Stock rims - 2 colors?

[CorSVXette]

Bumpity Bump Bump for answer

[siceclipse]

im in the same boat as you buddy

same website same question.

[NikFu S.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argent

[CorSVXette]

Ok. So that is the definition of "Argent" Did the SVX rims ever come in "Argent"? If not, why are they selling them as "Argent" ? Anybody know?

[NikFu S.]

I'm going to say that light silver color is argent.

[SVXMAN2001]

The real problem comes now with matching the lighter silver wheels with the lighter silver center caps. I ordered caps for a 1997 (has different part number than the 92 silver caps) and still got the darker caps...have yet to get the right color. I am thinking of just painting the caps myself...

[Tim]

Originally Posted by SVXMAN2001

The real problem comes now with matching the lighter silver wheels with the lighter silver center caps. I ordered caps for a 1997 (has different part number than the 92 silver caps) and still got the darker caps...have yet to get the right color. I am thinking of just painting the caps myself...

That's probably the best option. I believe svxcess has more info on the wheel color if you search up some of his rim threads.

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by CorSVXette

Ok. So that is the definition of "Argent" Did the SVX rims ever come in "Argent"? If not, why are they selling them as "Argent" ? Anybody know?

Paul, if you check the '93 plus '95 rims on that site, they actually have 3 colours, Medium Grey, Argent, and Silver.

Argent as I'm sure you all know is the Latin and the French for "silver"

My bet is the early dark colour is the Medium Grey. This would seem to imply that the early dark colour was not liked, and they upgraded early on to this Argent shade.

Then, when the all-over-silver lighter "Bright Silver" body colour came on in '95, they brightened up the colour again to match the body colour.

I've yet to hear of anybody who prefers the '92 dark colour to the later brighter silvers.



This is a recent close-up of my original paint dark silver [or Medium Grey?] rim on Jersey Girl, complete with non-matching original hubcap. This wheel has rotated for 38,000 miles so far



And this is a picture of the two types nose to nose. The '93 black car I'm assuming is "Argent"

I have a '95 car as well, but the rims on that are re-sprayed, so I could not be sure the colour applied is "correct"

Joe

[CorSVXette]

Hi Joe. Yea, I saw the 3 different colors. I know they came in 2 colors that is why I was wondering why they were listing them in 3 different colors. Your assumption seems to make sense to me. So the ealier models you can say had two different shades, dark gray and "Argent" while the later models had the 1 color, light silver? What do you think?

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by CorSVXette

Hi Joe. Yea, I saw the 3 different colors. I know they came in 2 colors that is why I was wondering why they were listing them in 3 different colors. Your assumption seems to make sense to me. So the ealier models you can say had two different shades, dark gray and "Argent" while the later models had the 1 color, light silver? What do you think?

Paul, I'll tell you my theory. [I'm full of them. Oliver Stone has nothing on me, mate!]

I think the original Medium Grey like on the 91-92 cars and on my Liquid Silver above was a mistake. Pure and simple, a mistake.

You will already be aware that the mirrors are not sprayed at the main Gunma factory, they were bought in from a mirror company already sprayed to the right colour, and then fitted. The colours matched well, but a subsequent problem we all know about, the mirror factory neglected to use UV resistant topcoat, so the mirrors flake and fade when older compared to the bodywork.

Same story with the wheels. They[Fuji Inc] bought the rims already painted from one supplier and the hubcaps from another. In theory they would have been expected to match, but you can see above, they are chalk and cheese.

The reason I say this is a mistake in quality control is because of how carefully everything else, the interior ecsaine and so on, is nicely colour matched. This was meant to be an upmarket car, and the hubcaps not matching the rims was serious egg on face for somebody.

After this I believe the second colour Argent was formulated to match the hubcaps, and as you can see from the black '93 car above, it is pretty close.

Then the final stage is when the all-over one colour cars came out in '96. The new silver body colour for the later cars is called Bright Silver, maybe the US did not get that one? Anyway, it is much lighter in tone than Liquid Silver, so they brightened up the rims to match, and they also have a different [probably brighter] hubcap for those later years to suit the new rim colour.

How does that explanation fit do you think??

Joe

[CorSVXette]

That works for me Joe. As long as I know that my 95 had the "Lighter Silver" color and NOT the "Argent" color, I know what color to get. Thatks again for the explanation.

[svxistentialist]

OK Paul.

One note of caution. My own '95 car is the older Liquid Silver with black roof. So I would expect as that is the older model it should have had the older Argent colour rims, just like on Black Betty.

If you are planning to buy either hubcaps or replacement rims, I would suggest the only way to be sure your rims are the new batch [aka "Silver", yeah?] would be if your car is the later production phase 11, with colour all-over Burgundy or Polo Green and with OBD11.

Or put it another way, if you have a black roof your rims may naturally be Argent colour.

Joe
[even then be careful, no guarantee]

[CorSVXette]

So my production number is #452. and it is an OBD1 car. Does that mean my car is an early 95 and the color of the rims should be "Argent" ? My car is also Polo Green.

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by CorSVXette

So my production number is #452. and it is an OBD1 car. Does that mean my car is an early 95 and the color of the rims should be "Argent" ? My car is also Polo Green.

This is a difficult call Paul, like I said above.

If asked to guess, I would suspect that since your car is Polo Green it should have the later [last] wheel and hubcap colour.

If you want to take the guesswork out of it, then if you quote your VIN number to a Subaru main dealer, he should be able to tell you which hubcap part number is correct for your chassis number. If it is the later hubcap number, it should be the last colour wheels as well.

Otherwise I can think of no other way of being certain.

Joe

[CorSVXette]

Thanks Joe for all your information. I think YT was thinking of starting to get some stock rims, having them refinished and then selling them. I may go that route. That way I know the caps will match perfectly.
Paul.