1980 280ZX wheel color on Silver 1977 280Z.. suggestions?

[BuDavid]

hi,I purchased a set of 198280ZX wheels for my silver 1977 280Z.. the thing is that I found 3 colors of them and I picked the golden ones (because they were in the best condition)

I'm a bit confused about the color options that would look good on my car insted of my 1983 280ZX wheels..

in the attachment I stated the patterns of the wheels as A,B anc C

my first thaught was like that

A:Silver (same as the car color)
B:chrome
C:same as the original aluminum color


some also told me to make

A:Black
B:Chrome
C:same as original


any other suggestions or supports to my choise? I would appressiate an advice from you guys..

thanks..

[Victor Laury]

Mohammed,

When you say "Chrome" for area "B", I think you mean polished. area "C" is kept as un polished, rough aluminum.

On a silver car, I think Black would be best, But it is your car, so what you like is best!

[Victor Laury]

what happened to the six points? They looked good!

[BuDavid]

thanks for the fast reply man, I was hoping that I can get an answer today

the six ponts well be sleeping under my bed I like them but they look so common, and this is the reason why I want those older type because in my point of view they look better on an S30's (my opinion)

I also considered black in area A but I wasn't sure, becaus sliver "might" look very "teenage"!!

and about area C, yes I meant using chrome as "polished as you stated..

thank you bro.

[sblake01]

I like the one's I have and they are actually 'correct' for a 280z. Less common than a 6 spoke or 'Iron Cross' as you have pictured. The one in my avitar has an incorrect center cap but the one's on my car have the correct caps.

[zbane]

a-silver (as your car)
b-black (as the rubber)
c-polished or silver-tough call.

just be sure to paint the area around the centercap "Z" black.

[BuDavid]

Sblake, I agree with you, but those wheels are almost unavailable here, I would like to have some special set like yours.. but thank you anyway for the tip..


zbane,
didn't you mix up (b) with (c)? sounds really none-sense sorry..

[Doehring]

Here in Europe the ZX came initially with the Iron Cross, the "cross" was alu or sometimes black inside. the later ZX (1982) had the alu six spoke and than we got the Turbo rims. The rim that sBlake01 has in his avatar was sold here with the 240Z - 260Z, not with the ZX. For your silver car I personally would prefer the Iron Cross with a gun-metal (dark silver) inside the cross. The difference between the car's color and the rims is not that "hard" as with a black cross but it has a fine contrast to the silver of the car and the rim's alu ring. The same I would do with the 6 spoke.
Rolf

[Doehring]

BuDavid,
in my gallery is a pic called Silvretta classic. There you can see the iron cross in black on my black ZX. Perhaps this gives you a better imagination. To silver I would prefer -as mentioned - gun metal, but it's all up to you, I don't want to act as a teacher.
Rolf

[zbane]

zbane,
didn't you mix up (b) with (c)? sounds really none-sense sorry..

BuDavid, you caught me, I switched the two around. That's the problem with posting at work, the latter distracts occasionally.

[Victor Laury]

Here's the photo from Rolf's gallery - Nice one

[Arne]

Of all the later more modern alloys, I personally like the six points best. Polished up with a bit of color in the spoke recess (either contrasting or to match the body), they're definitely one of the nicer-looking 14" options, IMO. It's not the look I have in mind for my car, but I still like it.

[BuDavid]

zbane, well the main thing that I understod your aim, I'm also at work since I posted this post (I hope that the power plant wont burn )

Doehring, I do respect you opinion and I considered the choise of black, but will it be with polished "B" area? and would it look nice on silver? on black looks very good, but black on silver not sure.. BTW I appreciate teachrs.. Danke Rolf..

Victor Laury, thank you for showing the picture dude..

Arne, dont worry, I wont throw my 6 points wheels, I'll have them under my bed in case I get bored if the iron cross ones



so at the end we conclude that no body aggrees on keeping them golden?

thaks folks..

[Alfadog]

Definitely not gold!!!

My personal choice for your car would be:

A. Gunmetal grey
B. Polished (chrome)
C. Polished (chrome)

Although for something a bit different, you could paint the part C the same as part A, that might look good... or it may just look strange.

[zbane]

BuDavid, I have gold on my 280. It looks fine on a red car, but I don't think Gold would look good on such a beautiful Silver model. I think we all agree that there should be some contrast in there. It seems that most of us are going for a gunmetal/black cross with silver or polished highlights. Whatever you decide will be the best, of course, since it is your ride.

[mazingerz1976]

Mine are gold too, and my ZX is red, they look pretty fine...but BuDavid i would go for black cross with your silver 280.

[BuDavid]

zbane,

mazingerz1976,

all,


thank you all guys for the suggestions, and I'm really confident in the members of this forum, I'm more comfortable with the black. but the gunmetal black means a very dark metallic grey? sorry guys for this dumb question, because I never heared of this expression before..

I was thinking of "metallic almost-black grey" which maight mean the gunmetal black..

am I wrong?

[sblake01]

If you look at my avitar, though it's a different wheel, the part inside and around the spokes is 'gunmetal'.

[BuDavid]

Stephen, your avatar is small and I guess it is disturbed by light reflection.. but I think I understood which color is it, I would go for it I guess.. it would make a good combination as far as I think..

thank you.

