I was checking out hawks 3rd gen, and I saw they had brand new 3rd gen Firehawk rims for sale. That's sweet! Except, if you want them painted, its $400 extra. Are they sick in the head? I think so.

If I got them, I'd have them painted at the local shop for $100. I mean, comon. Are they painting your hood or rims?

 

Yeah, it does add a lot to the cost. I'm going to have mine powdercoated by a friend of mine who has a powdercoating business.

I guess it costs so much because there is so much time-consuming masking to do...4 wheels, each with 5 "windows" to mask off and paint....

 

And then they would look like 100 dollar rims also. Actually, 400 seems pretty reasonable when you take into account the time it takes to prep, mask, seal, primer and then paint em. Have you even priced a quart of automotive grade paint and the supplies to go with it lately?
Go ahead, get the 100 dollar job and see if your still satisfied in a year or two.

 

wow you cannot be serious

ive always noticed how Hawks likes to mark things up

 

$400 for paint on your wheels is a little outrageous.
Because for that money, you can get them powdercoated, that lasts longer, and in my opinion, it looks better too.

 

When I said I could get them painted for $100 it was a little bit of an exagguration. The point is that they ARE overpriced.

Thanks purpleZ-28 and rwdtech

 

Can't wait to see year old pics of your- now exaggerated- 100 dollar paint jobs.
Heck, if your lookin for cheap, send em to me and I'll Krylon them for 150.
And I agree, powdercoating is still the best for looks and longevity, but that wasn't the subject.

 

All you are paying for is the labor. Think of it this way:

It took me about 3-4 hours to mask off and paint each one of my 91-92 Z28 wheels. It also took about an hour total to prep and paint all four of them. So that brings the labor involved from anywhere between 13 and 17 hours. The cost of materials might be $100(depending if the use good primer, paint and clear), so that brings their net down to $300. They might be paying their employee $15/hour. So paying the employee for 17 hours worth of work puts the company back $255. So for all that trouble, Hawk's is only making +/- $45 profit.

IMO, take the time to repaint them yourself or get your friend to powdercoat them for what like $300? at the most. Plus you would be supporting another small business.

 

Exactly its all about the money. They wouldnt make jack for money if they only charged 100-200$ to paint. Its just not worth it to a company for little profit.

I honestly dont think $400 is that high for a PROFESSIONAL job...and thats coming from myself(the cheap ***) from all the time i have spent painting/polishing rims. Someday id love to just fork out the money and be done with it.

 

[QUOTE=Red1992V6Rs] So for all that trouble, Hawk's is only making +/- $45 profit.QUOTE]
EXACTLY! WooHoo, I've got friends! Thank's guy's.

 

Has anyone on here ever bought or seen a set from Hawks, which buys them from RonalUSA. Price is almost the same on both their sites, ROnal a bit cheaper. I just want a real photo of one before I buy a set because yes, they are a bit high in todays market. Andy

 

When I painted my rims a PINT of the paint was $100.00 that was enough for all four.

It took me about 3 hours each in prep work and paint... about 12 hours total @ $50/hr = $600... heck I got ripped off and I did it myself...

come on guys if you don't like the price buy something else or go elsewhere, dont bitch about it.

John

 

I would pay without a doubt for them, but I can not get a real photo of the actual rim on a car from them, just the promo page where you can not see really good. I have yet to get a photo, so I am cautious.

Another factor is these cars are worth nothing now, not myself, but I have seen ugly to very nice condition third gens and nobody wants to pay anything for these cars sadly. Heck, the rims are almost what the car is worth according to the bank today, but if the body gets damage, the repair cost id ridiculous. Andy
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I would pay without a doubt for them, but I can not get a real photo of the actual rim on a car from them, just the promo page where you can not see really good. I have yet to get a photo, so I am cautious.

Another factor is these cars are worth nothing now, not myself, but I have seen ugly to very nice condition third gens and nobody wants to pay anything for these cars sadly. Everybody is looking for a 1500.00 or trade for one everywhere you look. Heck, the rims are almost what the car is worth according to the bank today, but if the body gets damage, the repair cost id ridiculous. Andy

 

Are you counting the time it takes the coats to dry and then re-apply other coats?
I painted my GTA wheels a few years ago and it only took a total of 4 hours to mask, prep, prime, paint, and clear..
EDIT: I forgot, it took 2 hours to strip all 4 of them as well, so total of 6 hours.

 

so even if $400 is the cheapest Hawks can do it, the lesson learned is do it yourself or get it done somewhere else for cheaper

 

the bottom line is that you can have them powder coated for $400 or less. so why the hell would you pay $400 for paint?

 

That's because people are trying to get your car for a steal at $1500.00. If you sell it for $1500.00 then you fell into the trap. Don't believe these cars are worth nothing. It depends on what your car looks like (supply) and who wants it(demand) and how bad they want it. Once that fifth gen in my avitar hits the streets we will see what happens. Some people are buying these cars, fixing them, putting them in garages (only summer driving) and waiting. I know I am. And if the worm does not turn like it did for first gens I have instructed my two sons to wait also. Time takes care of everything. If I only still had my 69 Camaro SS(the one in my sig) Pace Car. Damn! I won't make the same mistake twice.

