BMGS

iTrader: (1)

Coming from the GS forums here to share some templates that may be of use to anyone with the premium polished spoke wheels that wants to change their color (in an easy and reversible way) or possibly cover up damage.

I bought a set of these wheels that were freshly powder coated a deep gloss black. The finish is gorgeous but paired with an identical obsidian body, it was too much black for me. The goal was to lighten the color as easily as possible.

I initially added a 1/8" Oracal 651 pinstripe in a dark grey color using this cool tool: https://www.tapeworks.com/rimstripes...tallation-tool

I then hijacked my wife's Cricut decal cutter and fed it some Oracal 651 using the attached templates and it came out fantastic. I made the templates from digital tracing of a photo as well as a hand created template that was scanned and digitally enhanced. These jpeg raster images will be converted to a vector and stripped of the background in the Cricut application. I went with the dark grey color to match the pinstripe but the color choices are endless. The "large spoke" should be sized to about 185mm in length and the small spoke to 118mm in length. If not using with the pinstripe, I would round the edge of the large spoke; I kept it flat to interface better with the outerpinstripe.

Below is how it came out on my setup. I am a perfectionist on this stuff and even from an inch away, it looks like a perfect paint job and no evidence of it being a decal. I first did only the portions that were polished on the standard finish but adding the second smaller spoke highlights helped out a lot. Application takes about an hour per wheel, not counting the outer pinstripe.

KennyFSU

That looks great. I want to cover up the polished spokes with grey vinyl so it blends in (don't like shiny spokes or wheels). Are you planning on selling some vinyl? I'm interested.

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

Thanks! This should help with exactly what you are looking to accomplish. You'll still have the outer polished edge but perhaps a 1/4" pinstripe could work, the 1/8" doesn't 100% cover the rim border but it doesn't matter in my case since it's all black vs. polished on yours.

I'm not planning on selling anything but a Cricut is only $170. I used a Cricut Joy and cut the Oracal vinyl to 5.5" wide to work with it. If you have a significant other or someone in the family into crafts, it's a great gift (that you can use once in a while).

Total cost for me was only $9 for the vinyl but even at $180, still worth it. I figured I'd save anyone some time by providing the templates. The long one should be applied with a heat gun handy as there needs to be a bit of strech at the head portion to be prevent a possible wrinkle. The short ones go on easy.

In terms of longevity, I think this could last 3-4 years, possibly more, depending on conditions. I am fortunate to have garaged parking at home and work but more importantly, I only wash the wheels with a gentle microfiber towel and the soap/cleanser mixture that I wash the car with, different bucket and towel of course. I never use a more powerful wheel cleaner but I imagine that wouldn't be the friendliest treatment to vinyl.

Happy to help with any questions and I am definitely interested in seeing any other finished product, I may switch to another color at some point.