Original wheels - worth it to restore?

[Modest_Man]

I've got the original steel wheels (5 of them) from my 1971 C10. (15" x 6" 5 lug I think). (They're stamped GM 71.) I've also got the original full hub caps in okay shape as well.



Would it be worthwhile to get them blasted and powder coated to put back on the truck, or would it be a better investment to find some non-stock wheels that might fit a wider range of tires?

The crux of it is that I need new tires and I've got a crappy set of wheels on the truck now, so I'd like to "upgrade" the wheels and tires at the same time, but don't know jack about tires or wheels.

Thanks much.

[Lattimer]

Depends on what look you are going for. If you want the stock look, nothing is better than original. I ran 255/60/15's on that size wheel for a while (6 lugs on my truck), and they look and perform ok. No issues. Rim is a touch narrow, but they work fine.

Powdercoaters around me get $50/wheel, so for the brand new wheel look, thats pretty cheap.

If you are going for a custom look, then its all up to you.

FWIW---I dropped $150 on five 6-lug rallye's (15x8), had them powdercoated ($250), and had my tires swapped onto them ($100). Then I bought new wheel centers ($50) and trim rings ($50) on Ebay; both are cheapo repops. So, $600 later I have the look I wanted, and I have wheels that will fit when I convert to front disk brakes.

It was worth it to me, but fact is you can buy some of the lower cost custom wheels for about what I spent on refurbishing and installing mine, so I probably could have had new custom wheels for around $800 or so. Its all a matter of what you want.

[Modest_Man]

Thanks for the insight.

I can get a set of (4) wheels blasted and coated for $125 locally here in Oregon. I'm not after any specific "look". Just going for cheap and functional. Daily driver status. If tire sizing isn't an issue on the wheels I'd definitely lean towards refurbishing the originals. That's the only thing keeping me from moving ahead.

[Hutch]

If it were me I would have the original wheels blasted and either painted or powdercoated.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Modest_Man

Thanks for the insight.

I can get a set of (4) wheels blasted and coated for $125 locally here in Oregon. I'm not after any specific "look". Just going for cheap and functional. Daily driver status. If tire sizing isn't an issue on the wheels I'd definitely lean towards refurbishing the originals. That's the only thing keeping me from moving ahead.

Plenty of tire choices that will fit the stockers and look good. Don't let that hold you back.

Thats a good price for powdercoat. I'd jump on it.

[Modest_Man]

Next question then would be what tire to go with. Are there any in particular that stand out brand wise (or size wise)?

[Tx Firefighter]

I'd be wary of any shop that will blast and powder coat your wheels for 125.

That's about half price of going rate for a professional shop.

Lots of people think that all powder coating is equal and that shopping for price is a good idea. That's very untrue. It's like a paint job, if you shop for lowest price, you're likely to be one of those people who end up complaining about how powder coating sucks.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I'd be wary of any shop that will blast and powder coat your wheels for 125.

That's about half price of going rate for a professional shop.

Lots of people think that all powder coating is equal and that shopping for price is a good idea. That's very untrue. It's like a paint job, if you shop for lowest price, you're likely to be one of those people who end up complaining about how powder coating sucks.

I'll second that! In fact, I don't know of anybody in my area that knows how to do it right. They always end with bubbles/fisheyes, always look terrible where the wheels are welded together. I've seen new PC wheels that look good, but I have yet to personally see a used powder coated wheel that looks good, although I know it is possible if done correctly. For this reason, I always just blast and paint mine.

[seattle gmc]

I just dropped my steel rims off at schawbies, to be blasted and powerdcoated this week The estimate was for $125, and they are sending them down to a shop in oregon. Hopefully they turn out ok, i will post some pics when i get them back. If they get fubared, i guess it will be lesson learned. I didn't want to spend much on them though. My pops picked up this set of rims out of a junk yard in idaho when he owned the truck, to replace the split rims that originally came on it. Three of the four rims matched and the fourth one was off of a ford, it had a little ford stamping, that i removed with a die grinder before i dropped em off at les schwab.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

I'll second that! In fact, I don't know of anybody in my area that knows how to do it right. They always end with bubbles/fisheyes, always look terrible where the wheels are welded together. I've seen new PC wheels that look good, but I have yet to personally see a used powder coated wheel that looks good, although I know it is possible if done correctly. For this reason, I always just blast and paint mine.

I'm not trying to drum up work, let me say that right up front.

I don't play around, but I'm also pretty expensive. It runs a whole or more than 25 per wheel to get top results. I finally got to where I just don't pursue doing wheels because most wheel customers just shop for price. Its pretty much only antique motorcycle parts nowadays. That's my main passion anyway and the pace of doing restoration work is more suited to me than chasing individual jobs.