 

Here's a picture of the originals!

 

Ok, so you came here to just point out much of a cheap *** you are?

Couldn't have said it any better myself. Bruce runs a company that I would be lost without, and I know I'm not the only one.

 

When I bought mine, Ronal offered them plain or painted to match (add$80/ea)... so who is painting them ?

In reality, the plain wheels come clear coated.
If one were to scotch brite the area they want painted (prep).
Mask the area and even use a 98¢ of Wal-mart black for paint....
outside of people on this board... who would really know what paint is on them ?
It's not enough area or even noticable enough to care about.

Just my opinion though..

 

When I organized the group purchase for painted IROC wheels, I was quoted the same thing ($100/wheel) extra to have them painted. Just like here, everybody bitched and nobody bought any. But since I grew up in a body shop, I understood where the price came from, which others clearly did not. I think hawks price is appropriate, for the reasons that Bull and CYARS92 stated. Somebody needs to get paid for labor associated with masking, prepping, and painting the wheels, along with materials used.

Figure $100 for paint and materials. I don't care if the wheels use less paint, a body shop isn't likely to mix less than a pint because if you run out and have to re-mix, you might not wind up with a good match, so you ALWAYS mix enough the first time. A pint of paint, hardener, & reducer, plus prep materials (sand paper, surface cleaner, masking paper & tape, etc) will run you at least $100 or more.

So then we have labor. Let's start with masking. Unless you want it to look like a 5 year old did it, expect at least an hour per wheel, even on something as simple as the Firehawk wheel. Then there's the labor associated with mixing the paint, and doing the actual spraying. You've got at least 3 hours invested in the paint process (this assumes single-stage paint. Double it for clear coat apps).

So now we're up to 7 hours of labor. Generally, a body shop's labor rate is about $35-40/hr. 40x7 = $280

So, $280 labor plus $100 materials equals $380.

Hawks was charging $400. Clearly they're trying to screw you.

 

You would spend $1000 on a set of wheels and then use WALMART grade paint and a backyard masking job? You have got to be kidding me...

I bought one of the first sets of the new Firehawk's when they re-issued them. I paid RONAL to paint the "windows" black and looked great. Made the wheel look like a 19" on my Formula.

 

No.. I wouldn't, nor did I say I would.

I said, if one would want to do it (as the $400 extra is obviously too expensive), the proper prep (to keep the paint from flaking off 2 weeks later) and some 98¢ paint would get it done. The general public couldn't care or would even notice.

As far as masking, I've done it in my backyard (when space has become limited). It doesn't take an engineering degree to operate a roll of masking tape.

Painting isn't really that magical of a process.

 

Are those rims identical to the originals? For some reason, I dont think the originals had centercaps that said "Ronal." I could be wrong tho.

 

There were two manufacturers of the rims, or at least of the centercaps. There were "Ronal" caps, and then there were "SLP" caps.

 

So production firehawks could say either Ronal or SLP?

 

Boy, a Firehawk expert will have to chime in here. I just know that you used to be able to buy the rims from both Ronal and SLP, and the ones SLP sold had SLP centercaps. Not sure if SLP made them or just bought them from Ronal and put on their own caps. I kind of feel like the '92 Firehawks didn't have an SLP or a Ronal cap, but a special red one with a Firehawk design on it...?

 

Bull is correct.The original caps on the Firehawk cars "only" came w/ the design of the Firehawk.Slp had their name on theirs when they sold them and then the Ronals had the "sticker" also shall we say.

 

When SLP started using the Firehawk name and logo they were told to stop by Firestone who owned the name and the logo.

It should be noted that #1 had several differnt color cetner caps during its life with SLP It had a Black emblem with sliver lines, a silver emblem with Black lines, and a Red emblem with black lines. The final version was a logo similar to the Firehawk logo used on the Firestone tires except it had "FIREHAWK" Written through the center. When SLP acquired the rights to place the Firehawk name on the car the emblem changed and the Firehawk logo was without the Lettering.

From what I can tell cars 22 thru 26 I believe that they got the "SLP" center caps, and Car # 27 (THe convertible) got the Firehawk cap. Cars 22, 24, 25 & 26 were the color cars.

JOhn

 

You don't have pics of all this do you? I never knew about this. So, for names sake only, a Firehawk is or isn't like a Comp T/A?

 

In general, Hawks has huge markup on anything. I wouldn't ever buy anything from them. As far as painting goes, $100 per wheel is a normal price for professionally painted wheels. Question is, do they do a professional job or not?

 

As you can tell in these pictures some of them are from magazines, notice the different center caps. If you notice the 3rd picture they are red.

 

This is the Wheel from #3

Car #26 as shown in the 2nd pic has what appears to be SLP emblems. From the other pics of the colored cars they look similar, however its impossible to tell.