Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

I actually kind of like them.. They were suppose to go on my SSM FD (stock bodied) but I thought I go ahead and test out the tires on the MB. Its just to roll around town and most likely not permeant. I'm not selling the TE's and car's going through another change hopefully soon.

Whizbang

i miss the rx2

do you still have the cosmo?

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

RX2 went to a good friend few years back and he will be restoring it. RX3 also went to a good friend of mine and it will be featured in a magazine soon.

Cosmo, I been collecting parts from Japan and such and it will go through a transformation sometime in next year or two. I'm waiting on some goodies to arrive and when it does, i'll be turning it into my college days dream car stereo car with some of the goodies I been collecting over past decade.. hint McIntosh goodies

Whizbang

awesome!

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

Thanks!

Updated photo from today..

blacked out Efini emblem and the RE-Amemiya Carbon side mirrors I picked up from Chip.



I've also took the 3M vinyl bottom half of the Feed fenders (to protect the paint) and used Plasti Dip instead... Testing it out as I already F'd up the paint when pulling the 3M vinyl first time around..





Plasti Dip was bit hard to control to lay it flat but I eventually did a good job on it. I also did the efini emblem with it too. Going to see how long it will last.

Also the RE-Amemiya mirrors are much better than the APR mirrors I had before...

RE-Amemiya

......and you just literally made me drool on my keyboard; those things are sooo sexy!!!

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

Thanks RE-Amemiya

I also pulled out the SSM FD as I was re-organizing the garage so I can hopefully get a lift in next couple of months..

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

I normally dislike the te37 but these were perfect. . Go back to the te37.. i would also put the acrylic covers on the rmagic headlights

Great looking car nevertheless

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

How about these...



I'm trying to come up with something about the covers...

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

Rmagic directly. I bought a pair for my set

Te37 is the way to go

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

^^Cool!!!

Also, I've heard RAYS are coming out with some cool wheels later this year.. So, who knows

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

I think newer wheels are getting uglier and uglier. .. lets hope rays will make me change my mind. .seriously though. . Size and offset of ur te37 os simply stunning. . And normally I hate the te37 (mainly because of the hype and the replicas)

Try to avoid the idiot u normally use. Apparently u cant get them through them but rmagic has no problem of selling them to u

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Tell us how you really FEEL, Coostas

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

Well good thing ur snoring made ryan leave and I just slept without hearing anything ... tell us ur side of the story hahaha

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

I do agree with you some what.. The G25 is the other wheels I thought of but going to wait and see what else comes out.. On FB, GM of Rays said there will be many Volk Racing products. Volk Racing = Monoforged wheels = Only wheels I would buy



The other wheels I really like is these from Advan GT... problem.. 19+ size..



Oh, And more I research about wheels, I would not buy 3 piece wheels... Apparently there is no regulation about 3 piece wheels or any wheels sold in USA.. hence so many 3 piece wheel companies popping up in USA.. People should be cautious when buying them... I recently help out a friend when his 3 piece wheel the centers were swapped from front and rear... and when breaking them down, torque on the nuts were way off. Also, when assembling, there were way too much play of the centers. This made me really think about buying them for performance reason.

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

Yeah I saw them and the 19+ is a deal breaker for me also. . Very nice wheels

I also get monobloc forged wheels but during a fire they would melt so yeah(ce28n I had my other caf melted to the point where I was left with the spokes only).. ended up with rpf1 for the track.. light strong and cheap.. I dont care for the looks.. they r only for the track
And ce28n 18x9.5 10.5 +22 & +18 mag blue

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

There are very few companies so called Mono block/mold forge their wheels. Some companies call flow form, rotary form, barrel form as forged wheels and I say not really.

If you look at BBS or Rays site, they explain things better.. But Rays have flow form their barrels on gram light series and they never called it forged wheels but cast. Many companies out their somewhat mislabel their wheels.. including rpf1.. which are just flow formed barrels.

I do like CE28Ns and I would totally get them but friend of mine said he will kill me if I do.

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

I know their differences... after my last experience with the fire not sure if the 3k+ price range is worth the difference...doesnt mean im getting rotas lol
I could compromise for a good quality cast wheel ...

I dont know man.. I lost so much **** from the red car..including the wheels... they were the last thing I was expecting to get destroyed

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

I hear ya on the fire. But I think if your ce28s melted my guess is other wheels of
Melted too.