[Alfadog]

Hi BuDavid, gunmetal grey is just a name that is given sometimes in English to a dark, often metallic grey colour. You're right - almost black. Black can just sometimes look tacky. Here's an example of gunmetal, hope it helps. I know what ever decision you make, it will be a good one! Make sure to let us know how it goes

[BuDavid]

Alfadog, you smashed my heart with those JAguars

thanks for the picture and the compliment.. for sure I'll post a picture of the car with the colored polished rims after all here..

thanx 4 all.

[sblake01]

Love those twins! But they're worse 'money pits' than an S30.

[BuDavid]

I just wanted to show you guys the Z that inspired me to get those wheels..

I took the picture in Bratislava (Slovakia's Capital City) before 3 years at a car show that had the 350Z for the first time, and that 240Z was shown next to it, and as an S30 addict, I just walked like a blind guy next to the 350Z and started taking pictures of that 240

I can tell you guys, that car looked like new!! it had a Czech number plate.

enjoy

[BuDavid]

Hi again, I've just got my rims back from the workshop, the guys there did a nice job! the rims are polished and they had the paint completly removed!

I wanted to take the advice of many people from the forum about the color selection which is "gun metal black or grey" but when I saw the rims unpainted, they looked really nice to me! they were mat-dark grey! to me they looked odd and classic, what do you think? shall I leave them as they are or paint them/clear coat them maybe??

waiting for the feedbacks..

thanks.

[zbane]

BuDavid, those rims polished are beautiful, even in photos. go for the clear coat, the natural grey innerds seem a nice match.

[BuDavid]

Zbane,

I was asking about the clear coating, I heared that it will peel off without primer layer under it! I dont know if it is true or not, but I'll ask further, one more thing, it wont become soft (the surface of the coated area)? because it is rough metal right now or I guess it is called sand blasted..

if all of the above is correct, shall I paint it with the exact color of the metal itself?

thanks for the help..

[zbane]

Sure, or perhaps a little bit darker, but not much (just for contrast).
I didn't think about the clear coat peeling off, but now that you mention it, I think that is a valid concern.

[BuDavid]

I dont know really what to do man I really want to keep them the way they are, but a friend told me it will catch too much dirt and brake carbon, is it bad? I think it will be good since I want to make it darker?

I'll just wait for my springs to arrive then I'll make the big step!


I'll post a picture with the new springs+struts & wheels

maybe after a mounth, I'm broke right now

[TomoHawk]

Here's an example of gunmetal, hope it helps.

I got the impression that there was a community of Jags? That reminds me of a few communities in the States where everybody own airplanes and the runway in just past your back yard! Would you consider an airplane hangar as a 3 1/w2- car garage?

Something to do with your $200 Mill MegaLotta winnings- a neiborhood of Z owners!...

[zbane]

Dirt and brake dust are things you will have to worry about anyways, but yeah, they will make your rims darker :-) (but not in a good way).

[=Enigma=]

Clear coat those puppies and be done with it! That'll make it easier to get the brake dust off and you'll have the look you want.

[BuDavid]

our guys here are not proffessional in paint work, I'm afraid if I clear coat it it would look like a candy bar! if the surface is rough, wouldn''t it hod dirt anyway even if it has clear coat on it? besides, the iedea of having dirty dark areas next to shiny patterns seems to me classy.. I want them to look old a bit, what do you think?:s

thanks..

[zbane]

Nothing wrong with a nice patina, but keeping them with that "perfect" amount of coloring may prove difficult.
Putting a clearcoat over should smooth out the rough, dimpled surface areas, but you should still be able to see contrast in texture through the coat.

[BuDavid]

ok zbane, I'm considering that, but forgive me if I dont clear coat it

what about the center caps? mine have the "Z" black backgroud peeled off, shall I make them black or same mat color as the grey areas of the wheels?

I dont have to attach a picture right? I hope the wuestion is clear..

cheerz

[zbane]

I'm in the same boat, my black backgrounds are coming out as well.
In your case, I would make them black again, just to stand out a little bit more. Having them black against a greyish background (the cross) would not be intrusive, and would be a nice contrast.

[sblake01]

I think those are still available from Nissan. 40343-P7100

[BuDavid]

zbane, that's right, and also in the OEM point of view keeping the original color, I'll go for mat-black..

Stephen, thank you for the part number, but my caps in a very good condition exept for the black background..


thank you people.

[sblake01]

Have you ever seen the ones I polished? Lots of work involved but they came out nice. They were more or less an experiment. I had them on my cars, first the 810 then the Z but eventually sold them to PrOxLaMuS. I don't think he'll mind if I use his recent picture.

[BuDavid]

Stephen, I'm not tryin to be offensive here, but regarding the picture attached, as far as I see the wheels are completely polished, in theis case you might get dirt in the corners of the contour, and it is a bigger job to maintain the tatally polished wheels

maybe my wheels wont look that good at the end, sice allready I'm being cursed here because people here reall y hate those wheels and they even dont bother about selling them coz no body will buy them

but my point of view with those wheels is that a classic car should have an "old taste" design, like the chrome+bare metal. I'm convinced of it right now, but the feedback of all of you made a real change for sure, I wouldn't end up that good without the advice and opinions from all of you.

thanx.

[sblake01]

They are a bigger job to maintain plus I didn't like the way they looked on either of my cars but I think they look great on his because of the color of his car. In fact, the way yours were done would look good on my car and are similar in finish to what I did with the 280Z wheels in my avitar.