You talking about like the carbon fiber down force air intake that replaces the original and sends air directly into the air intake? I bought one of those...
Anyone else out there that likes OEM spec wheels best?
- Thread starter guidon2222
- Start date
An NSX on fat fives in the wild....
Last night was the first wash in the past two months and 650 miles.
View attachment 159649
Last night was the first wash in the past two months and 650 miles.
View attachment 159649
Fat fives look the best on Red NSX’s
Gorgeous photo of the lady in red with her FAT FIVES!
Mac Attack: love that beautiful picture - thanks for sharing. Do you have a close up picture of your car from this night too? Looks amazing! Still working on my bare aluminum FAT FIVES - they were in much worse shape than I thought after I stripped the paint. Lots of sanding! It’s hard work but I’ve really enjoyed learning how to do this and I know I’m going to love the look!
Mac Attack: love that beautiful picture - thanks for sharing. Do you have a close up picture of your car from this night too? Looks amazing! Still working on my bare aluminum FAT FIVES - they were in much worse shape than I thought after I stripped the paint. Lots of sanding! It’s hard work but I’ve really enjoyed learning how to do this and I know I’m going to love the look!
[MENTION=11324]Miner[/MENTION]-keep OEM rim/tire sizes!Aftermarket looks awesome,but rides way worse!
Wow. Brushed or machined aluminum finished Fat Fives look great.
Mac Attack: what do you think?
Finally got these to a respectable finish - so glad I did it...love it!
Finally got these to a respectable finish - so glad I did it...love it!
[MENTION=33910]guidon2222[/MENTION]
Those look great! Nice job! I know that's a lot of work, so I'm glad you're happy with them too. In the paint removal process, I probably took a good pound of paint off each wheel, so they're even better-performing than OEM!
One thing that made it look even more aggressive on a lowered NSX like our's are the wheel spacers I mentioned earlier. I'll take some side shots of my car for a reference when it stops raining!
I personally use the 40 mm spacers in the rear with integrated studs so they're real easy to install. It's perfect in my opinion and doesn't rub anywhere. I have 15 mm spacer up front with longer wheel studs. Unfortunately, those are too narrow and don't match the rear spacing. I think a 25 mm spacer with integrated studs (which makes it easy to bolt on) would be perfect for these up front.
For the '02 + OEM wheels, a 15mm front spacer and a 25mm rear spacer look best to me, so that's why I haven't changed out my 15 mm front spacers.
Those look great! Nice job! I know that's a lot of work, so I'm glad you're happy with them too. In the paint removal process, I probably took a good pound of paint off each wheel, so they're even better-performing than OEM!
One thing that made it look even more aggressive on a lowered NSX like our's are the wheel spacers I mentioned earlier. I'll take some side shots of my car for a reference when it stops raining!
I personally use the 40 mm spacers in the rear with integrated studs so they're real easy to install. It's perfect in my opinion and doesn't rub anywhere. I have 15 mm spacer up front with longer wheel studs. Unfortunately, those are too narrow and don't match the rear spacing. I think a 25 mm spacer with integrated studs (which makes it easy to bolt on) would be perfect for these up front.
For the '02 + OEM wheels, a 15mm front spacer and a 25mm rear spacer look best to me, so that's why I haven't changed out my 15 mm front spacers.
What brand spacers you running? Hub centric?
Thanks - I really love them! I think this is my FAVORITE setup/look. Guess I have two sets of other FAT FIVES to sell.
What brand spacers are you running? Are they hub centric? I love that filled out fender look just never used spacers. Always worried they weren’t safe - just don’t have any experience with them.
Thanks - I really love them! I think this is my FAVORITE setup/look. Guess I have two sets of other FAT FIVES to sell.
What brand spacers are you running? Are they hub centric? I love that filled out fender look just never used spacers. Always worried they weren’t safe - just don’t have any experience with them.
Any details regarding the process you did on these? =) Looks awesome.
What Center caps? Do they just cover the wheel hubs? I like the lugs exposed.
