Powder Coating OEM Wheel

[birdie2000]

I bet those wheels are reproduction WS6 wheels. Real ones have a "GM" cast into the dish on the wheel. I believe some reproductions were available in chrome back in the day. Those do look chromed and not just polished IMO.

[CJOFORM]

They say Canada on them and have a bar code on the inside with the GM logo. So guessing they are GM haha. By inside I mean the middle of the wheel inside the tire has a bar code sticker.

[jetice]

There are the firehawk wheels, which a thin-spoke and chrome:
http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/im.../4445/4445.jpg

The '96-'00 WS6 wheels, which are thick-spoke and clear coated polished aluminum:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl...43&tx=84&ty=78

Then there are the '01-'02 speedline WS6 Wheels:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl...6&tx=156&ty=92

However, after doing a little research, it appears that SLP sold chrome 17" "WS6" style wheels back in the day, and they are few and far between. It looks like a nice set will go for up to 50% more than a nice set of polished WS6 wheels. So, please do not coat these wheels, they are very rare.

[CJOFORM]

There are the firehawk wheels, which a thin-spoke and chrome:
http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/im.../4445/4445.jpg

The '96-'00 WS6 wheels, which are thick-spoke and clear coated polished aluminum:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl...43&tx=84&ty=78

Then there are the '01-'02 speedline WS6 Wheels:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl...6&tx=156&ty=92

However, after doing a little research, it appears that SLP sold chrome 17" "WS6" style wheels back in the day, and they are few and far between. It looks like a nice set will go for up to 50% more than a nice set of polished WS6 wheels. So, please do not coat these wheels, they are very rare.

Thanks for the information. Is there any way to verify that they are SLP? Like I said in another post they have GM on a bar code and canada on them. Would they still be produced by SLP? Thanks for the help.

Oh and don't worry I am not gonna coat these wheels. I just looked at how much it cost to Chrome a wheel and it is a lot more than powder coat. I guess I will keep these and find a set of abused aluminum wheels down the road when I have the spare cash.

[jetice]

I am having a very hard time finding some straight information on these wheels. From the tidbits I am getting here and there, they were a dealer option of WS6 cars, kind of like the non-standard wheels you can have put on new vehicles today. Of course, you could buy them straight from SLP also. I will try emailing SLP and see what they say.

[CJOFORM]

Alright, thanks!

[93formulalt1]

Alright, thanks!

WS6 wheels were also available in grey painted finish with a polished lip during the 96-98 model years, but they are hard to find also. The WS6 wheels all came in the same basic style as what you have, Chris, the only other 17" 5 spokes available on the 'bird as a factory/dealer option where the above mentioned Speedline wheels from the SLP Firehawk.

I gotta say, I'm really diggin' the black chrome pictured above, I think I'll look into having that done to my C6 5-spokes. . . Would look awesome on the PPM Formy.

[Fish-man]

Any markings on the back of the spokes? Like a 7-8 digit part number? Or a mfr name/symbol?

[CJOFORM]

Any markings on the back of the spokes? Like a 7-8 digit part number? Or a mfr name/symbol?

Not sure. They are on the car currently. Might be able to pop one off when the weather breaks and I stop getting pissed on or hailed on, jesus, you guys getting this hail?

[93formulalt1]

Not sure. They are on the car currently. Might be able to pop one off when the weather breaks and I stop getting pissed on or hailed on, jesus, you guys getting this hail?

Jackson is just getting rain, haven't seen any hail (and I've been walking around in this crap, stuck at work 'til 4pm). If I do see hail, I'm pulling the 'bird into the building for shelter, there's an overhead door in back. haha

[CJOFORM]

Ya I woke up about 930 to hail hitting my roof. I immediately ran outside to see my firebird covered in hail stones. Got it under the car port before the big shit hit. Nasty out today.

[93formulalt1]

Ya I woke up about 930 to hail hitting my roof. I immediately ran outside to see my firebird covered in hail stones. Got it under the car port before the big shit hit. Nasty out today.

I should have left the Formula at home. . . my windshield wipers suck (blades are great, but stock LT1 wiper arms are tragically flawed design), the tires aren't the greatest, and honestly, it's just not very good in inclement weather. It's alright, I'm sure I'll be fine.

[birdie2000]

FWIW, this is the marking that would be on the wheel if it was an OEM polished wheel:



It's the GM marking that's on the dish in the middle right hand side of the pic. I'm not aware of any factory WS6 wheels that don't have this mark. As jetice mentioned those must be the SLP chrome ones which are indeed quite rare from what I understand. Good choice on not getting them coated.

[CJOFORM]

Thank you for that pic. Yea I definitely don't have that gm mark. Would GM sell the wheels to SLP then SLP chromes them? They could very well be reproductions but that wouldn't explain the bar code with gm on it. Unless it's some knock off trying to pass itself off as genuine but again, no gm on the wheel like the pic and they are pretty high quality. I have had the car for 6 years roughly. Put about 40k miles on it and the wheels are still beautiful. I will pop a wheel off when the rain stops, next week probably and see if I can find a part number. If these are SLP's what would you guess the value to be? Honestly 3 are a 9.5/10 and one has some curb rash on it but it is on the bead side of the wheel not the face of the wheel so I would say 7/10 and easily fixable.

[ryanwarby01]

I should have left the Formula at home. . . my windshield wipers suck (blades are great, but stock LT1 wiper arms are tragically flawed design), the tires aren't the greatest, and honestly, it's just not very good in inclement weather. It's alright, I'm sure I'll be fine.

I switched to the 98-02 wiper arms and they are way better. Pretty cheap upgrade, but worth it if you ever get caught in the rain.