Good results are very much in reach but it takes a lot of attention to detail. It's not unheard of to spend two hours per wheel when doing them. There's a lot of time spent filing out gouges on the lips, deburring lug holes, chasing threads and getting that seam between the face and the barrel cleaned out beforehand.

[Mr Handy]

I just picked up my wheels from the powder coater... stock steel 6 lug 15" x 6" $60 a piece powder coated white.. they are 4 nubs that will clear disks... I just checked . I am super happy with them... can't wait to tear into the truck tomorrow and start on the drop

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I'm not trying to drum up work, let me say that right up front.

I don't play around, but I'm also pretty expensive. It runs a whole or more than 25 per wheel to get top results. I finally got to where I just don't pursue doing wheels because most wheel customers just shop for price. Its pretty much only antique motorcycle parts nowadays. That's my main passion anyway and the pace of doing restoration work is more suited to me than chasing individual jobs.











Good results are very much in reach but it takes a lot of attention to detail. It's not unheard of to spend two hours per wheel when doing them. There's a lot of time spent filing out gouges on the lips, deburring lug holes, chasing threads and getting that seam between the face and the barrel cleaned out beforehand.

The local guy I used did some parts for a buddy of mine, and that stuff turned out really nice. So I had him do my wheels. They turned out really nice as well. I did gloss black. I didn't shop on price, I shopped on results. Probably helps a lot that he is a car guy, has a 68 Chevelle and a 67 Corvette.

I was less concerned about cost than quality, but didn't want to invest both arms and a leg either. I'm heading back to him in a couple of weeks with a bunch of small parts I need done.

[Modest_Man]

So what tires should I toss on stock rims?

[54blackhornet]

If you go white, make sure they get all the abrasive out of the seam between rim and center ! Rust will form if not ! Ask me how I know ?

[desertnick69]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I'd be wary of any shop that will blast and powder coat your wheels for 125.

That's about half price of going rate for a professional shop.

Lots of people think that all powder coating is equal and that shopping for price is a good idea. That's very untrue. It's like a paint job, if you shop for lowest price, you're likely to be one of those people who end up complaining about how powder coating sucks.

$125 - $175 is a good price here , and thats the top shops also.

[special-K]

I've dealt with a metal coating outfit for 30+ years who do large production runs to a single little piece for you or I. They get $65 a wheel and it is done right. I've had so many parts done my computer would run out of ink listing them. No problem with white that I'm aware of. I had a set of 9.75 x 16.5s done in '91 for my '72 K/20 Cheyenne Super Custom Camper. In '01 I moved them to my '72 K2500 Sierra Custom Camper. I got other tires that needed 8.25s to fit right,so I sold them two years ago.

That's my 22 year old son in the first picture,next shows the wheels on the GMC in '05,next two are pictures I took when I sold them,and the last shows the 8.25 I had done and yet to install:

[special-K]

I actually first had those wheels powder coated gloss black back in the '80s when I ran them on my '84. I forgot about that. Back when I changed the color,I was having this grave stone engraver blasting my stuff. He had heck of time blasting that black off. He called me when he gave up.I suggested running a grinder across it to get a start on busting through. That worked and my wheels got turned to white for another 20+ years

[Modest_Man]

I dropped them off today, I'll update when they're done. Still looking for tire recommendations for the stock wheels.

[Modest_Man]

Better late than never! I picked up the wheels a week ago. Still need to go find some tires.

[Stocker]

Might get better tire responses in a new thread asking about tires. There are so many choices, it's a matter of what you are willing to spend and what you expect from a tire. Generally speaking, cheaper tires won't last as long as premium tires. Will you be getting stock size or maybe something larger? Highway tread or traction tires, or something in between? http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp is a great resource for research & comparison. They are good to deal with, or you can use their prices for local price matching.

[seattle gmc]

I got my wheels back last week, but was kind of lazy up loading some pics. The wheels are far from perfect, but perfect from afar. I paid 25$ per wheel, 60$ for mounting and balancing some tires i had laying around 17$ for brass valve stems. It dose look like some media was left in the nooks and cranies, oh well. Over all im happy, with the old junk yard wheels for my old junk yard truck. Oh yeah, you might notice in the pic there are only three wheels. One of the guys at swhabies put a huge gouge right in the front of the wheel. So i asked if the would send it back to be redone, which they did for free. I will be geting the fourth wheel back this week. I should have cleaned the dirt and gunk the tire guys got all over the wheel before i took the pictures.

[seattle gmc]

for whatever reason the pics didn't load. here they are hopefully?