Yeah im so happy ...for my 1982 i got a set of 1988 Formula wheels 16x8 ...for me it was a fair trade
i gave the guy :70US +2 rear drum brakes +my set of (very nice looking)15inch base bird wheels(1987)with 215/60/R15 good tires
and he gave me :
the set of 245/50/R16 with regular tires and the 16 inch Formula wheels (they look awful ¡¡ pretty bad shape ¡¡ )
I live in Chile so that was a lucky chance to get Formula wheels here ..i also was lucky whan i got the 15inch (i will mess those wheels)
To me 16 Inch Formula wheels are better than have 15 inchs
Am i wrong ? The problem is that they look really bad (all the coat is almost off and very corroded.I need to restore them to give a just like new look...i have search over the threads ..and im sure i will restore that (THIS WHEELS CAN BE RESTORED ..AM I RIGHT?)
Tell me what ypu thing and if you want to give me comments,good or bad ..please do it.
Im from chile and i feel lucky about this.Here is a shot of my previous wheels on th 82s/e and i doesnt have pics of the formula wheels,but soon i will post.
1 Originals(14x7) 2 Cragar look a like (14x7 and 14x8)
3 15 x 7 Base 4 Formula 16x8 ¡¡¡
Comments please ¡¡

 

They look like this but fronts not so bad
they are restorable ?

 

I've never seen wheels like that , WOW.


The newest pic looks good.

 

I think they will look great if you can restore them...

 

Ill give ya a hand! Good find down there, Ive always liked those rims.

Ok, Judging from the shape of them, your gonna need to completley restore them. First, scrub them with some steel wool and soapy water, to get rid of all the debris and corrosion. Next, soak the rim in paint stripper. Once all of the clear coat is removed, your going to need to polish the alumin. There are alot of tech articles here, so you can find out the best way to do that with no problem. Just search for "polishing rims" and youll get a ton of stuff. Once your rims are polished, I would recommend recleatcoating them. Most people dont, but I would unless you like polishing them EVERY week. If you dont reclear them, and you dont take care of them, they will get pitted, corroded, and ugly.

Good luck with them, get us some pics of the finished product on your car!

 

Buy nothing but aircraft paint stripper. Call every wallmart, home depot or lowes to get this shat. Get yourself some nice and thick rubber gloves for this project cause paint stripper is no fun to get on your skin. At first you would say ehh... it doesnt burn like those people said. Then about 5 minutes later you would feel like jumping in a pool even if its about 20% out. Carefull with that shat..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

Sammy, those wheels are rough, but restorable.

If you want them to be factory original do not polish the aluminum. They did not come polished. They came with an overall silver metallic paint coating on the entire wheel, except for the allen bolt heads which were black.

If you desire to polish them you can make them look great doing it like I did mine. First of all, polishing the aluminum inside of the spokes would be near impossible to do without major time in labor, using a small Dremel tool. My wheels had the rims, and the spoke faces polsihed, and the insides of the spokes painted the original silver. They looked awesome when done.

Here is what the wheels looks stock, all painted:



Here are the same wheels polished, and painted:



Sorry the pictures are not close-up. I'll look later to see if I still have close-up pictures saved anywhere.

You will need to use aircraft paint stripper to remove all the clearcoating. Then mild steel wool to remove the corrosion. After that, you can just paint the whole wheel. Or if you want to polish, do the rim lips and the spoke faces. After polishing those areas, mask off all of the polished parts, and paint the inner areas of the spokes a color of your choice. Like I said, I did mine in factory silver.

Good luck!

 

your rims look real good Tom Keliher
i have a set of those laying around in my yard maybe i should do something to them..

 

Right now i went back of a complete inspection on the wheels ¡
1 MY WHEELS ARE NOT THESE CORRODED ON THE PIC ABOVE
my wheels are not so bad shaped
2 The good thing is that i washed the wheels and this is the result

1 The inner parts of front wheels are almost black (brake dust)
and it can be cleaned but the dirt is really grabbed there ..so i have to clean this with some kind of compound that would make that job easier.The inner parts of Rear wheels are only with DIRT
and this parts are in good shape (silver paint)so i have to really clean this and maybe a little polish.
2 The outside parts of front and rear wheels are full of bad clear coat and the lip is a mix dirt/corroded.
My plan is to get all the dirt out and HERE COMES THE QUESTION:

Like Tom did ..i want to polish(to chrome like or less)the outer parts (face of the plate)
1 If im really careful ..can i put this clear coat remover with a little brush andwith the tire on the wheel ?
2 Once the coat/paint is totally removed i have to polish this
and then give two coats of clear ..
and thats it ?
Correct me if i will do something wrong ...im happy that the inner parts paint is only dirty and not corroed this will make my job easier
Thanks

 

Hey Tom plese post those close ups
i really liked the styles on your wheels ..¡

 

Those wheels look bad. I am sure they are restorable with alot of time and patience. When you said you finally got Formula wheels i was like - Formula wheels, you can get those a dime a dozen. I keep forgetting that you live in Chile, which is no where near to the U.S. so any kind of Fbody part would be rare.

