mikeymcm

hey guys i just picked up a set of te37's They say garcia tune on lips. i have never seen this version before. anybody have any pics of these on a car or have any other info on them?
thanks.

racebum

holy moly, that is the oldest set of 37s i have ever seen. judging by the stickers it appears they were a special line or made for a team. notice the rays sticker inside also mentions this as te garcia

Caretaker

Wow. never seen those before. nice set!

DrZFiNeSt

iTrader: (1)

Never seen a set like that but I must admit they look pretty good

1998GsRIntegra

Bump from the dead because I'm looking for info on these. Bought a set of 17x7.5" Te37's that were powder coated black. Stripped them down and discovered they were chrome underneath. On one of the wheels I could make out the remnants of a decal that said "garcia tune" under the valve stem. Needless to say I've never heard of them before. I was planning to just re-powder coat them black again, but if they're something special then I might consider restoring them to factory original condition.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

They were a very low run version of the TE-37. Most notable thing about them was the high polish finish, and specialty vinyls.

1998GsRIntegra

I definitely believe they were a low run version. The only things I've found on them are this thread and a few others from mikeymcm trying to sell his set. Are they at all desirable in original condition or were they a low run because no one wanted them?

I think what I may do is have the chrome chemically stripped, powder coat them black, then have the garcia tune decals made and put them on with the original rays decals. Upon closer inspection I can see remnants of "garcia tune" on the valve stem pocket of all four wheels, but I can only read it in full on one wheel.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

I'd say the stickers are really the most memorable part of the wheel. I would just coat them a color of your choosing and have the stickers remade.

EKSedAndy

To each their own, but I would say the high polish is what makes these wheels unique. I'd personally refinish them that way. If they're powdercoated black then I don't really see the point in the Garcia Tune stickers because the high polish is what seems to make the Garcia's a Garcia. That would be like powdercoating a set of Regamaster Brites black.

This is all just my opinion of course. If I were you and dead set on black TE37's I'd find another set and refinish these, and sell them to someone that values them for what they are (and hopefully make some money off them).

1998GsRIntegra

All opinions are welcomed. My issues with re-doing them in their original finish(which is chrome plated, not polished aluminum) are #1, I hate chrome, #2 I'd have way more money into them than what I could sell them for because chrome plating is expensive. Roughly $300 to strip the old chrome from the wheels to get back down to the base aluminum then $300 per wheel, so $1200 total to re-plate all four wheels. I'm $1500 just in the chrome process. Factor in what I paid for the set plus my time to repair the two that were damaged and I'm well beyond what I could sell them for, and I didn't pay much for them to begin with.

The reason I'm thinking about having them recoated in black is because a powder coating shop owes me a favor so I could get it done for next to nothing, and they'd be a lot easier to sell because black goes with any color car, chrome, not so much. I'd much rather be my time + what I paid for them + a case of beer to get them powder coated than $1500 in chrome work.

TracerAcer2.2L

You just made the wheel more rare lol

EKSedAndy

I hear ya, can't really restore them at a loss. I guess the only other thing you could do is post them for sale how they are with all the details you know and see if someone will buy them knowing what it costs to refinish, but buys them for the scarcity/rare factor.

555R

i remember seeing them in an old honda hyper rev book
i can't read japanese so i can't translate
DSG tuning shows a Diego Garcia TE37 not sure what the story is there

Sway5000

They are extremely rare versions of the TE-37 much like the Top Secret Edition Volk Wheels. I have only seen them in the past on the Signal Auto EK9. Personally, I would refinish them to the original specs, there aren't any other chrome TE-37's out there that came from Rays in that state.