New Shoes

[JumboBlack1.8]

****New pics below****


Picked up some reallly old Intro Forged (aka I-forged ) wheels on ebay a few weeks ago. They were powder coated black and the lips. Unfortunately, when I got them, I realized they weren't in the greatest shaped (dull lips, curbage, a few small dents, extremely dirty/stained inner barrels), so I decided to make a project out of them. Afterall, i've got NOTHIN but free time since blowin out my knee.....They're not show wheels, so they aren't perfect. There are still some very minor blemished, and the lips don't quite have a mirror shine, but they look pretty good in person. anyway, here are some pics

Before:



After much though, I went with a raw/brushed aluminum face and repolished the lips.

After:





heres what they'll be going on once I get my Michelin PS2's in the mail:


the good stuff:



I like em

Comments/haters welcome

[JumboBlack1.8]

oh....forgot to mention, they are 18x7.5 and 18x8.....made all the way back in 1999

[AudiA4_20T]

sick

[fred2ka4]

They look nice and they remind me of my old wheels .......... AHHhhhh the good ole days ....






EDIT:

Are you sure they were powder coated? I'm no expert but I thought powder coating has to be sand blasted off because of how durable the coating is. I could be wrong but when my Audi got hit in the beginning of this year the wheel took the brunt of the impact and even at that it only took the coating off in a few areas. Here is a picture.

[JumboBlack1.8]

Yup, they were definitely powdercoated on.....sandblasting is the most effective way of doing it, because it removed ALL surface contaminants completely. But unfortunately, due to my immobility and my lack of funds, I had to use the cheaper route. I went to Home Depot and asked for their strongest paint stripper. The sales rep assured me that it would remove powdercoating, and sure enough, after 15 minutes, it started to come right off.....Professionals use sandblasters because they are faster and a LOT less messy. This paint stripper was so strong it started to burn the HELL out of my skin if I made contact with it.....But it worked very well

[ricebeater]

Yup, they were definitely powdercoated on.....sandblasting is the most effective way of doing it, because it removed ALL surface contaminants completely. But unfortunately, due to my immobility and my lack of funds, I had to use the cheaper route. I went to Home Depot and asked for their strongest paint stripper. The sales rep assured me that it would remove powdercoating, and sure enough, after 15 minutes, it started to come right off.....Professionals use sandblasters because they are faster and a LOT less messy. This paint stripper was so strong it started to burn the HELL out of my skin if I made contact with it.....But it worked very well

All paint strippers burn skin even if its a weak stripper it will still burn. They look nice for how old they are. What do they weigh in at? Did you get a good price?

[fred2ka4]

Yup, they were definitely powdercoated on.....sandblasting is the most effective way of doing it, because it removed ALL surface contaminants completely. But unfortunately, due to my immobility and my lack of funds, I had to use the cheaper route. I went to Home Depot and asked for their strongest paint stripper. The sales rep assured me that it would remove powdercoating, and sure enough, after 15 minutes, it started to come right off.....Professionals use sandblasters because they are faster and a LOT less messy. This paint stripper was so strong it started to burn the HELL out of my skin if I made contact with it.....But it worked very well

I got ya ......

What did they recommend ........... Jasco? That stuff is very strong ........ But if you want some stuff that will curl your toes, try using M.E.K. (methyl ethyl ketone) That stuff will eat through just about anything.

[onemoremile]

MEK is great if you really really need to know what cancer feel like...


The wheels look great! I love the brushed look. Some clear powerdercoat will keep them looking like that without any real maintenance.

[boostedup]

Sam Adams boston lager FTMFW.......nice wheels too.

[fred2ka4]

MEK is great if you really really need to know what cancer feel like...

I did industrial painting for 5 years and was on every bridge in the Bay Area and had to use/ work with that stuff on a daily basis.

Needless to say I wore full face and hand protection as that stuff will suck the moisture right out of your skin and kill a few brain cells in the process ........

[onemoremile]

What did you do to your knee? It can suck working around a bad hinge.

[JumboBlack1.8]

Thanks for all the comments guy.

