What is the correct color for the 1971 Chevelle Super Sport wheels? I couldn't find this in the color charts. I am getting my mags sand blasted and repainted and want to make sure to pick the correct color. Currently they are a dark charcoal almost black color but I've notice some pictures where they are almost a silver color. Help! graemlins/clonk.gif

FYI,Dark Grey is the correct color per Year One for the 71-72 5 Spoke Sport Wheel!

I think Groundup and Year One sell the correct paint for those. It's a medium shade of gray that actually has a rough, textured finish, almost as if it had fine sand in it.

Dark Charcoal gray is the correct color for 71 & 72 five spoke sport wheels, but the year one paint is just a quart of PPG Acrylic lacquer DDL32961 for almost 70 dollars I think it is up to now. It does NOT have the "pebble" agent in it to give it the rough look like a mag wheel. I bought a quart of it in the spring of 2002 & ended up using it as a color match for urethane (much harder & more durable finish). Unfortunately I did not find out about the "pebble" additive till after the wheels were all sandblasted & painted.

One other thing you should be aware of is that there are four different versions of these 5 spoke sport wheels & unless you really look carefully, you will never see the difference. I should know because I have the wrong 5 spoke wheels on my 71.

The most noticable difference is the size & SHAPE of the hole in the trim ring above the valve stem, THAT THE VALVE STEM FITS THRU.

1). Oval hole 1" by 5/8" for 1970 thru 1970 1/2 Camaro Z28

2). Oval hole 1" by 13/16 for Camaro Z28 1970 1/2 thru 1976 & all Chevelle 1971 & 1972

3). Round hole 7/8" diameter for 77 & 78 Camaro Z28 painted car color

4). Round hole 1" diameter for 79 thru 81 Camaro Z28 painted car color

I have recently purchased a set of 5 correct oval hole wheels that I am going to sand blast & repaint again (2nd times a charm), to the correct charcoal gray color & pebble finish as soon as I do some more investigative work.

Jim

A.C.E.S. 4996


Frame off red 71 Chevelle SS496 Convertible with white stripes, top & interior loaded with factory options: TH400, cowl induction, power windows, locks, cruise, tilt, top, trunk, 12 bolt 373 posi, A/C, AM-FM 8 track, power drivers bucket seat, mirror map light, trunk, hood, glove box lights, on the wheel GM air pressure gauges, Delco Jac Pac 175 (under hood vacuum powered air compressor) with under dash Delco air pressure controller/regulator, complete with Jac Pac 175 air shocks.

http://chevelle.ogleonline.com/jim.htm

1952 Chevrolet 4 door Deluxe Sedan with a 216.5ci in line 6 with the last RAJO (RAcing JOe) Power Cylinder Head designed by grandfather in the 1940's. Joe designed, built & sold all over the world performance heads during the 20's, 30's & 40's starting with the model T Ford. Joe drove in the FIRST INDY 500 in 1911 as car # 8.

Watch for my SS496 Chevelle as a pace car at Indy in 2011 (100 years after Grandpa Joe) IF THEY WILL LET ME !

Jim...Nice SS! I was looking at your pictures and noticed the color of your 5 spoke wheels and to me they almost look like a dark silver more than dark charcoal, just like the 71 Chevelle Dealer brochure that I have. My existing 5 spoke wheels are painted a dark charcoal which looks almost black. Do you by any chance have the paint numbers for the rims? BTW, check out my car! graemlins/beers.gif

Jim says "Dark Charcoal gray is the correct color for 71 & 72 five spoke sport wheels, but the year one paint is just a quart of PPG Acrylic lacquer DDL32961 for almost 70 dollars"

My 2000 Year One catalog has the paint as QP961 and says it is the grainy texture as original and price is $32.50 for a quart. I'm sure it's gone up some since 2000 but I hope it hasn't more than doubled. I'm hoping I can find it locally or at C.A.R.S. down by Detroit.

Do you think 1 quart will be sufficient to paint 4 rims that will will be sand blasted and primared?

Beautiful car you got there Mr 454. When I look at my 2001 Year one catalog on page 129, part number QP961, the paint simply states the following:

"Dark grey paint for 1971 - 72 5 spoke sport wheels. This paint is not thinned and may require thinning for spray gun use"

By the way, when I bought my 71 it did come with incorrect silver painted wheels. They were painted correct dark charcoal grey in early 2002 in the following formula that was matched to DDL32961 in urethane for better durability. Unfortunately I discovered last summer that I had the incorrect round holed Z28 wheels, so I recently bought another set of correct oval holed Chevelle Wheels & I am going to blast them & repaint ANOTHER set of 5 wheels.


This formula will make 60oz of Polyurethane Dark Charcoal Grey Paint.

DCC DK Argent Met. Flat NX
Match to DDL32961

DMC 900 38.0 38.0
DMC 908 10.0 48.0
DMC 983 110.0 158.0
DMC 902 153.0 311.0
DX 685 850.0 1161.0
DMC 981 790.0 1951.0

The formula also states to mix 4 parts paint one part either DU 5 or maybe DV 5

I am not certain if the so called pebble "rough" finish has to be added or if it is part of the original DDL32961 formula.

Jim

Thanks Jim,
Are you saying the picture of your car that I looked at had the wrong color painted mags? They look exactly like the same color as the Chevelle brochure from 1971 that I have. To me the color looks more like a darker silver than the really dark charcoal color that mine were. Most people think mine were painted black until they looked at them close.

Not to sound stupid but what brand of paint is the formula you're talking about? graemlins/clonk.gif

The paint formula I received last year from the body shop after I had my wheels painted is just the way I presented in the above post. I did however go to the paint supplier this morning that is listed on the formula & spoke to one of the resident paint experts & he stated that the DDL32961 Lacquer definitely DOES have the additive in it to give it that mag style finish to it. Unfortunately the additive is NOT available in the urethane formula above.

I dropped off my 5 wheels to be blasted this morning & plan to pick them up on Tuesday morning & drop them off at the body shop to have them primered right away.

I would prefer to have the wheels painted in urethane (for a much harder & durable finish)& bake them in the sun in the back yard on a couple of these real hot sunny days, that should cook & cure them real well. The only other alternative I have is to paint them in the proper DDL32961 Lacquer (formula listed above) & then clear coat them in a flat DAU75 that has hardener in it for a better than a "lacquer only" finish. I have until next week to decide which way I want to go.

I am not even certain if the clear coat would change the shade of the gray.

By the way, all of the paint codes listed are PPG numbers.

Jim

I had my certified refinisher (my brother) paint my wheels in urethane PPG paint (32961), which will cross from laquer to urethane. He shot the base coat as dry as he could, and used a flat clear when he was done. He shot the clear as dry as he could also, to keep the sheen down. When I went to pick them up, I about passed out because that formula looked like a brown root beer color. I stared at them for a while, stuck the new caps and rings on them and set them out in the sunlight. I went ahead and mounted the tires on them, and put them on the car. THEY LOOKED PERFECT. They ended up with the perfect magnesium look. So dont be scared if they look brown after you shoot them!!!!! Just my two cents. Todd graemlins/hurray.gif