Well I had wanted OZ's from about the first nanosecond I saw them. I had wanted a set of 9's and 10's and I had seen several sets pop up with very high asking prices. I had just had the heart attack and was recovering when I got an email from my good friend ElRojo with a link to a very used set in San Francisco. The price was $650.00 for a set of 4. It was a Friday night and I had a date that night. I called the number in the second the email popped up and the guy answered right away.
I said "I have three questions:"
He said "Go ahead."
"Are they still for sale?"
"Yes"
"Are they cracked around the lugs?"
He said "No, I know about the cracking and these are good"
"Are they staggered??
"No, 8's all around"
Then I said "Sorry, one more question, How do I pay you?"
He said PP is good and I already was logged in by the time the third Q was asked. I asked him for his email and he gave it to me and I hit send as soon as he said the ".com" part. He checked the funds, they were there and he gave me his address. He asked when I wanted to come there and I said "How about 8 AM?" He said fine, I got the info and went on my date. I told her about the wheels and she knew I had been wanted them for months so she was cool about cutting it short.
I went home about midnight, changed and packed an overnight just in case and got on the road in my coupe.
I drove all night up the I-5 to Frisco and when I got there in the morning a light rain was falling. I made it to his house and I think it was in the Pacific Heights area, and the guy was Asian. (Not that it matters, just narrating the story). So we go in the garage and in there are two really high end cars. I believe one was a Lambo Gallardo and the kids was I believe a Porsche 911 GT. I asked him if I could snap a couple of pics, but he was pretty firm on a big NO... I don't even think he wanted me looking at them.. LOL
I loaded up the wheels and he came out to look at my car and commented that he liked it and that they would look great on her.
I got on the freeway and there was a lot of Sunday Morning traffic because of the rain and they closed the Bay Bridge westbound lanes due to them building the new BB. But I made it back home fine. I was REALLY tired the last 100 miles and had to have my buddy talk to me and keep me alert.
Once I got them home, I knew Henric had a guy that refinished his so I got the number from him and took them to Eli. He spent about 2-3 weeks refinishing them. I had all of the hardware replaced at $5.00 per bolt with 37 per wheel, so it was a little pricey. I also brought him a quart of paint in 199 black, but at that time Mauricio had moved out of Dragi's and I could not find him to get the exact match in paint, so I went to a auto paint store and had it mixed. The color is a little off, a little more "blacker", but it's barely noticeable.
The price of the refinishing was $1400.00 and Eli recommended that I go with Hankook Ventus V-12's for tires. I researched them and they are a solid tire with a great price. He charged me $400.00 for the set of 4 mounted and balanced with the "Touchless" wheel balancer.
We had a problem with the lugs being too short, but he knew a company that sold them in various lengths. I had to make 2 trips down there to get the right ones, but I did and that's it.
Now if I can just find a set of 10's and God Forbid 12's for the future WB upgrade.