 

good find, I just hope that you can clean them up. I went from the 15's to the 16's, and I will never go back. Good luck and looks nice.

 

Well i started the restoration today ...i will go step by step
I will do the same look as Tom Keliher,painted silver(factory)inner parts,and polished plate.
I polished with an acrylic paint polish compound all the inner parts and yeah...it took off all the sticked dirt (brake dust and all the inner parts were black)i started with one wheel..tomorrow i will do the 3 left.So after inner parts looked cool in all wheels i will sand by hand with 180 dry(i will not use coat remover),320 wet and 400 wet ..im sure the results will be astonishing ..
we will see...
Thnx ..

 

Nice wheels tom.

How much did you pay for them? I'm looking for a set of 16 inch formula wheels. The same style as yours.

 

Well...im done with the inner painted parts and yeah..the look 100% better than dirty..not as good as "new" but pretty close
i started sanding by hand with a 180 dry ...it sucks ...i will never end ...its really difficult ..should i use the coat remover ??
can i use it with the wheel on(yeah very carefully )
and when the coat is off ...how do i remove the "dirt" that this remover leaves ?? can i touch the dirt or is like acid ?
SORRY BUT IM NEW in polishing

 

I highly doubt they have a WALMART or a Home Depot in Chile....

 

I live in the Chicago area and have a set for sale.

You have mail!!!

 

i decided and i bought the paint stripper ...i hated to sand dry ¡
so ...it took the paint very weak and now the paint started to fall
..so i took off all the paint and with a drill and a disc with wires
i peel the wheels (tomorrow i will do the wheel left)
to bare aluminum ..so i will start the
wet sand ...180 wet ...all the way to 2000
Im sure it will look nice ...i tested in one spoke with 180 wet only and wow ¡¡¡
it will look like chrome ...
Thanks guys for your advices ...please post comments ..otr any info ..i will post pics ..soon

 

nice wheels a lot better than before

 

$6500 in 1993. Oh, the car came with the wheels.

I paid $300 to have them polished/painted in 1994.

Sammy: I will find the pic's someday, but your wheels will proabably be done before I do!

 

THIS PICS DONT DO JUSTICE ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
THEY REALLY SHINE LIKE MIRROR ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO GAVE ME ADVICE..
REALLY THANKS
I LL TRY TO GET BEST SHOTS....
A FRIEND OF MINE HAVE THE CAMERA BUT
I GOT ONLY 3 FILES..CAUSE THE DISK WAS BAD
(Unable to read file)

 

2

 

WOW!!

Big difference from when you bought them!! Good job, Sammy!

 

last one .....i hope my i coudl read all the coolest shots on the disk

 

Sammy,

I have a really nice set of the same rims with BF Goodrich ZR tires for sale.

I am asking only $325 U.S. for the set with all center caps,lugs,lug caps.

They are a great deal, if you are willing to pay the shipping to Chile (which I CAN ship to!!)

formul89@yahoo.com

 

??

but he already has a set that's all done now! why would he want another?

 

Maybe he needs spares? I highly doubt an extra set of nice Formula wheels are easy to find in South America.

 

I really need
1 Center covers....(silver with WS6 LOGO)
2 Nut covers (silvers and 4 bigger for the factory wheel lock)
Anyone interested ????

 

ooooo all nice and shiny. How many hours do you think you spent working on them?

 

LOL
AVERAGE TIME : 00:00:06:00 HOURS PER WHEEL
I DIDNT work on the wheels every day of the week...
maybe three or four times...thats why it took me so long.
But 6 hours per wheel is it.
BUT I REPEAT :
You all cant imagine the wheels before and after ....
a change from night to day ...wheels back to life.
it looked the same of the dirty ugly 15inch wheel posted
above above....
and the bad thing is that i actually dont have any good picture
of the real shine of them...
its mirror like ¡¡¡¡¡
thanks all
without you all above
this couldnt be possible.

 

Glad to hear that these guys helped you out. your car looks damn good for being in SOuth america. These bad boys are world wide. great-looking wheels

 

Yeah thats not all
we have a club here of only thirdgens
not much but i guess 18
here in chile even are wrecked thirdgens
lots of 2nd gens ...
check my page
www.sammyfirebird82.cjb.net

musclecar chile: www.musclecar.cl

there are lots of other 3rd gens but no pics available
chack my album my freind 92 camaro on the sig.
Good luck thanx

 

sweet. really surprises me though.