NewGen 500s (olds SSIs) on my 442

[71OLDS]

My 18" New Gen 500s are mounted. Don't have the Olds caps yet and only one coat of painted on white letters but these pics at least give an idea of the look. I know these are NOT the smaller sidewall, lowered "pro-touring" look (especially with the white letters) but I'm going for a little bit "older school" with fatter sidewalls fully exposed. Not sure I'm feeling the Nitto painted letters but I do love the Nitto tires. May switch to some Goodyear Eagle GTs in similar sizes just to get the letters to look better. Sizes are:

18x8 255/45/18
18x10 305/45/18

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen5001.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen5002.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen50010.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen5005.jpg

[Flash68]

Those look great on that car. Nice choice!:thumbsup:

[cencalc6]

Very Nice! :thumbsup:

[buickfunnycar.com]

That looks badass...!:thumbsup:

[DriverzInc]

Love the wheel on this car, perfect application for the wheel. I think once you get the custom caps EVOD is machining for you, then it will really be the finishing touch.

I'm 50/50 on the white letters myself. I kinda like it, but kinda don't... :rolleyes:

[71OLDS]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the positive feedback.

I'm 50/50 on the white letters myself. I kinda like it, but kinda don't...


Jon, I feel exactly the same. Problem is I don't think this much sidewall exposed WITHOUT the RWL would look right. I think I would need to go to a smaller sidewall and then lower the car front and back so it sits right over the top of the rim. Then I would lose that Old School look I'm going for.

The Nitto letters are too far away from the rim. Obviously Nitto doesn't make a RWL tire so it really didn't matter where they put the blacked out letters. If you look at the 15" RWL tires like BF Goodrich Radial TAs or Goodyear Eagle GTs you will see the letters are closer to the rim and centered on the sidewall. Goodyear Eagle F1 GS rear tire (295/45/18) would be perfect with painted on letters in the rear and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2 tire (only available in the UK right now) in a 255/45/18 tire would look perfect in place of these Nittos. With about 5 coats of paint on there no one would be able to tell they weren't 18" RWL tires. The front tires would be a non issue to swap (if I could get them from the UK) but the rears would never be as good as my 305 drag radials. I've be giving up traction (and about 1/2" in diameter and a little width) for the correct RWL look.

We'll see. Maybe I could go with the fronts, shave the 305 Nittos so there are no letters, and the stencil on the Goodyear letters?? Sounds like a lot of work!

-Joe

[nacnac]

they definitely work. Like the white letters too.

[AvatarOfAwesome]

Wow, those wheels look great! These are definitely the wheels that will go on my '79 Z28. I like the painted white letters, but I can see where you're coming from about them being too far away from the rim. Still, I think it looks like a good mix of old and new school, just like the car. :thumbsup:

[nvmyss]

Great wheel choice for an A-body.
The white not so much, the rest A+

[buickfunnycar.com]

I'm 50/50 on the white letters myself. I kinda like it, but kinda don't... :rolleyes:

Completes the look for me...dare to be different!:unibrow:

[tones2SS]

Those look great on that car. Nice choice!:thumbsup:

^^What Dave said. Looks great!

[ProTouring442]

Lookin' great! What sizes are the tires and wheels?

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[street3285]

These fit the car absolutely perfect.

[71OLDS]

Thanks guys!

What sizes are the tires and wheels?

Bill here you go:

18x8 255/45/18
18x10 305/45/18

-Joe

[ProTouring442]

Thanks guys!



Bill here you go:

18x8 255/45/18
18x10 305/45/18

-Joe

Thank you sir!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[68400BIRD]

Those look great on there. The small raised white letters also look good. If your happy I would leave it as is.

[71OLDS]

Looks like it's about 50/50 on the RWL or no RWL. I think there are some guys out there that just hate RWL and that's just the way it is. Those are the people you see with the RWL turned to the inside on their 14" or 15" mostly stock looking wheels. I myself really like the RWL but only if there is enough sidewall on the tire. Here's my son's 70 Supreme with some BF Goodrich radial TAs:

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/driverside2.jpg

That's the look I'm going for except with the 18" wheels. The Olds caps should be arriving next week. I think that will help with the stock Old School look. Next will be to figure out which way I want to go on the RWL.

Option 1: Buy 255/45/18 Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric 2 tires for the front and 295/45/18 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS tires for the rear. Paint the letters that are blacked out on these tires and it's done (except for the touch up every 2 weeks). These letters are centered on the sidewall and are a good size letter. I think it would look like a true RWL when I'm done (unlike the Nittos now). The one issue I have is the front tire is still only available in the UK. There are no other Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Firestone, etc tires on the market in these sizes (or even close) that have the correct lettering. It's ether too small or off center on the sidewall. Believe me I've checked them all.

