GTA Wheel Obsession

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WLDWST

Active Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2003
Messages
2,333
Did anyone else get obsessed when looking for the perfect GTA's?? A few need some work, but I guess I will send them all out to get redone and then pick the 4 best fronts.
 
Sorry guys. Not meant for sale right now. That's why I posted in the Turbo Lounge. I was just curious if there were others that get carried away with simple quests.
 
Looks like a waste of money to me. One curb or pothole and it won't matter anyway.
 
I got mine several years ago before all the crazy Buick guys drove the price up. :tongue: I got 2 mint sets (locally) with no curb rash and I only paid $400 for all 8 wheels.Now a mint set sells for an arm and a leg. :rolleyes:

gn003.jpg
 
GNX style wheels obsessed...

I bought a set of four "fronts" for my GN but found that the the two installed on the rear of the car were still too much tucked inside...Sooo I sent all four wheels to Jim at True Design Wheel and had them specially made the way I wanted them: 16"x5" for the front, and 16"x10" for the rear...
-First pic shows the 16"x5" front wheels
-Second pic shows the 16"x10" rear wheels
-Third pic shows the 16"x10" wheels used with a 1.25" thick spacer...

Claude:smile:

P.S: On top of that, I also have two spare GTA fronts!..:biggrin: I guess that I'm also obsessed with GNX-style wheels!...:biggrin:

Mabe this thread would be more appropriate ( and possibly be moved) to the "BRAKES SUSPENSION TIRES AND WHEELS" SECTION!!
 
Wow....how do ya keep them rear quarters chip free with them big ole stickys out back??!!

KB
 
"QuickBuick87", they're new and I've just put them on the car during this winter time!...:biggrin: :biggrin: I'll see this spring what happens....Maybe I'll have to install some small mud flaps if the need arises...:rolleyes:

Claude :biggrin:
 
I thought I would update my thread. I finally got the 12 GTA wheels back from the refinisher and selected my four fronts. All were locally done by Darren at Wheel Works in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Darren was reasonable and competitive as far as the costs go. The legwork and running around was quite a hassle, but I think they will be worth the trouble. These will look great on my white T. Hopefully as nice as Gary Wells car. Haven't decided the fate of the remaining 8 wheels as of yet.
 
Nice job they look great!!!! lots of work rite?
I have a mint set,, never mountet tires for sale 4 fronts
$1100 714 457-6839 Rafael sorry to hijack our thread
look in the south western section
 
Considering how easy it is to repair/refinish most of those wheels theres no need for a quest to find the "perfect" wheel.

DSC0004.jpg


I did a set for my old Firebird almost 10 years ago. After a couple hours per wheel they went from looking like hell to better than any factory crosslace wheel you could get your hands on. I was just a 19 year old kid that didn't know what I was doing either. I'll bet if I did a set now they would look even nicer.

Anyone can refurbish these things.
 
Please tell me why the fronts are prefered & what the difference between the fronts and rears are.....Thanks:)
 
Pablo said:
Considering how easy it is to repair/refinish most of those wheels theres no need for a quest to find the "perfect" wheel.



I did a set for my old Firebird almost 10 years ago. After a couple hours per wheel they went from looking like hell to better than any factory crosslace wheel you could get your hands on. I was just a 19 year old kid that didn't know what I was doing either. I'll bet if I did a set now they would look even nicer.

Anyone can refurbish these things.
Click to expand...

That's true. If you have the time and resources anyone can refurbish these. I perfer to spend my time more productively. For the amount of effort it took to do these, I can understand why they are worth the money everyone aks for them. If you can and want to do it yourself, that's a personal choice. I love working on my car, but refurbishing wheels isn't my thing. There is also the hassle of finding them in the first place. It would have been cheaper and less trouble to buy Raphael's wheels and ship up here to Canada. Keep in mind where I am located. We don't see GTA wheels come up for sale very often, just because of the population base.

Turbowife
The fronts are more desirable because they usually will fit on our cars front or back without a spacer. It is relatively common for Turbo Buick owners to put the rears on the front with spacers and run the fronts on the back. Also the fronts have a slightly deeper dish which in my opinion is more desirable.
 
Turbowife said:
Please tell me why the fronts are prefered & what the difference between the fronts and rears are.....Thanks:)
Click to expand...

The rears will rub the frame in back, because they have about 1/2" more backspacing than the fronts.

If you run aftermarket 12" brakes in front, the rears actually work better than fronts, here.
 
WLDWST said:
I thought I would update my thread. I finally got the 12 GTA wheels back from the refinisher and selected my four fronts. All were locally done by Darren at Wheel Works in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Darren was reasonable and competitive as far as the costs go. The legwork and running around was quite a hassle, but I think they will be worth the trouble. These will look great on my white T. Hopefully as nice as Gary Wells car. Haven't decided the fate of the remaining 8 wheels as of yet.
Click to expand...
Wow, thanks for the props, Robert, and I am sure that my car appreciates the props also. And this coming from a man who owns 99.9% of the free world's population of non-attached GNX replica rims.I can see right now that I am going to have to raise the bar on this. I am going to chase down some real GNX rims in the near future. I was just getting ready to get first refusal rights to Robert West's next in line set, but now that those are already spoken for, and usurped my plans for getting another set of GTA rims for another turbobrick which I haven't even located yet. That was my down the road plan, but now I am going to step this up a little. Robert, those rims are just beautiful. I must say that you really tackled this project with great endeavor, and were unbelievably sucessful. I think that I am going to have to go for the gold here and get some real GNX rims for my turbobrick. That will put a stop to you guys hoarding these rims.
Pablo: I hold you in high esteem also, I know what type of work is involved in re-doing a set of used GTA rims into a nice set of GNX replica rims, and I would never undertake such a project.
 
Gary, those rims on your car just looked right to me. The stock wheels look good too, but the GTA's are a nice change. I also must admit, I do like a 26" tire better on the street compared to the 28" The track is a different story.
After I get mine installed I will post a few pics. I wouldn't mind seeing more Turbo Buicks with GTA's, if anyone has pics handy.
 
I am really suprised that we have not heard of anybody getting a set of Brian's @ G Body Parts 17" GNX replica rims yet?
 
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