Topic: 17x9 Inch Snowflakes

[Hitman]

Well, I am getting closer to finally putting the 17x9 snowflakes on my car.  I ordered them back in November and they finally arrived to me sometime in late February.  I just order them in the stock gold color since I knew I was going to be stripping them and refinishing them anyway.



So, I got to work, stripping them down, polishing them and repainting them.  I went with a customs dark charcoal color to match the decals on my car.





And of course since I was doing custom anyway, I also went with some custom centercaps as well to go along with the whole "Black and Silver" theme to my car.




I also got my tires ordered in as well.  Right now I just went with a cheap tire because I didn't know about sizes and how everything would look.  So, I just got a cheap set to put on there to see how I liked them.





Ok, I know you are asking yourself why I went with a 255/50 size tire.  I know they recommend a 275/40 tires, but the profile and size would look a little off and also I had concerns about how they would fit inside the wheel well. I also wanted to make sure that the different size rims and tires would not set off my speedometer by that much either.  So I went online and spent alot of time researching tires and sizes and what would work or not.  I found a little program online that you can plug in your original tire size and then the size of the tire you are looking to convert it to.  It would give you all of the measurements and also an image representation of what the changes would be.  When I looked at the 275/40 size tires, it seemed that they would be a little shorter than my original tires and might look funny in the wheel well.  As you can see in the photos below, it would be smaller and also set off the speedometer by about 4mph.




So, I then looked at the different sizes and the 255/50 size tire would be a better match (or closer anyway) to what is on my car now.  It also only sets off the speedometer by about 1mph.




So I figured I would try out this size and see how it looks.  If I do not like the way they fit, I will change them.  Probably some time this week I will be mounting the tires and taking some comparison photos shots to see what the difference in and how they look.  I will also be checking out all of the clearance issues (if any) associated with the new sizes.  I will be postings photos and let you know how it turns out in the end.

[jphillips3333]

I like the silver/black combo.  I've been thinking about getting that color combo for the '76.  They look really good - how much effort to strip/paint them?

I like the tread pattern with the "Fuzion" tires ... no idea who makes those but like you said, get it and see how they look.  I personally don't like the 2" sidewall look.  I had that on my Vette and thought it needed more meat.  Looks like the Fuzion gets you more which ought to look good.

You're just like me - research it and try to buy it once.  Do that work for the rest of us, will ya?  Post some pix already!

[limey]

They look fantastic.  I cant wait to see them on your car.  How long did it take to strip and repaint these compared to a normal 15x8 or x7 that you refinish?

[Grand73Am]

That's very helpful to see what you're doing. I like the idea of using cheaper tires to settle on a size.

I did notice that you appear to have plugged in 255-55-17 tires into your calculator though, which would be taller than the 255-50's you intend to use. I know you meant to compare 255-50's to the 225-70's, and I think you'll find there's practically no difference in diameter between them, so no difference in your speedo after all.

And where do you get those Fusion tires, by the way?

[kentuckyyeti]

I believe that Fuzion is another brand name built by Bridgestone/Firestone.

[stephendsp]

Dang dude, those look sweet!!!

[Grand73Am]

I believe that Fuzion is another brand name built by Bridgestone/Firestone.

Yes, I think you're right. I found them on Tirerack.com and noticed that they have the same UNI-T description that the Bridgestone/Firestone have.

[Joker (§ir£Ğragon)]

I can't wait to see them on the car.

[RRR76TA]

Looks good Brett ,can't wait to see them

[ta78w72]

Which car are you putting those on?

[Joker (§ir£Ğragon)]

the one that came stock with 225/70R15s.

[ta78w72]

They would look great on any one of the three T/A's he has.  That's why I asked.  They would look especially nice on the fourth gen.  That's what I was think of doing with my fourth gen but I wanted to see how they would look.

As far as fit for the 78, mount the fourth gen wheels on the 78 to see how they fit.

[Hitman]

Yes, they will be mounted on my 1978.  It took me just a little longer to refinish these rims compared to a 15x8 rim, but not too much.  Most of the time was spent getting their powder coating off of the rims.  After that, it was fairly easy.  Yeah, I meant to do the 255/50 in the calculator.  I was looking at sso many different sizes and such, I just took some quick photos/screenshots.  And I did get the tires at TireRack.com and came the next day.

[jphillips3333]

Can't wait to see 'em mounted on the car!  It'll be like Christmas on April 1st for you, huh?

[JT_Y88]

those look awesome!  I wish I would have sent my wheels to you to be refinished.  Thought I waould save some money doing it myselfI didn't realize how bad of a job it was going to be only equipted with a dremel, wet sand paper, aircraft stripper,sos, and steel wool and various putty knifes, and plastic silverware (which seemed to work better)  know I want bigger wheels?  I photo shopped different types, and I think the only thing that really looks great on a gold ta are the year one aluminums...Anyone looking to sell some 17 or 18 snowlflakes? oh yea,  I like the look of a lower profile looking tire on a larger wheel though