Question: wheels for 86

[relichunter]

What year wheels will fit my 86? I know I'm at 16", but what else will fit, my stock rims are a mess, looking to upgrade to a newer year, Any help?? Thanks

 

[93Rubie]

Any of the newer C4 style wheels A-molds, Sawblades, or otherwise will fit, however, you will need spacers which are available from just about any Corvette Parts place.

 

[boomdriver]

What year wheels will fit my 86? I know I'm at 16", but what else will fit, my stock rims are a mess, looking to upgrade to a newer year, Any help?? Thanks

The bolt pattern is the same on just about every Chevy made...the problem is in the back-spacing. Thats what spacer/adaptors are for.

Your pattern is 4.75 x 5 lug and the offset is 56...
so sawblades (38mm) are 18mm closer to the center of the car on each side...thats too much inside the body and will rub besides looking funny. 18mm= approx 3/4", so a spacer is used to push the wheel out from the body. Offset or back-spacing is a measure of where the wheel mount is in relation to the wheel center line. Most are positive offset. Reverse wheels or negetive offsets have the mount and lugs deep within the rim at the back. We've all seen those on 70's muscle cars.

I am polishing a set of sawblades now. I have an 87 that came with 16's and I wanted bigger brakes...so in come the 17" sawblades.
I had to get spacers that were 3/4" to make them fit as designed, but a little more spacing is ok, just can;t be less than 3/4" on all 4 wheels.

I loved the sawblades because they are great looking wheels, they are stock Corvette and they are LITE as a feather. Aluminum alloy thats 1/2 the weight of the solid 16" aluminum vette wheel.
And...
once the clear and paint is stripped,
(most are painted silver w/clear) they polish to a chrome-like finish. Its a lot of work, I mean a Helluva lot of work but the result is well worth it and now I have unlimited selection of 17" tires AND the finest sawblades in this city...
Its about 2 days per rim to sand, sand again, then polish in steps and wash between each step, until we get to tripoli buffing then white polish.
Been on this for a week and have 1 wheel ready for white polish to seal in the finish, and its a sexy looking wheel !

For $5 I'll let people take their picture with the first one !

16" tires are almost impossible to find in 255/50/16. There are only about 3 brands left.

PS
got a set of polished 16s for sale with new rubber.

 

[vetteoz]

Your pattern is 4.75 x 5 lug and the offset is 56...
so sawblades (38mm) are 18mm closer to the center of the car on each side..

Other way around
Early cars had 32/ 38mm ( on 9.5" ) offset ; late had 56 mm

.thats too much inside the body and will rub

Nothing rubs,
a 11" rim with 56mm offset ( or 38mm offset as fitted to the ZR1 's ) fits fine and were fitted by the factory
Just looks wrong because tire is sitting in further than stock position unless the adapter is used to correct

 

[boomdriver]

Other way around
Early cars had 32/ 38mm ( on 9.5" ) offset ; late had 56 mm


Nothing rubs,
a 11" rim with 56mm offset ( or 38mm offset as fitted to the ZR1 's ) fits fine and were fitted by the factory
Just looks wrong because tire is sitting in further than stock position unless the adapter is used to correct

You're quite right about the offsets....I did have them transposed. The standard 9.5"X 17" sawblade (without spacers) does try to rub in some rear ends (tire style/profile) and at extreme angles on the steering when the suspension travel is utilized. Depending on the tire brand & style, some yrs were 275 or 285 profile while others were as wide as 315, and that 3/4" moved inward was problematic depending on the tire, besides looking like crap. Truth be told, 1" spacers or even 1.25" on the rear add to the look and the stability of the car and still fall within the wheel well even though 3/4" is all thats needed to meet specs.

The 11" rear wheel fits because it has a 36mm offset but was not offered across the board. That was the ZR-1 rear wheel profile. The standard sawblade was 9.5" on rears with an 8.5" on the front on certain models 93 and later. Most were 9.5 on all corners.

It has been said that the only real difference between the 16" and 17" tires/wheels was the size of the tires I.D.....not the outside diameter. Thats not exactly acurate. When one portion of the tires profile changes the other parts have to. Regardless, the step up to a 17" wheel/tire is a positive move. Tire choices are endless, there is room for brake mods. Unsprung weight is reduced and they have a greater footprint. All things considered there is no downside to moving to 17.

 

[vetteboy86]

Been on this for a week and have 1 wheel ready for white polish to seal in the finish, and its a sexy looking wheel !

 

[boomdriver]

You're right !
I was thinking about that this morning...but my camera won;t upload to the computer for some reason...
I'll get some pics uploaded somehow.



after spending the day resanding back from 400 to 2000 again, to remove some micro scratches...

I've got some great results ! (and really sore arms) I will post some pics within the week hopefully.

I regret not having done a "before & after" set of pics and a few thru the process.

I will probably wash and repeat the buff process a couple more times to even out the reflection enough to read a newspaper off of the wheel...

Washing after EVERY sanding or buff is the single most important part of the process. If you do not wash away the old grit that was just used, the next finer grit does nothing.

 

[vetteoz]

The 11" rear wheel fits because it has a 36mm offset but was not offered across the board. That was the ZR-1 rear wheel profile. .

17" x11" A molds fitted to '96 Grand Sport coupes had 50mm offset (7.9" backspacing )

ZR1's 11" rears used the 38mm offset ( 7.4" backspacing ) because they had the wider rear quarters ; the the shorter offset positioned the wheel further out to fill the guard

 

[vetteboy86]

What year wheels will fit my 86? I know I'm at 16", but what else will fit, my stock rims are a mess, looking to upgrade to a newer year, Any help?? Thanks

There are many options. Are your rims damaged? Are they just cosmetically in poor condition? I cleaned mine up about 7 years ago or so and they still look great today. If your mind is set on a newer style, then go ahead. It is always something I considered doing. Just don't have the funds, well never seem to have the funds for that matter....;squint:

 

[Jeb]

Has anyone ever powdercoated these rims?

Is it possible to powdercoat them?

 

[boomdriver]

Has anyone ever powdercoated these rims?

Is it possible to powdercoat them?

I do not know....I'm sure it is.
it is an interesting idea...The saw blade could be good for color & polish. I have seen powder coat 16's that were all black except for the bead and edge of the vanes...looked pretty good.

Perhaps blacked out edges, bead, with highly polished blades and disc circle with black center?
That would look hot while moving..

 

[boomdriver]

As promised.... Paint was stripped off, then sanded starting with 120 disc on a 7" angle grinder.


these are pics of the wheels after sanding with wet paper to 1000, and a blue flap type abrasive wheel in the corners. Will go to 2000 wet, then go to polish, black to brown tripoli and finally to white.


Starting to shine, long way to go yet............

.