Cost is high but compare to what some spend on these 3 piece wheels cut on some cnc, Chinese barrels, no quality control, no spec for roundness and requiring ton of wheel weights to balance and paying over a grand a wheel, some of these mono forge wheels are a deal

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

I hear you on this Phil, way too many Chinese knockoffs now masquerading as high-quality product. A lot of the new companies, including a prominent one sponsored in one of the other build threads, just buy their components from low quality sources and slap them together. Bad news for sure.

You probably know I have 3-piece wheels on my car but they are from Forgeline, one of the best in the business. All R&D and manufacturing is done in house in the US so I highly recommend them to the community.

They make their wheels in-house using heat-treated 6061-T6 aluminum that is forged on a 6000-ton hydraulic press. This forging process aligns the grain structure, reduces porosity, and increases uniformity in the material, creating the highest strength-to-weight ratios and the most consistent quality. On average, their forgings are 40% stronger than cast aluminum.

They also offer a one piece monoblock that is pretty sweet as well and their wheels are used in Grand-Am, American LeMans, SCCA Pro Racing, and virtually every amateur racing series in America.

Thought I'd throw this out there as an option for someone that wants a 3-piece like me but also wants to get a high quality setup.

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

Hi David.
well, I'm also a forgeline owner (ZX3). But as I do more and more research, I would still not purchase 3 piece wheels from any company because per value and what you get and what most of us do, its not worth it.

Example, my understanding from what I've read during my research early this year is that most of us have no idea where the 'forged' blocks comes from. I don't think forgelines or any company that says forged blocks are from Alcoa or from other places. Second, unlike BBS, Advan, Rays, mono forged, other wheel companies do not mold form. What they do is they get a general shape and machines out the rest. I know for fact, forgeline, HRE, etc, monoforge wheels are 70-80+% machined out from a block. If you look at the BBS and Rays process, they go through 2-3 mold forming process where near end, general shape of the wheel is made and little machining is done... Just as you are stating about gain structure, this type of mold forming by Rays and BBS is what makes that gain structure.
Also, its final fit and finish. Rays finish is also unique and the process is what you also pay for. Most companies in USA don't have any regulations follow and no post production spec. Volk wheels are on other hand each wheels go through precise inspection.

However, benefit of going with high end 3 piece wheel company such as forgeline is their detail to assembly, exact spec you want when 1 piece wheel isn't available, and changing wheel width later or damaging 1 piece of the wheel you can fix at a value. But as you and I know, that comes with great cost. Their wheels are min. $1000 a piece. And they need to be sent in to change out barrels, which costs 2 way shipping, labor to swap, and $400/barrel. Not cheap and at that cost, RAYS wheels are a bargain for what you truly get.True Monoforging, great finish (FYI: Never buy non Rays finish), super light and post inspection for true roundness. Not sure if you had similar issues but when I was getting my forgelines dynamically balanced, it took on quite a bit of weights to get it done right. I noticed quite a bit with many 3 piece wheels.

If I were to buy a 3 piece wheels because I need an exact spec, leading in machining, design, etc... I would pick Forgeline. All other companies in USA that makes 3 piece wheels are just a followers of Forgeline. However, as I stated about monoforged wheels, I would definitely go with BBS, RAYS, or now Advan as I believe they are best in doing forging..

And final FYI: BBS mono forging is done in Japan.. BBS F1 wheels are also made in Japan by BBS Japan aka Washi Beam. Rays - Volk Racing wheels are ALL mono-forged wheels. Washi Beam and Rays are only ones also do Magnesium mold forged/mono forged wheels. Thought I share that.

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

Here are some information from RAYS..



From BBS about structural change formed from mold forging..

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Good stuff Phil. I didn't have any issues at all with my Forgelines when balancing, just some small weights but nothing out of the norm like the issues you had. Had the wheels been pulled apart in the past? I ask this because I had a balance issue after I got my Forgeline centers powder coated by a place in Orlando and they didn't put the centers back in at the same locations and the result was an unbalanced wheel. I worked thru this with Forgeline and got them back to spec through rotating the centers back to where they started.

And you are right about the options available with a 3-piece versus mono setup as I am going thru this now with the set on the car. I'm having the back width taken down to support a 295 and above, and the fronts widened out so I can run a 265-275. It does cost a few bucks to do this but at least it can be done as you pointed out.

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

How are your wheels getting balanced?? As it makes a difference too.

I was also thought about widening my forge lines. But I've opt'd out because cost were almost to a point of used volk wheels. Which I ended up buying used re30s instead...

Nimnick_

Wow stunning fd!