Who better to ask?
 

I have a dilemma, and who better to ask than the gear heads on this forum?

I need tires. I also have four OEM rims that are scraped up, a bit out of round, and a PITA to clean. (Okay, I'm parking challenge.) So I'm tempted to buy four Z28 repo wheels (rotary forged, meet jwl standards...) to go with those tires. My alternative is to have my OEM wheels restored by a place in Sarasota. It's a bit cheaper to restore the factory wheels. That is, it's cheaper until factoring in the cost of having my car down for a week or two.

What do y'all vote? Fix the factory wheels or go for the repo wheels? Here's a pic of the Z28 repos, and another of the OEM ZL1 wheels.

(We won't factor in that the owner took me to lunch three years ago when I bent the snot out of a rim, haha.)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1757979527.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1757979998.jpg

Wheel upgrades are always nice, even just for looks. But if you're going to scrape them again, then just have the OEM ones repaired.

The repo wheels look cool. They also appear to be much lighter than the OEM wheels thus improving fuel efficiency. :) They still might be a pain to clean, though.

I vote you get new wheels AND get the stock wheels restored and hang on to them.

Doing that you still have the original wheels (since you've got a ZL1, not a run-'o-da-mill-'maro. And you don't have downtime. And you have a spare set of wheels when you need to get the new wheels restored in a couple of months... ;) :D

Might I interest you in some

https://i.redd.it/5q3khpvo8yg91.jpg

curb feelers?

Just remember..
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1757982037.jpg

... And if all else fails I have these, haha. :)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1757963607.jpg

You could always use the old rims for your snow tires!

Can you find other transportation for those two weeks that wouldn’t cost more than your savings? If so, I would get the old ones restored. Maybe put on the heels and hitch hike?

I think your car looks better with the stock wheels. Nice looking car BTW.

I guess if you didn't want to be without the car for a week, I'd hunt Facebook Marketplace for a temporary set of wheels, swap them, refinish the stocks, swap back, and then sell the temp wheels. Even if you took a small loss on the sale, you wouldn't lose the use of the car.

Or yeah, keep them for snow tires. Didn't it snow in northern Florida last winter? This year might be your year.

Choose wisely, my friend.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1757983989.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1757983989.jpg

I second this..

+ One more.

If you can’t park get cheap wheels and yours refinished. Use the originals for shows and resale, the cheap ones for scraping along kerbs.

I was leaning towards the aftermarket wheels, but not anymore.

Restore the originals!

I’ve had a LOT of wheels refinished, unless I’m just dropping off a spare set and not in a rush, it’s never been more than a couple of days. I would shop around wheel refinishers, my local shop is Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists which is a national franchise. Bonus points for him being a PCA member and Boxster racer.

I think your car looks better with the original wheels also. I like the idea posted earlier about getting a set of used wheels and using those while you have the originals repaired.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

I vote stock wheels.

And a question? Can you pick up a set of stock wheels from a wrecker or eBay or something? That you give you a back up for when you destroy the new ones. (sorry, couldn't help myself with the jab.)

Put the spare on (it has one, right?) send a wheel out, install it when you get it back and swap the spare for another wheel. Do this three more times.

This reminds me of a story. A guy was driving by the insane asylum and had a flat tire. While changing it he stepped on the hubcap and the lug nuts went flying. He could not find them, and was about to start walking to the next town. One of patients came by and said, “Why don’t you take one lugnut off of each remaining wheel and put your wheel back on. That will get you to the next town.
The guy said, “That’s brilliant! What is a smart guy like you doing here?”
“I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.”

Dixie’s signature shows her Camaro as a ZL1, which I’d bet has staggered wheels. In this day and age she may not have a spare either, sadly that’s getting pretty common.

LOL ... I can't copy video links ...

"... it ain't got no gas" :D

"I've always been crazy,
it kept me from going insane" - Waylon

Dixie ... you got more than one pair of shoes doncha? Daily and Sunday drives ....

You did ask :)?

Whatever ya wants.... it's yer hooptie... but original or 22" spinnerz imnsho ;)

Dixie, another one here with " just get a set of temporary rims/wheels and use 'em while your originals are being restored. "

Buy 4 spare donut tires to get you around for a few days!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758022675.jpg

I would personally get something from apex in -1 or -2 inch diameter if feasible

Look on FBMP or Craigs for your exact wheels.

I know it is not a vote, but I agree, stock wheels.

Thanks, that is helpful indeed!

Yes, the wheels are staggered. 20x10" front, 11" rear, and there is no spare. Just an air pump with an integrated can of fix-a-flat goop.

Interestingly, the true 2015 Z28 wheels are 19" in diameter. Rubber weighs less than aluminum.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758030869.jpg

if I were to buy new wheels, I would at least invest a few moments to look into a drastic look change.

I see some cars with really great looking aftermarkets.

I was going to say maybe wheels with black in them to bring more black into the ensemble. I like the idea of OEMs from eBay or wherever you can source them.

The photoshop is very nice, but the aftermarket wheels don't look their best. Besides being a little unnatural looking, they're overexposed. The actual wheels on the car would look better, but they're not my first choice. One thought would be powdercoating your original wheels when you refinish them. Could you post a closeup of just a wheel? Another thought is wheels that are black where you scrape them are going to look horrible once scraped. What are the chances of parking more carefully to avoid new scrapes?

Maybe my vote would be wheels with black in them and still unpainted in the curb feeler areas.

I would 1000% do 19s over 20s all else being equal. Much better tire selection, looks better, cheaper tires a big bonus.

I moved from stock 20s on my Cayman to 18's. I think modern car mfg put giant wheels on cars to suit taste not performance goals

Some random white ZL1s for ideas. I like the black rockers.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038549.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038562.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038572.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038583.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038601.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038625.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038655.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038681.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038703.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758038723.jpg

I like the black look, and would paint the OEM wheels black with plastidip (removable)

$20 and a few hours.....

I think the multi spoke options looks better than the blocky five spoke. Adds a little delicacy to the blocky Camaro body design.

Or for $250 add the modern version:

<iframe width="500" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U_ukDh-9Qdg" title="How to Get 360 Security &amp; Parking Camera for Your Car" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

How are you going to take your wheels in for refurbishing if the car is your only source of transportation?

Wyatt.

Finding someone to take the wheels isn't an issue. The issue is I don't like owing favors.

Wyatt would take the wheels, lend me his old Spitfire, and pay the shop.

I'm not doing that. I'm honestly trying to cool things with Wyatt. No, he didn't make me mad. Quite the opposite actually.