Restoration process
Hey, it was a ton of work but enjoy piddling on projects. I’d say it took two weeks - working about 4 hrs a day. The easy part was paint removal with “Aircraft Paint Remover” except that I found out the EPA banned sales to consumers.....only commercial sales. Luckily I had a bottle left from previous project. Spray on, let sit, paint essentially bubbles and slides off - some can be scraped off with plastic scrapers. I only paid $250 for my set of wheels and they were in really bad shape. Lots of pitted aluminum, 3 big gashes in face of wheel. There was sanding, filing, wet sanding, steel wool , used a drimmel tool with various sanding, abrasive polishing wheels, mothers aluminum mag polish. These wheels were in really bad shape though. I think I rescued these from the scrap yard!
Hey, it was a ton of work but enjoy piddling on projects. I’d say it took two weeks - working about 4 hrs a day. The easy part was paint removal with “Aircraft Paint Remover” except that I found out the EPA banned sales to consumers.....only commercial sales. Luckily I had a bottle left from previous project. Spray on, let sit, paint essentially bubbles and slides off - some can be scraped off with plastic scrapers. I only paid $250 for my set of wheels and they were in really bad shape. Lots of pitted aluminum, 3 big gashes in face of wheel. There was sanding, filing, wet sanding, steel wool , used a drimmel tool with various sanding, abrasive polishing wheels, mothers aluminum mag polish. These wheels were in really bad shape though. I think I rescued these from the scrap yard!
there are some old threads about folks sourcing some generic caps that fit the small center hole..not the big oem covers which I think detract form the wheel
@guidon2222 your car looks great with the refinished fat fives.
I think @docjohn is referencing something like this.
The center bores are different front and back, the fronts are 70.1 and the rears are 64.1. Finding a center cap may be a challenge, but would finish off the wheel nicely. I am sure someone could 3D print the correct sized cap.
I did something similar with my Advans
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Oh wow - that would look awesome...I’d love to get my hands on those!!! Now I’m on the hunt!!!!
Hmmm...nothing on eBay. Where else could I look?
https://www.scienceofspeed.com/index.php/nsx/epp/wheel-accessories.html
https://www.evasivemotorsports.com/store/category/center-caps/
Maybe here? But I honestly don't know if they will fit.
I tried searching for someone who has your five-spoke style rims with the center cap like the one shown above, but no luck.
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I found the center caps on ebay and made mine using the Advan center caps. See my thread here:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...-Your-Advan-Center-Caps?p=1951899#post1951899
While this won't help you source a set of caps, it might help once you do find some. The ones I purchased were 69mm from a Civic / Accord, etc. There are some 58mm ones which could work if you had a proper center cap to mount them on to. The key is finding some flat center caps to fit the wheels. As I mentioned, you may need to find someone to 3D print some center caps for you, then apply the modified Honda (or Acura) center cap logo.
My center cap thread has a picture of a plain Advan center cap. As you can see it is tapered from roughly 69mm at the top, to 72mm (which is the CB of the Advan wheels) at the wheel. You would need to do something similar where you have a cap 3D printed that is 58mm at the top and 70.1mm at the wheel (this would be for the front BTW).
Hey, it was a ton of work but enjoy piddling on projects. I’d say it took two weeks - working about 4 hrs a day. The easy part was paint removal with “Aircraft Pmaint Remover” except that I found out the EPA banned sales to consumers.....only commercial sales. Luckily I had a bottle left from previous project. Spray on, let sit, paint essentially bubbles and slides off - some can be scraped off with plastic scrapers. I only paid $250 for my set of wheels and they were in really bad shape. Lots of pitted aluminum, 3 big gashes in face of wheel. There was sanding, filing, wet sanding, steel wool , used a drimmel tool with various sanding, abrasive polishing wheels, mothers aluminum mag polish. These wheels were in really bad shape though. I think I rescued these from the scrap yard!
Wish you did a whole video on YouTube.... I've got two sets collecting cobwebs in my garage.
