# My New, Used CCW's



## BRZN (Jan 31, 2011)

As of now, I've gone through four sets of wheels and tires in 11,235 miles.
The first 975 miles I ran the stock 18's








Then I picked up a nice set of TSW Laguna's that probably have less than 9,000 miles on them








I ran these MC2 FZ6 wheels during two springs








I really liked the "chrome look" against the Brazen Orange, but didn't want actual chrome wheels.

As of last Thursday these CCW SP550's went on








There's quite a story on these wheels. I bought them used from another late model GTO owner I found on another forum, in the spring of 2013. I don't remember why, but a buddy helped me out. Perhaps I was away with work? I can't recall. I do know he saw them listed for sale and let me know.
I paid the sellers asking price which I thought was fair from the pictures and descriptions. I knew two had some curb rash that could be taken care of, and was told there was 50% tread left on the fronts and 75% on the rears. He said they weren't perfect, just "need a little love".








The wheels and tires showed up at my friend, Charlies, and he took some Adam's metal polish to one of the spokes and was able to get the shine back.








However, these wheels and tires weren't as the seller described in my eyes, or Charlies. After some communication back and forth with the seller I got some of my money back and figured I'd ended up with a fair deal.
I started with one of the front wheels. Cleaned and decontaminated. I started with Adam's Green Wheel Cleaner followed up with Adam's Deep Wheel Cleaner then scrubbed with 0000 Steel Wool using WD-40 as the lubricant which got me to this








I then hand polished it to this point








Not bad huh? Wrong! All the deeper scratches, gouges, and pitting were still there and visible up close. They were probably good 20 footers.
I started working the center caps to figure what I'd need to do to get these wheels back to as new.
From this








To this








It was going to be a lot of work, but I thought I was up for the challenge.


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## BRZN (Jan 31, 2011)

They were cleaned and decontaminated just like the wheel.
Then on to lots of wet sanding through several grits of paper








Next came polishing using my high speed rotary
















Got it!








Perfection
Now to go through the same process with the wheels
Sanded








and polished








Now they got to be good five footers, I removed all the deeper scratches, gouges and pitting, but could still see sanding marks up close.
To get to this point I had 40 hours into the wheel, yes that isn't a typo, 40 hours for one of the smaller fronts!
By this time it was July 2013. I'd ended up trashing my right shoulder and was scheduled for surgery in the fall to have the shoulder scoped. 35 years of treating my body like it was still 18 had caught up with me. Here they sat until late August of this year.








Oh, and by the way the tires? Not as they were described either. They were pretty bald, a plug in one








A nail in another








Damage to a sidewall with cord showing








And there were two different sized rears on. There were regular rubber valve stems in the wheels making me believe these were at least the second set of tires on these wheels.
I'd lost interest in correcting them. Just too much time and effort was going to be required. Fast forward to this August and a project I was doing for work. I was in the receiving bay of a milk plant doing observations of unloading of tanker trucks when I noticed the wheels on one of the trailers that had pulled in. The wheels were flawless. The id on the truck showed he was local to me, so I started a conversation with the driver. By the end of the week I'd contacted a small metal polisher pretty close to me, Polish-This Inc. He could take care of my wheels!


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## BRZN (Jan 31, 2011)

Back from polishing
Face








Barrel








The whole group done!








Wrapped in Hankook Ventus V12 evo2's








I'd emailed John Purner, owner of CCW, to get tire information. He let me know these Hankooks would fit without any modifications to the fender lips or structure inside. Plans are to drop the car 3/4-1" this winter, not supposed to be an issue.
The wheels are 19x8.5" fronts with a 44mm offset/2" lip and the rears are 19x10" with a 54mm offset/3" lip. I also picked up the correct valve stems and acorn style lug nuts from CCW.
These are much larger than I'd been running before, for sure
275/30ZR 19's rear 245/35ZR 19's front








The TSW's were all 18x8" running 245/40ZR 18 Michelin Pilot Sport 2's

Love the new look for sure








Here's what they looked like installed, with just a thorough cleaning with acetone after being polished, and the tires dressed with SVRT applied using Adam's Pro Tire Hex Grip applicator.








Then after a good hour with Adam's metal polish by hand.








Bam!


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

nice work and the pics are great too...you glossed over the SAP addition...yours with the SAP and MC2s looks like the other GTO at my dealership on the showroom floor when I bought mine in 2007...

Bill


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Very nice work. Are you doing anything to clear coat them or something to prevent oxidation? Also are you a female?  You seem to have an addiction to "shoes". LOL


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## BRZN (Jan 31, 2011)

silversport said:


> nice work and the pics are great too...you glossed over the SAP addition...yours with the SAP and MC2s looks like the other GTO at my dealership on the showroom floor when I bought mine in 2007...
> 
> Bill


Yea, glossed over the SAP stuff since it didn't have much to do with the thread. The MC2 FZ6 wheels were one of a couple dealer installed options for 18" wheels on the 04 models. This happened since GM didn't have the 18's found on 05's and 06's ready to go on the cars until 05. Odd you saw them on an 06 Brazen Orange (one year only color in 06) in 07. I picked the set up used and later grabbed a used set of Bridgestone Potenza RE040's from an 05. Just keeping them around for someone doing an 04 restoration in the future...



svede1212 said:


> Very nice work. Are you doing anything to clear coat them or something to prevent oxidation? Also are you a female?  You seem to have an addiction to "shoes". LOL


I'll Opti Coat the barrels when I have them hand polished to my satisfaction, and simply use Adam's Quick Sealant on the faces; spokes and lips. I don't want to have to deal with the barrels other than cleaning them, but still want to easily be able to get at the raw aluminum for regular maintenance. The car's parked in a fairly climate controlled garage and isn't driven in any inclement weather, so oxidation should be minimal.

Oh, and sorry, full on dude here, just thought I'd gotten a deal on another set of wheels. Couldn't pass them by.


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

they were on my car as well at one time but the dealer told me that Pontiac had troubles with stress crack complaints on them and had removed them...(my '06 still had the add on window sticker in the trunk including them...) mine were replaced by the dealer with the OE 17" wheels and BF Goodrich tires...

Bill


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## FNG69 (Nov 15, 2009)

Enjoyed the read. Great looking GTO. Here is a look at mine. Les







Early picture before new pinstripe


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