yesterday my new wheels finally arrived. Long process of picking a style, measuring, figuring out backspacing, photoshop work and more measuring.

I went with the BOZE ZE Injected style wheel. I picked this because in my mind it is similar to the original IROC wheels that came on the car. clean, simple 5 spoke design with just a bit of style to them. The Injected wheel (in my opinion) is a modern stylized version of an iroc wheel. similar spokes. I really like this clean five spoke look better than a pro-touring wheel or something too busy or chrome...mostly because I am not building this car for pro touring or just for flash.

In these photos the inside lighting is terrible and low and overhead.... and does not show the depth and shine of the wheel... but I will get some better photos this weekend, once the tires are mounted up and balanced and wheels put on the car.

Again, I went with the BOZE ZE Injected wheel as mentioned above. All billet aluminum, welded 2 piece construction. I decided NOT to have the rivets installed around the circumference of the rim either. I also decided NOT to have the center section finished with a brushed-look either (both of those options are commonly done with this style wheel when ordered from boze). valve stem hole was moved to the backside of the rim to keep the front profile looking clean. The whole wheel was fully polished and then ceramic-coated with a clear coat to prevent it from tarnishing and cutting down on my metal polishing time drastically. I am very very VERY happy with how they turned out.. and I don't mind if other people don't like them at all... I sure do, its exactly the look I was going for

Front are 18"x8" with a 5" backspace and will have a Nitto 555 245/40/18 tire
Rear are 18"x10" with a 5.875" backspace and will have a Nitto 555 285/40/18 tire

Hope to get the tires mounted tomorrow and wheels balanced using the stick on weights so nothing scratched the outer wheel lip. I'll post photos of that when it happens.

For now, here's a few photos I took super quick yesterday after UPS arrived.




















more to come in a few days

 

I really like that style! Boze are pricey, but they make some good looking wheels. Keep the pics coming especially when those puppies are mounted.

 

just a quick few photos I took ...noting special, lighting was good, put about 60 miles on the tires today... it tracks straight, but i gotta get a full laser alignment before driving to Maryland for the Camaro nationals on Thursday:

 

will work on getting some better photos of the new look this weekend at the Camaro nationals... anybody from here going to be there?

 

Homework paid off ...looks great ....which hood is that ?

 

I think they look incredible. Personally I think they have just the right amount of "flash". Enough to update the look of the car but not too flashy.

 

I think they look perfect..... great job!

 

They look great!

 

Looks Awesome!

 

Great looking combo. Just the right amount.

 

Outstanding! I think you made a good choice.

 

old news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol


looks good.

 

I think you should have modded the rear wells and tucked another inch or so you might rock chip those quarters with them hanging out like that. Nice wheels though.

 

Wheels will make or break a car and those really look great .What a beautiful car.

I love the stance with staggered wheels.

Old school meets new.

 

yes!!! they deff. look good, I personally like the rivet look.....it add's a lil' more flash.

 

My compliments. The wheels are very nice. But, the stance is perfect!!. These cars look best with the rear a little higher. I love the new resto mod look. But, in my opinion too many cars are lowered to the point that they look like they are bottomed out. Can you give us the wheel and tire sizes.
Again, great choice

 

Front are 18"x8" with a 5" backspace and will have a Nitto 555 245/40/18 tire
Rear are 18"x10" with a 5.875" backspace and will have a Nitto 555 285/40/18 tire, per the OP

 

sorry to bring back an old post of mine, but I Just wanted to post up some new/better photos i took recently as I promised I would add some better photos of the wheels on the car.

here they are

































--
img://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/IROCZman15/newsiguse-1.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/iroczman15/

 

VERY nice!

 

Sweet!!

 

Looks awesome!

 

Just came across this thread, I have to stop and compliment you. Your car looks amazing!! Great choice on the rims, they really do set the car off, but as you said, they are similar to the stock wheel so it is just a winning look on the car. One thing GM really hit out of the ballpark on these thirdgens (Camaro and Firebird) was the rims, they really got them right. You put a rim on that took that, and made it better.
Really does look amazing, cheers!!

 

Looks awesome. Very well done.

 

VERY aggressive looking.

It says get out of my way .........

Love it.

 

Those wheels look really good!!!

What hood is that?

 

really like the taller tire fills wheel well abit better , i been thinking about going taller tire for awhile and shale be going from 35 to 40 on all 4 also shortly

nice setup non the less

 

thank you guys for the compliments. Im happy with my choice. I like the way it makes the car look, and they are every easy to clean/polish, and the tires work perfect with the wheel and backspace setup.


as for the hood. its a Glasstek 2" fiberglass bolt on hood. Ive had it on there since 2002 and have had ZERO issues with fitment, cracks, or warpage. I like it better than the Harwood one because the raised lip extends a bit past the back edge of the hood shape. part # H1138 Web link:

http://www.glasstek.com/results.php?...ke=19&model=88


thanks again guys for the positive feedback on the wheel setup. my winter projects include various rear suspension parts, a Magnaflow cat-back to replace my old Hooker setup, and maybe...maybe ... a 75-125 hp shot of nitrous (if $ allows)


more photos of wheels and car work can be seen at:

http://www.freewebs.com/iroczman15/

 

sorry, I'm trying to fix some kind of technical error, despite using the search feature for this exact post several times and also thumbing through the WHEELS sub-forum, this post does not come up. took me 30 mins of digging to find the link which was requested elsewhere.

 

while I am at the computer, just a few more shots of the wheels/tires and fitment for anyone interested in this type of setup with similar measurments:




























that's about it.

 

Nice!

