"I'm Not a Car Guy." - A 1967.5 1600 Refurb Saga

[iloveredmeat]

Long ago I came across some Revolution wheels on Craigslist that I really, really love the look of. Over the course of several months and a very, very strange transaction, I gambled on the whole deal, but did eventually end up with those wheels. That's a story in itself, really...

But, since then, I've heard conflicting reports and opinions about Revolution wheels - some say they work great, others say they're a pain in the butt...

So, with diminished confidence that the Revolutions will even work, and still struggling with my Over Purchasing Syndrome, and maybe some tequila, when these Libre-style (not ARE) popped up late one night, I pulled the trigger on them as a 'back-up' plan. Don't get me wrong, I loooove the Libre wheels, but I also lean toward something a little different - like the Revolutions.

Anyway, I went and picked up the wheels from the very cool seller, Evan, and brought them home to see what I could do. The plan being to see how well they'd clean up and then explore the idea of painting them.

They'd definitely seen better days, and I took the worst wheel to see what a little elbow grease and Mother's Chrome Polish would accomplish. That Mother's stuff is miraculous, but these were so bad that it took way more than a little elbow grease... it was a ton of work.

So, I decided to work on that one wheel to see what I wanted to do with all of them.

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I got that wheel all polished up and it wasn't perfect, but very 'driveable' if I wanted to keep them chrome. But, I still wanted to see what some "Graphite" wheel coating would look like,

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Then I masked and sprayed with Self-etching primer... and I completely butchered that job...

In trying to paint all of the nooks and crannies between the spokes, I laid on way too much primer on the exposed 'spokes', and the whole thing became a mess. I had to use paint stripper and start completely over. Super fun.

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Then, I said screw it, and decided to just strip and polish them all. This was going to be a lot of work.

Just so happened, that my lovely wife was out of town for a couple of weeks, and there are only two good things about when she's gone. One - I can keep my project a bit messy, and Two - I can watch hockey with impunity.

So, I set up a 'Polishing Station' on my patio (do not show this mess to my wife). Stanley Cup Playoffs turned up loud (triple overtime!), and maybe some tequila.

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After a couple of nights of tedious polishing, I was satisfied that they were all nice and clean and ready.

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They looked really good, but the chrome just wasn't for me, so the difficult decision to take 80 grit to the wheels was made. Eesh. And off I went scuffing away.

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Masked, and then primed with 2K Epoxy Primer (that stuff is cool, not cheap, but cool).

I did learn a couple of critical lessons when I botched using the self-etching primer. One the stuff sticks pretty well over smooth chrome, but once it starts peeling, you're screwed. Second thing was to start painting the nooks and crannies from behind. That way the nooks are pretty well covered and when I went to paint from the front, I didn't overlay too much on the spokes. That plan worked really well.

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Then, I did the same technique with the graphite wheel coating and I still need to clean up some tape residue and overspray, and I was concerned that the graphite may be too dark -- but I'm very, very happy with how they turned out. I really like the color, and if these wheels end up being what I use, I'll be more than satisfied.

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Now, I just gotta find time to actually get to my car, so I can move that thing toward running.

[Bwk2000]

I love the Libre-style wheels! I’d buy them off you in a heartbeat if we were closer … and if you were selling them )
Very nice job on the graphite application

[theunz]

Great job, the graphite looks worlds better then the chrome.

[notoptoy]

They look great, I too am not a fan of the chrome and really like the gray.

[funkaholik]

Whoa. They look amazing.

Peter, there are a lot of "car guys" who would not have attempted this project, and who wouldn't have achieved these beautiful results. I am impressed with your patience and attention to detail.

Keep kicking ass, one piece at a time, and pretty soon you'll be driving your beautiful roadster, and know that you did it yourself.

[Pjackb]

Peter you did an awesome job with these,
If it was me provided you used enamel paint once cleaned up from residue I would give the lips a final polish then clear coat the whole wheels so as not to have to worry about keeping polishing them ,
I'll text you instructions on how to clear polished lips

[Florida Roadster]

That looks good Peter, now will you PLEASE change your thread title to "I'm a Car Guy."

[theunz]

I think Peter has been trying to pull the wool over our heads with all this “ I’m not a car guy” B.S.
Perhaps he has just been scared to “Come out of the garage”, but the cat is definitely out of the bag now. After all he knew that the Miata with the BRE livery that I posted came from the Grassroots Motorsports article. Only a real car guy visits that site! Peter, don’t be ashamed show your Car Pride

[iloveredmeat]

I love the Libre-style wheels! I’d buy them off you in a heartbeat if we were closer … and if you were selling them )
Very nice job on the graphite application

Thanks Kai! You never know... maybe I'll hand-deliver them... Nova Scotia is on my bucket list.