Do you any before pics?
All of my spacers are hub-centric.
I've had my fat fives with some form of spacers on my NSX for the past 15 years and 70k miles. It hits almost 140 MPH when I back off in the 1/4 mile (about the quickest I've taken this car) and there's no vibration. Just keep the torque at recommended specs, and never torque them when the vehicle just came off the track - always do the torque at ambient temps. Also, keep the seating surfaces clean (if I painted the wheels in the past I would scrape off the paint where the lug nuts interface). Some Porches come factory with spacers. I wouldn't hesitate to run them (within reason).
The front 15mm spacers and the rear 25mm spacers are H&R. I'm not sure about the 40mm rears, but I bought them from Angus here on Prime.
This was taken tonight. 15mm front and 40mm rear. The 40mm rear is perfect for our ride height. 15mm up front is OK, but it would be better with a 25mm spacer. Then, all of the spacers would have integrated studs and it would be easy to add/remove.
View attachment 159713
Oh, and this pic was with 40mm spacers rear. I considered using center caps, but with the spacers in the rear the axle nut sits pretty recessed. The front hubs are typically rusty on most cars but mine were wire-brushed and painted black so it looks OK. I'm all about minimizing weight as you can tell. Even my WW rear spats have custom mounts so thet don't sit on top of the OEM pieces for weight savings. A 2500 lb NSX is a blast.
View attachment 159714
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Before pics...
91 x: Here’s a pic of two very early on in the process after basically just stripping the paint. They were awful. I circled the two large gashes on the one wheel. I bought these off the man works on my nsx and these were his track wheels. Sounds like from MacAttack that if your wheels are in good OEM shape with paint, should just be stripping paint and maybe a light buff and polish. My wheels look like they were in a nuclear blast & there were a few times late at night I thought I would never bring these back to life. I had zero experience doing anything like this - just asked for advice here, watched YouTube videos, and lots of trial and error. They’re not perfect...like my old girlfriend....”Good from afar, but far from good”....ha! I like how they turned out.
91 x: Here’s a pic of two very early on in the process after basically just stripping the paint. They were awful. I circled the two large gashes on the one wheel. I bought these off the man works on my nsx and these were his track wheels. Sounds like from MacAttack that if your wheels are in good OEM shape with paint, should just be stripping paint and maybe a light buff and polish. My wheels look like they were in a nuclear blast & there were a few times late at night I thought I would never bring these back to life. I had zero experience doing anything like this - just asked for advice here, watched YouTube videos, and lots of trial and error. They’re not perfect...like my old girlfriend....”Good from afar, but far from good”....ha! I like how they turned out.
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First polish/wax in two years:
View attachment 159872
New tires and TPMS were installed on the '02 wheels next to the car. Those are waiting for warmer weather so I can dip them gunmetal and try another look.
View attachment 159872
New tires and TPMS were installed on the '02 wheels next to the car. Those are waiting for warmer weather so I can dip them gunmetal and try another look.
We've run various 17/18 wheels on our red NSX over the years, and while there are certainly better looking wheels out there.....the originals do feel the best on the road/track.
Here's a photo of the generally un-loved chrome Phat-5's mounted, but with 25mm spacers all around.
I did have to machine out the centers of the front spacers (a friend has a machine shop in his basement ;-) to mate to the larger front hubs, but they fit great and feel even better.
I have brand new tires and the mint original-to-the-car (silver painted) wheels that I'm having mounted up tomorrow, so look forward to having fresh rubber on the 15/16's!
Brian
Here's a photo of the generally un-loved chrome Phat-5's mounted, but with 25mm spacers all around.
I did have to machine out the centers of the front spacers (a friend has a machine shop in his basement ;-) to mate to the larger front hubs, but they fit great and feel even better.
I have brand new tires and the mint original-to-the-car (silver painted) wheels that I'm having mounted up tomorrow, so look forward to having fresh rubber on the 15/16's!
Brian
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