[motomaverick]

Good work but I am wondering if you can actually see the brake colors as the alloys you have does not offer much see through space. So A1 tyre care also does spray painting of the wheels? How much are they asking for the matte black finish?

[nkrishnap]

Was the rotors cleaned up after the work was done. There is paint over spray on the rotors.

Wondering if I should also take the plunge as we were discussing.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Thanks a lot for taking the time out to show the illustrations of how it will look. You have got the look spot on, with a small difference - my red lining around the alloy will be very, very thin. Everything else matches with the way the car will look after this week

Please don't do it this week. wait for 3 more months please!
Bengalooru is already 37degrees. Don't make it hotter.

The alloys will look somewhat similar to what raj_5004's "pintu"had.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Wondering if I should also take the plunge as we were discussing.

Stop wondering...Nike.
Now stop wondering why I wrote nike...I meant "Just do it"

[CliffHanger]

Karthik, the red line on the alloys will spoil the overall mean look, instead it will make the car look TOYish. At the moment, get the alloys painted to deep black, but for the red lining try stickering. In case you like the outcome, get it painted then. Personally I'm not a fan of red line on the alloy. And, why don't you keep the front mud flaps intact and let go the rear?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

And, why don't you keep the front mud flaps intact and let go the rear?

I wouldn't advice.

I've been using the car with the same combination - and it really splashes dirt on the rear. Knowing Karthik and his detailing madness - he will go to 3M every alternate day.

I would advice to change the old mudflaps to the new contoured ones though. Its smaller (but not sure how useful!). I'm going to do the same soon.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

The last bits of the jigsaw puzzle are now getting completed. This past Saturday, I got the brake calipers and brake drums painted to a fiery red (same as the car color). The next step will be to blacken the alloys to a Matt black finish with a thin red lining around the circumference (thinner than what has been illustrated by Eminenttismo). That will happen this coming Saturday.

Its getting better. Interesting!
Just one suggestion - painting the alloys matt black will be nice, but probably its better to avoid the red lining around. IMO, all black will give the wheels a more OEM look.

Edit: What Vidyut suggested below is indeed a better option. More food for thought

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Thanks a lot for taking the time out to show the illustrations of how it will look. You have got the look spot on, with a small difference - my red lining around the alloy will be very, very thin. Everything else matches with the way the car will look after this week

Karthikk, the black rims and red strip will spoil the looks imo. It will look too ricer boy types.

Instead of matt black, look at hyper silver. This looks way better than matt black. Matt black hides the alloy pattern completely.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Good work but I am wondering if you can actually see the brake colors as the alloys you have does not offer much see through space. So A1 tyre care also does spray painting of the wheels? How much are they asking for the matte black finish?

Yeah, these alloys don't show too much of the calipers, just a little. Anyway it costed 700 bucks for all 4 brakes, so I got the job done, hehe.

For the matt black finish, they are quoting 1000 per alloy wheel.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Was the rotors cleaned up after the work was done. There is paint over spray on the rotors.

Wondering if I should also take the plunge as we were discussing.

The rotors and surrounding wires were cleaned up, after a blasting session by me for that boy.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Please don't do it this week. wait for 3 more months please!
Bengalooru is already 37degrees. Don't make it hotter.

The rains have brought the temperature down, so we can try to up the temperature again, eh?

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

Karthik, the red line on the alloys will spoil the overall mean look, instead it will make the car look TOYish. At the moment, get the alloys painted to deep black, but for the red lining try stickering. In case you like the outcome, get it painted then. Personally I'm not a fan of red line on the alloy.

I'll keep the red lining option open and decide on it on D-day. Thanks for the suggestion. If it looks a bit gawdy, I'll opt out of it.

And, why don't you keep the front mud flaps intact and let go the rear?

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I've been using the car with the same combination - and it really splashes dirt on the rear. Knowing Karthik and his detailing madness - he will go to 3M every alternate day.

I would advice to change the old mudflaps to the new contoured ones though. Its smaller (but not sure how useful!). I'm going to do the same soon.

I already have the contoured splash guards now. They are absolutely useless and splash slush all over the side running board area. Removing the rear flaps will splash muck all over the bottom of the rear bumper, leading to swirl marks and scratches there. I will stick with the contoured guards for a while.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Its getting better. Interesting!
Just one suggestion - painting the alloys matt black will be nice, but probably its better to avoid the red lining around. IMO, all black will give the wheels a more OEM look.

Edit: What Vidyut suggested below is indeed a better option. More food for thought

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Karthikk, the black rims and red strip will spoil the looks imo. It will look too ricer boy types.

Instead of matt black, look at hyper silver. This looks way better than matt black. Matt black hides the alloy pattern completely.

Thanks for the lovely suggestion. I liked Hyper silver from whatever little I saw of it on google image search . I would prefer the blackish tinge of hyper silver, otherwise it won't really serve the purpose of removing the color mismatch from the current alloy set.

Question is- how do I access this rather rare color of alloy wheel paint? Does Sai colorium have it? Or is there some other place in Bangalore you know of?

