .... well... more chance of meeting santa clause really..

PM me if you are interested, but you will need to move very quickly on these, i need my rims for when i get my big brakes put on in august (and it takes atleast 1.5 months for watanabe to make them)

[khughes]

i just got confirmation that the finish fee was $56 for 4 wheels.. so the wheels would be $2284

you can see why i wanted them finished at the factory :)

[khughes]

good news!

I just heard back from my supplier that Watanabe will pay for the local finishing of the wheels here in Sydney, so i will be getting them done next week!

I can't thank Miki (my supplier) enough for helping me through this, it could have turned into an absolute nightmare (like i am having at the moment with a supplier in america, but that is another story!)

i will post his details in another thread, so they can possibly be stickied

[aarc240]

Kent,
Are these wheels supposed to be just painted in a 'magnesium' colour (which they are not) or are they actually a magnesium alloy?
If they are really an alloy of high magnesium content, how are you planning on protecting the polished rim from corrosion?
I trust you realise that magnesium corrodes very, very quickly in the presence of salts, acids etc and does so RIGHT THROUGH the body of the material, not just on the surface.
Geniune magnesium wheels, and any other components with a very high magnesium content, are totally coated with paint for very good reason.

[khughes]

no, watanabe wheels are aluminumum, they are just painted (well. powdercoated i guess) in the colour that watanabe call "magnesium" (sort of a cross between gun metal grey and bronze, as i said, the picture isn't a good representation as it was a gloomy day, and the camera flash was used.

I did get a few ... "err.. we are not going to touch magnesium wheels" comments when i was getting quotes.. apparently they are a "little" volatile when working on.

i have to admit though, i am a little nervous about getting the tyres put on the wheels, i hope they don't get all scratched up.

[Alfadog]

Powdercoated? I thought they were painted?

RS Watanabe do make their wheels in magnesium as well, so there is more confusion to add to the mix :)

[khughes]

well, i am making an educated guess they are powdercoated, i would assume that if they were simply painted then it certainly wouldn't take much to scratch them (like putting on the wheel nut)

they are certainly aluminimum.. there is no way they are magnesium.

[Mat Big Hat]

watanabes scratch real easy, so i doubt they're powdercoated. which is good for you because it'd be a real job to remove that powdercoating to polish

i've seen a few sets of f8's that were all black or gunmetal, but the paint scratches showed a machined/clear coated lip underneath

[khughes]

bugger, i would have hoped they would be a little more scratch resistant, oh well.. i guess i am going to have to be extra paranoid about them!

[moonpup]

Originally posted by: khughes

oh well.. i guess i am going to have to be extra paranoid about them!


You would still have the option to have them powdercoated with a durable clear finish.

Just have to open up that wallet a little more.:p

[sakijo]

watanabes scratch real easy, so i doubt they're powdercoated. which is good for you because it'd be a real job to remove that powdercoating to polish

i've seen a few sets of f8's that were all black or gunmetal, but the paint scratches showed a machined/clear coated lip underneath

If the machined/clear coated lup showed under the scraqtches, then whoever painted them didn't prep them correctly. Sounds like the owner had the finish what Kent wants - painted inside and machined lip, and had them painted over to all black without proper prep work.

Don't worry too much about scratches, Kent, there are other, more important things to worry about like vandals, thieves and curb rash . . . .
Just kidding!

[khughes]

Thanks :) can't wait!!!

I got my wheels back on wednesday, and only managed to get a photo of them today, they look so much better now!! the one photo'd is the 16x8.5" enjoy!

hopefully tomorrow i should get my hands on a used set of road legal semi slicks too... they will probably be a little too thin for use as proper tyres, but they will do for now (just for fitting, brake sizing etc..)

[KenshinX]

Nice wheels how much did they cost with the paint?

[zedevan]

were they painted? or is it just the lighting conditions (camera settings) make them look pretty different? either way they look dam nice, and the polished lip sets them off nicely, it'd take me forever to choose which colour to get them in!

[khughes]

today i had to take my car to SWR for it's big brakes to be fitted (among other things), so finally i managed to get some rubber on the rims and stick them on the car!

i know some of you have been waiting on pics, so here they are!

it looks like they will fit very very well with the flares..

[sakijo]

Gee, Kent, you could have at least gotten some good rubber for those nice Watanabes . . . .

[Alfadog]

Wheels look awesome Kent :D

[hls30.com]

today i had to take my car to SWR for it's big brakes to be fitted (among other things), so finally i managed to get some rubber on the rims and stick them on the car!

i know some of you have been waiting on pics, so here they are!

it looks like they will fit very very well with the flares..

I didn't know rubber bands came in that size and blackROFL !

Will

[khughes]

i know i know... when i rang the tyre place, they wouldn't touch the wheels because of the size and because the car needs to be engineered (they just told me to speak to my engineer, which i don't have yet). So i just bought the cheapest 16" wheels i could find ($50 a pop), just to get the car rolling, so the brakes will fit.

the tyres were 205/45 and 205/60... and man were they a stretch on the 8"/8.5" rims

[akwikz]

Kent,
Those look perfect. I don't think any other wheel belongs on a C110. The attitude of the car is completely changed once Wats are installed. It goes from "ho-hum" to "damn that thing looks pissed off". I do have a question though. When you modify the rear wheel arch, do you need to rework the inner fender or is the only metal that is cut on the outside of the car? Regardless of the work needed, these are the wheels I am going to use as well. And speaking of my car, she looks a bit lonely sitting on that trailer in the background.

Brian

[khughes]

haha, yeah, i was going to point your car out in the photo's ;) she has been sitting on that trailer for the past 2 months, but she fired up first time!

I had my uncle over at the time and he decided to go crazy cutting out the arches for me.. i think he may of gone a little overboard.. but yes, you need to cut both the inner and outer skins, and somehow rejoin them (as i would assume the body would get some flex here)

they are VERY sexy wheels! everybody who has seen them have commented so far! i certianly wouldn't use any other wheel!

after trouble getting a 2nd DR30 rear caliper, i have given up on using the DR30 rears :( instead i am going with the SWR rear VT commodore brake kit. A bit of a shame after spending $600 getting most of the bits, only to find that 2 of the 3 calipers i had, were stuffed :( and unrepairable (stupid roller bearings built into the caliper body for the operation of the hand brake assembly were seized).

But on a good note, i am getting my 1/2 roll cage installed, along with the driveshaft, rear Z31 CV shafts and front R34 brakes installed.. then after doing the fuel system, and wiring, she may almost be ready to fire up!! i can't wait!