optikinescant

So, I've been hoping I will have enough money to buy wheels for my new xb, hence going with the steelies when I purchased it, but now looking at my budget for the rest of the year I just don't think its going to happen (a wedding to plan for, a trip to louisianna coming up for a friends wedding, all kinds of miscellany for my busines, etc.) . A friend and I were using our collective creativity and we came up with the idea of painting the wheel covers to give it a modded look on the cheap for the time being. So, I ____ed around in photoshop for all of five minutes and came up with this. I'm thinking black wheels and matching tint upfront, along with an intake once they become more readily available will be good enough to tie me over til next year when i may be in a better position to purchase some nice rims and tires for her. I guess the worst that can happen is I waste 10 bucks on paint and sand paper on some hub caps that I don't like and then just roll with steelies.....

What do you think? What other low cost mods would you recommend that have a nice, non-tacky appearance. I hate kitschy stuff, like neon frames and outlandish vinyl graphics, so nothing along those lines. Randode seems to have a few things I may be interested in... but is there anything else out there?

onemorescion

IMO...i don't think that is a bad idea with the painted wheel covers. If you can get them to turn out that good that is. Also, look you may want to consider going with a brighter low beam bulb for your headlights, cheap upgrade with a nice look. As far as anything else goes, if you were looking to lowr your car, and want to go the cheap route for that as well, find a set of stock rear springs from the 1st gen and slap them on yours, it'll give it an even stance with the front. Another thing you may want to consider is the shark fin antenna, I've seen some on ebay for a couple bucks. There's a white one on here that has that already, looks good.

Good luck though with everything.

timmer357

I kind of like the painted covers...I think I will do that to mine. Thanks for the tip. I have black 18s right now but plan on running the steelies in the winter. It rains A LOT here in Oregon and the road sanding trucks go hog wild on the frosty mornings. Don't want to damage the 18s.

optikinescant

That's true, I have been considering HIDs or even just brighter halogen low beams (any brand/model recommendations?).... shark fin's something to consider for a few bucks, i like it on the white, but i think i'm digging the antenna as is on mine. As for the paint on the rims, my buddy is a professional painter so he's going to help me get as close to that look and sheen as possible. Wonder how hard it is to find those old stock springs, I'll have to check the classifieds.

uberspeed

Funny, I had thought of doing black matte on the hubcaps as well to hold me over too lol
When you say low budget, what's the range?
Fro example, I'm looking to do HID's as soon as I get it, that's a priority for me because I consider lighting a safety issue. At around $170 for a decent kit it's not cheap, but it's also not the 1k+ you would most likely be looking to spend on rims and tires.
I'm also goin to tint it (around $160 where I live) because I like the privacy and I think it repels heat, which is a good thing in Sotuh Florida
I'm looking at nearly $350 off the bat, but I think these are "livability" mods moreso than purely cosmetic so I feel they're much more necessary and I absolutely need these to hold me over and function on a daily basis.

optikinescant

Low budget to me is sub-$200...... so yeah the mobileHID's for 170 are kind of on my list, but not necessary as these stock projector lamps are better than silverstars running in my old focus lamps - though I regret not getting fog lights to an extent. Tinting just the front driver and passenger side windows should be below a hundred bucks as well... I don't want to go too dark as to draw attention from cops and what not...

burstaneurysm

I rolled on painted caps for a little while on my 1st gen. I liked the look. I then went to trim rings, those look good too, and that's what's going back on come winter.

optikinescant

that's nice, like how you kept the logos taped off to keep em silver.

eight08customs

look better than running with out them and just the black steelies

Whispaz

I'm on a budget too so tomorrow I'm going to try to put my civic rims on the scion. This is what it should look like:

SimpleNature

I'm thinking these as double duty... no brake dust on the caps/rims ...and support for the classic lines of the xB. What do you think?

rsw1124

COOOL, dadio, Cooool!!

Whispaz

thats would be verrry niiicie. But for that you'd need new tires.... expensive

SimpleNature

Oh, I wasn't thinking the wide whitewalls... or the red rims... just the mooney's. They're available in 16" at $150- for the set.

http://www.hubcapmike.com/bhc01-16.html

Whispaz

hmm...... that doesnt look too bad.

timmer357

Please no...don't do those. For love of all that is good, don't put those on. I would rather have pink powder coated 14s than those.

Just get a PT Cruizer to put those on...every other dork around my region seems to and it looks fookin' lame

SimpleNature

hmmmm... "pink powder 14's"... why didn't I think of that!

08toaster

i did the painted hubcaps on my black xb2...i scuffed em up and painted them with gunmetal paint. the center logos just pop out, so its actually really easy...totally changed the look too..those hubcaps just stood out too much...id post pics, but i dont have a digital camera....

08toaster

Whispaz, did you ever get to put the civic wheels on? i was curious if they fit.

Whispaz

not yet, i got drunk Friday and slept until 4pm. Then got ready for another party. I'm going to do it after work and post pics later tonight