Option 2: Keep the Nittos and shave the sidewalls smooth. Like this:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378955

then create a stencil and paint the letters on. I could use the BF Goodrich tires on my son's car for the template to build the stencil. His tires are pretty close in total diameter (front to rear). I would have to do one stencil for the front and one for the rear because the letters on the large rear tire are bigger. I would have to put about 10 coats on the smooth tires to build up a base that could be touched up going forward.

I understand some of you probably think I'm crazy to even consider this. I actually have already done this for the drag radials on this car when I had 15" wheels on there. Below are some old pics. Note that the letters on the drag radials are slightly to the outside of center. Also they say COMP TA not RADIAL TA. But they look much better (closer to real) then the nittos:

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/15inchSSIRWL.gif

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/newRWL.jpg

I would touch them up every 2 weeks or so and my wife and neighbors thought I was crazy on my side in the driveway touching these up all the time.

[jake72ss]

What size tires were on your convertible with the 15's?
thanks,
Jake

[sik68]

I like it, and like the white letters too!! Thought about doing that myself one day, glad to see someone else trying it.

[71OLDS]

What size tires were on your convertible with the 15's?


245/60/15
275/60/15

[tones2SS]

Your son has a killer car. That color looks awesome on there. What color is it? I'm not too crazy about vinyl roofs, but it looks great on that car.

[71OLDS]

Your son has a killer car. That color looks awesome on there. What color is it? I'm not too crazy about vinyl roofs, but it looks great on that car.


Thanks! It's the original color. Paint code 20 for 1970, called azure blue.

[71OLDS]

The custom Olds SSI caps are done. These will replace the flat NewGen caps that are on there now. The stock SSI olds rocket sticker is on top and then the caps were custom made from there to fit on the custom wheels. The caps are bigger then the stock SSI caps. For the Olds people here they look to be almost as big as the SSII caps. Here's a pic. Thanks to Jon for sending me the pic today:

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen500caps.jpg

[boynton6spd]

Perfect wheel! I love them!

[RicerwannaB]

I cannot wait to see those on the wheels!

[71OLDS]

Olds Rocket caps are installed. Below are some pics. Sorry the tires are so dirty and the painted on white letters are already fading a little. I'll repost more pics when I get the car back and have time to get everything looking right. Probably going to sand the sidewalls clean and stencil on RWL more centered on the tires. Will probably be going with "BFGoodrich Radial TA" on all 4 tires since I can get the stencil right off the tires on my 70 Supreme (similar height 15" tires so the size of the letter should be about right too - see pic in sig below).

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/rocketcaps5.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/rocketcaps1.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/rocketcaps7.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/rocketcaps6.jpg

[jeff71]

From another brother with a 71 conv I say.....:thumbsup:

[brans72]

Damn will have to show my buddy these wheels! His dad loved and collected 442/cutlass had 7 nd 3 rare and a 4 car or more full of olds parts all which where factory that he left to his son when he pasted and got perfect car started to slap a set of these on! Baddest wheel seen on a Olds to date great job Jon @ NewGen. Brandon

[NewGenWheels]

Looks great!:thumbsup:

[71OLDS]

Looks like Goodyear finally came out with the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2s in a 255/45/18 that was previously only available in the UK. Will be going with the plan I described in post #17, these new tires in the front and the 295/45/18 Eagle F1 GS in the rear. Will paint the white letters over the "Goodyear" and "Eagle F1" both front and rear. I think it will look much better than the Nitto letters painted.

Motor is out of the car right now so it may be end of the year before I get to this but was happy I have this as an option now instead of having to shave the sidewalls of the Nitto tires and creating a template etc. Was going to try it but seem like lots of work. May still try doing this for a new set of drag radials some day but now I can just do the rears and will go with Goodyear not BF Goodrich so they match the fronts.

Really hoping this will improve on the look of the white letters. Will post pics when it's done.

-Joe

[Cutlassmann]

Did u have to do anything to your rear end to run your tire size.






My 18" New Gen 500s are mounted. Don't have the Olds caps yet and only one coat of painted on white letters but these pics at least give an idea of the look. I know these are NOT the smaller sidewall, lowered "pro-touring" look (especially with the white letters) but I'm going for a little bit "older school" with fatter sidewalls fully exposed. Not sure I'm feeling the Nitto painted letters but I do love the Nitto tires. May switch to some Goodyear Eagle GTs in similar sizes just to get the letters to look better. Sizes are:

18x8 255/45/18
18x10 305/45/18

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen5001.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen5002.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen50010.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/jl71442/71Olds%20upgrades/NewGen5005.jpg

[71OLDS]

Did u have to do anything to your rear end to run your tire size.

Nothing to the rear end. Just proper backspace to center the tire, then I rolled the wheel well lips. That gave me about an extra 1/2" to the outside.

[usc2001gc]

Have you seen these?
http://tredwearletters.com/factory-matched-white-letter-tires-kits/