Great job, the graphite looks worlds better then the chrome.

They look great, I too am not a fan of the chrome and really like the gray.

Thanks gents, I really like the graphite, too, and if it didn't sound so miserable, I'd consider painting all of the chrome. But, I think I'd like to see them with tires on before I go to that trouble. Could be good contrast...

Whoa. They look amazing.

Peter, there are a lot of "car guys" who would not have attempted this project, and who wouldn't have achieved these beautiful results. I am impressed with your patience and attention to detail.

Keep kicking ass, one piece at a time, and pretty soon you'll be driving your beautiful roadster, and know that you did it yourself.

Thanks man. Your build is inspiration, but I'm feeling like I'm falling too far behind, trying to stay enthused with little pretty bits.

Peter you did an awesome job with these,
If it was me provided you used enamel paint once cleaned up from residue I would give the lips a final polish then clear coat the whole wheels so as not to have to worry about keeping polishing them ,
I'll text you instructions on how to clear polished lips

Thanks Jacques, I'll keep an eye out.

That looks good Peter, now will you PLEASE change your thread title to "I'm a Car Guy."

I think Peter has been trying to pull the wool over our heads with all this “ I’m not a car guy” B.S.
Perhaps he has just been scared to “Come out of the garage”, but the cat is definitely out of the bag now. After all he knew that the Miata with the BRE livery that I posted came from the Grassroots Motorsports article. Only a real car guy visits that site! Peter, don’t be ashamed show your Car Pride

Ha!

I refuse to consider myself one of you guys until I actually get the thing driving!

And Mike, I will confess that I have a Grassroots shirt that my brother gave me... he's trying to turn me into one of y'all!

Thanks for the support.

[Gregs672000]

You guys crack me UP! So cool that we can be on opposite sides of the country (or world even) and yet we still get to have this fun interaction! The Internet isn't all bad I see (one just has to know its limitations and dangers!). The wheels look awesome... I really like the period correct style. I liked them in every version posted, including the chrome.
You think Peter's a bit bonkers now, wait until he's at the point where he's putting the grill, tail lights and trim on a freshly painted, shiny car in final prep for Driving! There are few better feelings of satisfaction and excitement. And we get to Share! Yippee!

[iloveredmeat]

You guys crack me UP! So cool that we can be on opposite sides of the country (or world even) and yet we still get to have this fun interaction! The Internet isn't all bad I see (one just has to know its limitations and dangers!). The wheels look awesome... I really like the period correct style. I liked them in every version posted, including the chrome.
You think Peter's a bit bonkers now, wait until he's at the point where he's putting the grill, tail lights and trim on a freshly painted, shiny car in final prep for Driving! There are few better feelings of satisfaction and excitement. And we get to Share! Yippee!

Ha! Agreed on all. And really hope to meet all or most of you in person someday. I've said it a hundred times... would not be anywhere close to where I am with out this Forum and y'all.

Cheers.
PM

[111jag]

I got replacements from Moss on recommendation from this forum. I do have a 67.5

Where did you get the replacement bolts from?

[notoptoy]

Moss Motors:
https://mossmotors.com/

[iloveredmeat]

Progress?

Well, I guess this isn’t technically progress, but it’s part of this whole car story, and I’ve been struggling to make any actual progress, so I'm posting away.

I haven’t seen my car in months, and I haven’t tackled any of the pretty bits I have down here… motivation is low… (feel free to ship me a loaner to drive so I can get all fired up again).

As I’ve mentioned, my brother is building a custom suspension for my car (not to mention the countless other things he’s helped with), and when he asked for help designing a new T-shirt, I jumped at the chance to return at least a teensy bit of favor.

He wanted the design to hint at drafting/cad images of his coilovers. The actual cad drawings seemed a bit too literal and busy, so I proposed a simpler representative image. For the colors - his guys (Younger Car Guys) - love neon, so we went super bright highlights but kept a bit of his company colors of maroon and gold.

Ground-Control-Tshirt-Front.jpg

Ground-Control-Tshirt-Back.jpg

And here’s the Roadster-relevant part: Part of his design has had a couple of little race cars racing and laying down stripes. And for this shirt, I changed the little cars to Roadsters. I exaggerated some features, but trust me they’re Roadsters. (Mine is the one on the left and Funkaholik’s is the one on the right ).

Roadster-Stripes.png

You’d never know it was a Roadster unless I told you, but now the 3 people who read this, my brother, and I know!

In a small way this might be helping to get my suspension done… so I’m counting this as progress.

[notoptoy]

Noted and chalked up to progress!