 

Love the wheels, but also wanted to say. that hood cowl is the best looking cowl I have seen on a third gen. Normally I think they ruin the lines but yours compliments the rest of the car beautifully.

I have got a serious case of Camaro envy!

Lovely car, congratulations

 

Who did the clear powder coating?

 

well, I don't know if it is technically a clear powdercoating, the company refers to it as "ceramic clear coating" it was done as an additional option once the wheels were assembled. I think it cost about $50 a wheel extra... which is more than worth it because it seals the metal wheel preventing it from oxidizing and fading.... also drastically cutting down on my polishing activity.

It was done by Boze Forged, the company who built the wheels. details on their Finish options are listed on their site at this link: http://www.bozeforged.com/finishes.html

It's been over 6 months and I've seen zero signs of oxidizing, fade, or clear coat damage. Have yet to polish them.. but probably will do so in the spring, and maybe a light coat of some Chemical Guys 50/50 wax on them too.

 

Going to order the pro touring wheels here soon. Order the back tires today. Going to going the same size in the front as you and 295/35 in the rear.

 

Do you wish you had gone to a 8.5 on the front?

 

yes, slightly.. I am very very pleased with the wheel configuration and finish, of course another 1/2" would be great, and would have fit. I went a little on the safe side since in a few years I'll be tossing in a bigger motor/power adder combo and more weight will lower the front and the 8.5" might MIGHT have wound up being too tight

 

Real Nice setup. I have been following this thread for a while now. Has anybody any pics of a Third Gen. Firebird with Rally 2 rims and tires. They make 10' wide rims now. I know that up until at least 1986 base birds came with them in a 7 inch wide wheel. I looked on the internet and found only a few examples.

 

Awesome look! this is EXACTLY the kind of info I was looking for.. I myself am looking at getting Boze wheels for my Camaro as well. I was thinking of getting 17" wheels but after looking at your pics...18" doesn't seem that big! Looks mint actually! Now a couple of questions..how did you decide on the backspacing and tire size combo? I am looking at getting the Boze Boost wheels with a high luster finish. And a Camaro insignia on the center cap as you can customize the wheel.
Any advice or help on this thought process will help big time!
(I have a 9" Moser rear diff with stock Camaro axle length).


Also the ugly question...how much did they set you back? if you don't mind the question..

 

How much did the wheels weigh? Please tell me that you weighed them before you had them mounted.. please.....

i called Boze, they want almost $750 per wheel and the weight is between 26-30 pounds - ouch

 

THATS AWESOME!

 

The Forgelines I'm looking at are 17" and 17 lbs, but are $400 more per wheel!

 

yup. the fronts were $675 each and the rears were $725 each.... the final price depends on the finish, with or without rivets, custom centercaps, other options, and if clear ceramic coated or not. I had budgeted and saved a lot of money over the years for these wheels so I was going to get what I wanted (and I did) so price was not a huge issue for me.. I knew they would be expensive long ago when I started looking for wheel styles.

As for figuring out backspacing.... I used a plastic tool called "Percy's wheel rite tool". i also did the old school measuring technique with several straight-edges with rulers. I also browsed a lot on this wheel forum and saw what wheel/tire combos other people were running with similar type setups. I then spoke to Zak at Boze on the phone and then filled out their measurement sheet (available on their website). I also spoke to Phil <//86TA\\> and Paul Huryk who were big helps too.

As for the wheel rite tool.. it did work really well. It let me play around with rim diameter, overall width, backspacing, and helped to simulate the actual tire profile. I still have it boxed away downstairs. I don't think I'll ever have to use it again for any reason, so ITS FOR SALE .. I'll take $30 plus shipping for it if anyone wants it

http://autoplicity.com/226592-percys...1MaBoCMwXw_wcB





Unfortunately I did not weigh any of the wheels before I had the tires mounted up. Don't have a scale actually. I still have the boxes they were shipped in so if needed I can go downstairs and see what the shipping weight was on the box's shipping stickers

And yes, Forgelines and some Fiskes and MANY other brands are even MORE $ than Boze are.... sometimes a LOT more $

 

I havent seen a lot of those photos before. Looking great like always dude!

 

We can get you into CTW Motorsports wheels for about $1,200 a set for 17" x 9.5" and weigh only 20lbs!

 

thumbsup- Paul does offer a great set of wheels with the CTW sets. Absolutely recommended. I just wanted something 1-off or totally different so I went(and spent) a bit of a different route. But, yes Paul's wheels are great, I see them on a buncha thirdgens and the do look awesome




-oh, and the wheel-rite tool I mentioned above is now SOLD and hopefully helping out it's new owner as it helped me

 

with your wheel size and back spacing, what rear end are you using? stock 3rd gen or a 4th gen?

 

How much was that wheel tool new?

I wouldn't mind taking that tool off your hands if it can simulate up to a 13" wide wheel and up to 20" rims. I am going thru a mini tub right now and once complete I want to measure a max rims size.

Thanks.

 

Dennis: the wheel tool is sold. I think it can measure up to 22" diameter wheels and should be able to get to 13" width. check out Percys wheel rite tool online for details on it



and Blue ChevyZ I am running the stock 3rd gen rear housing that came with the car, which has only been changed slightly to accommodate for the drum-to-disc brake conversion I went from the stock drum brakes to a 12" c4 HD setup (from ed miller's fly-n-bye website) . the housing is a stock 3rd gen. richmond 3.73's and a full UMI performance adjustable suspension hang it on the car .

photos of the rear housing, brake setup, suspension setup can be see at the lower portion of this whole page:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...eshooting.html

i never wanted to change rear housings ive never had a problem with mine...but its not like im making huge hp or bracket racig the car