[Arch-Angel]

Matt black will look good provided it has the fiery red background (i guess we cant stain discs ) to match the entire setup, otherwise silver will look good since even wheels complete the look of the car.

P.S: Karthik i wouldnt be surprised if i see your mod list growing and we wouldn't be surprised if the bill for that comes close to that of a new punto .

[Eminenttismo]

Original,


Dark Gunmetal,

Hypersilver is a very complex paint process that uses a translucent metallic outer paint laid over a colored undercoat to give the wheels a deep inner glow

Closest I could manage,

Hypersilver is a very complex paint process that uses a translucent metallic outer paint laid over a colored undercoat to give the wheels a deep inner glow

Other Variation,

[KarthikK]

The alloy wheel painting process is over. Here's thanking all of you for pouring your suggestions on the looks department. They were really helpful, especially Eminentismo's graphical illustrations.

I'd still like to disappoint a few of you for defying your suggestions . The looks have got transformed totally from that stupid whitish metal alloy wheels which looked so plain-jane, to something wicked.

While I couldn't afford to get the original Abarth Scorpion claw alloys (costs 80k per set without including shipping costs!!!)




What I could do was convert the OEM Punto alloys into Centipede Claw alloys** . Remember, centipedes can be more venomous than scorpions.


** Patent application pending

Does anyone think Punto's OEM alloys are bad looking?? I strongly, very strongly disagree. They look killer!

Special thanks to Vik0728 for accompanying me to A1 Tyre centre, Wilson garden, yesterday morning and helping me negotiate a good deal with the shop guys. I had initially decided on Matt black finish, but when I saw Vik0728's gloss black alloys, I got brainwashed with the finish and opted for gloss.

Moreover, there were two things which tilted my preference towards gloss black

- Some of the premium colors such as Hyper Silver, hyper black, gun metal etc (suggested by other members) were either too costly, not available or took too much time (he quoted 7-8 days of working time to deliver the alloys). They are just nice to have on a wishlist.

- Second suggestion given by Vik0728 was very valid - my roof was gloss black, my mirrors were gloss black and my Abarth vinyls were gloss black. Why on earth would Matt black look better than gloss? Wouldn't it be a mismatch? Gloss would look better and go with the overall flow of things, so that's what I finally zeroed in on. I still somehow got tempted by that elusive red lining and opted for it at the last minute.

Here are some pictures of the process :

A1 tyre centre fitted these clownish 14" alloys for me while the painting was being done through the day. They allow the customers to at least be mobile. Nice gesture and very thoughtful of them.



Work started on my alloys one by one



My alloys were ready by 7 PM, as promised.



I returned the clown alloys in the evening when I went to get mine fitted back



Here are some pictures of the car post-modification:

No change in the front look. It remains is, with the 'toothless grin' on the face



But is there a change in the side profile?? You bet! Centipede claw alloys!









A closer look : Gloss black alloy wheels with painted red brake calipers at the front



The rear wheels with the gloss black alloys and the painted brake drums



The red color is matched to the same code as the Punto's body paint code - Exotica Red. With dull lighting or dark ambience, it is slightly reflective as seen in this picture.



The other side of the front wheels



Balcony view - The formative days of the Abarth - unfinished edges on the DIY roof, mismatching fog lamps, mismatching alloys, too many stickers



Balcony view - The final product after many iterations of fine-tuning



Departing pictures of the Abarth Punto MultiJet Sport





Next on the anvil is race-themed black (with red stitching) full leather interiors. But there are a few more months to go for that (need to accumulate some vitamin M). I'll post any other ownership updates I have as and when required

[Pedaltothefloor]

The red rocket is capable of how many horses? I am guessing it is remapped and hence the red rocket?

[PAVAN KADAM]

For your viewing pleasure..maybe you'll like them.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

The alloy wheel painting process is over.

Special thanks to Vik0728 for accompanying me to A1 Tyre centre, Wilson garden, yesterday morning and helping me negotiate a good deal with the shop guys. I had initially decided on Matt black finish, but when I saw Vik0728's gloss black alloys, I got brainwashed with the finish and opted for gloss.

First off, you don't have to thank me Karthik, I was just a facilitator sorts, It was 'Their' hard word and 'Your' money !!


On the contrary, I need to Thank you bro. After looking at your Smashing Abarth yesterday on the meet, I have got a go ahead from my HM for Blackening the roof!!

I always thought that Punto alloy design was tricky to get the paint & the gloss on as easily as they did on my car, but boy did I have to eat my thoughts. BRILLIANT.

Honestly, RED is not my favorite color bro since I used to feel it cannot be be made to look good, but you have actually silenced the critics like me.

[ku69rd]

Congrats Karthik, She does look very gorgeous. With all the body modifications done, why don't you start to work on the engine to keep her ahead of the herd
Do I smell a RD ECU being fitted in shortly or something from La Italia to compliment the looks? With 7000 kms run in am sure the engine will have broken in just fine and must be very free. Ideal Time to harness a few more ponies from the heart?