I had planned on doing the clear powdercoat, but i'm seriously SO broke now that I'm not working. So, had to go the cheap route and just use a rattle can clear coat....hopefully it'll hold up at least until the winter

oh, and the damage to my knee is severe. Tore my MCL, ACL, and my PCL while working at construction site where my dad works....He had gotten me a small gig there doin small work at a green energy company in Cambridge. It was only my third day, and I walked right into a 4.5 ft deep hole, twisted the HELL out of my right leg.....I won't be able to walk (or drive) for months....

[JumboBlack1.8]

Sam Adams boston lager FTMFW.......nice wheels too.

Best domestic beer there is

[le91688]

Shoulda left them black with the lip.

[JumboBlack1.8]

Everyone does that. Already tried the black car on black shoes look....got tired of it fast.....just tryin to be different

[cab509]

those look sick, I'd love to rock those wheels.

[le91688]

more people have silver wheels.

[JumboBlack1.8]

Thanks for the input

[JumboBlack1.8]

****PICS****

FINALLY got em installed yesterday. I threw some Michelin PS2 235/40/18 tires on all 4 corners, and a 5mm spacer for the rear to move them closer to the fender....here are some shitty pics:










what do you think?

[blk04a4]

black chrome with a chrome lip is my fave style :( but they look clean!

[Blake260]

those look great....oooooooooo and look at that intercooler...you did a much nicer job trimming the front bumper than I did....looks great

[Poopie]

It looks great. you got to get into those corners some more. How does the car run?

[fred2ka4]

They look good. If you want to try something different do a high polished center with a black gloss powder coated lip.

[JumboBlack1.8]

They look good. If you want to try something different do a high polished center with a black gloss powder coated lip.

oooooooo, now thats an idea! I was actually thinking about getting them professionally refinished over the winter. I was thinking of going with the Iforged hyper gunmetal faces with a polished lip, but I MAY have to consider your suggestion.......great idea....it all depends on whether or not I can justify spending another $800 to get it done.....we'll see

those look great....oooooooooo and look at that intercooler...you did a much nicer job trimming the front bumper than I did....looks great

Lol! Thanks Blake. Couldn't have done it without the UNREAL deal that you gave me.....it took a few hours to get this bumper to fit right, but i got threw it.....next spring, I'll be sportin a VERY classy OEM RS4 bumper.....can't WAIT

how's the S4 hunting goin?

It looks great. you got to get into those corners some more. How does the car run?

Unfortunately, the car runs like shit. Been havin a bunch of problems since I got it all together. Had a wastegate issue that I'm getting fixed as soon as the new one arrives......and the car runs VERY strange....my AFR's are all over the place, and the idle kinda suck......I wanna get the wastegate working properly so I can do some logs. I really wanna get this thing running properly so I can finally see what it'll do at WOT

[andyrew]

Dude that was a LOT of work!

Good job!

[JumboBlack1.8]

Dude that was a LOT of work!

Good job!

Yea....it was....I had to do SOMETHING while I was sittin at home with a bum knee. I couldn't resist

[onemoremile]

Don't go too stir crazy. I know exactly what you're going through. The ortho rebuilt my left knee a few years ago. The ACL didn't even show up in an x-ray, the PCL was stretched thin, and both MCLs were damaged from doing the brunt of the work. He harvested new ACL material from the hamstring and screwed it into place. A week on the couch, another at work with crutches, and two months of rehab and it is better than new.

At least you didn't screw up your left knee. The clutch pedal kept me out of the car for weeks longer than the automatic. Just do solid rehab and you'll be back in the game in a few weeks. Push it a little farther each day but never too far.


The wheels look bad ass too. Seriously.
They could use a more thorough cleanup but they kinda look like they've been around the track a few times which is cool in it's own right.

[JumboBlack1.8]

Thanks for the advice man....so far, the rehab has been going very well. My surgery date isn't for another 3 weeks, but its been a month since I tore up my knee. Completely tore the ACL, PCL, and MCL.....The ortho wants the MCL to heal on its own, which is why I'm waiting so long for surgery. So far, I've regained my ability to walk, and I've got a very good range-of-motion. Now that I can move around a lot more freely, I've begun driving a bit, and working on the car a lot more.....My goal is to get it running before my surgery date (sept 25th), because after that, it's gonna be sitting for a couple of months....The doctor and physical trainers both told me I likely won't be able to walk for nearly 3 months, given the amount of repairs that need to be done

[Blake260]

how's the S4 hunting goin?

I got one....A 2000 cactus green 6-spd.