picked these up today........

[d p - 400se]

16" x 9" tuscan race wheels off ebay.

Im thinking of renovating these wheels myself rather than pay someone in the region of £600+ to do it.
As such i have a couple of questions:
has anyone renovated their own wheels before?
If I buy a polishing kit do you think that will bring a shine back to the rims? (they are pitted and flat but not badly scrated or damaged)
Does anyone know what name the split rim bolts have so that i can find the correct socket bit to get them off?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Also they didnt come with the centre caps. Can you still get hold of these anywhere?

>>> Edited by d p - 400se on Sunday 10th October 15:10

[jimson]

What are they going to replace looking for some new wheels myself,bored with the lattice type...Jim

[2 sheds]

dp-400se
From experience these wheels bend quite easily before you go to the trouble of restoring them might be worth a check, as they may have had a hard life during Tuscan racing, you can get a key for the nuts but very difficult, i'm sure somebody on here will help though, it's a special OZ tool.
When you fit them to a Wedge (assume you are doing that) they might run close to the fuel tanks as the extra 1/2" width is inwards, i have fitted to 3 different wedges all were fine but very close, IMO too wide for the front although depends on the use.
They have a clear laquer coat to protect the polished rim, this will be a high temp bake laquer, yes you can polish but hard work, some people leave the wheel in one piece and paint over the nuts leaving the rim as a polished & laquered finish.
Tim

[gsx600]

Hope you is not thinking of putting them tyres on the road, as I think the could well be a bit illegal !

I have the 16's on the back off my 4?0, but not sure what width they are. They seem to clear though (225 tyres), would like 2 more for the front to replace the 15's

[father ted]

jimson said:

What are they going to replace looking for some new wheels myself,bored with the lattice type...Jim

Jim , if you put blue plastic inserts on them ,i hear it makes 'em go faster

[andy-white]

[pic]
http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00287265f00000004.jpg
[/pic]


I had great trouble getting the tools for a good price so i bit the bullet and ground out the old bolts! Took a long time and very messy i tell you. I then had the centres powder coated locally, polished the rims myself and re-assembled stainless steel cap head screw's. Hard work but cost me about £300 all in and look great.

Edited to add - cant get the hang of inserting pictures!



>> Edited by andy-white on Monday 11th October 07:56

>> Edited by andy-white on Monday 11th October 07:57

[shpub]

You also want to check that they don't foul the A frame as well. Can cut a groove into the wheel. On the front they can catch and wear through the inner arch.
They need flared arches as well!

I use 245/45 16 on the back and 225/45 16 on the front for road tyres.

[firefox1712]

If you're putting them on your Wedge Dave - I might like the old ones - or are you keeping them?

JJ

[d p - 400se]

As ive seen these wheels on other wedges before i didnt think it would be a big deal to put them on. But listneing to 2 sheds and shpub's comments i think i'll need to check things out before i start to refub them.

Haas anyone else who is running them on thier wedge had to make any modifications to arches, A frames or anything else? Id like to get as much info as possible before i decide what to do next. Also what tyre sizes do you use.

JJ if i do put them on the wedge then the 400 wheels will go up for sale (minus the centre caps).

PS Andy thats the sort of finish i want to achieve. If you dont mind me asking what did you use to polish the rims and where did you get the bolts

[firefox1712]

Well Dave -

I think your Wedge looks pretty marvellous with the existing wheels! Were you particularly looking for body coloured wheels or was it the increase in size and presumed improvement in roadholding?

[andy-white]

The bolts where from a local suppliers (hamphire bolt & tool). I got 150 for £35. They are M8 x 25 IIRC. Fortuneatley where i work i can get washers and nyloc nuts for nothing (we dont use stainless though sadly!)
I bought a polishing kit from cetem polishing supplies. Do a search on the net, (my catalogue is at home). It cost me about £40 for the supplies plus some belgom alu to keep them looking nice. (i havent re-lacquered the rims). I can also give you the name if the company that did the powder coating for me if your in the south, they did a brilliant job.
I run 245/45 R16 on the back with 5 mm spacers. (without the rim 'just' touches the bottom wishbone shock/mount under heavy cornering...)

[jvaughan]

d p - 400se said:

As ive seen these wheels on other wedges before i didnt think it would be a big deal to put them on. But listneing to 2 sheds and shpub's comments i think i'll need to check things out before i start to refub them. Haas anyone else who is running them on thier wedge had to make any modifications to arches, A frames or anything else? Id like to get as much info as possible before i decide what to do next. Also what tyre sizes do you use. JJ if i do put them on the wedge then the 400 wheels will go up for sale (minus the centre caps). PS Andy thats the sort of finish i want to achieve. If you dont mind me asking what did you use to polish the rims and where did you get the bolts

I have a set on my wedge.
I was selective when I bought my set, and have 4x very good condition wheels. I keep the standard 15's on the front of my 400SE, and use the 16" 9J tuscan alloys on the rear. The grip is awsome, but they will rub the inside of the wheelarches when the suspension bottoms.
I cleaned my rims up using autosol, and an arbour (from DIY store). The centres were masked and sprayed gunmetal grey

I have the 9Jx16 rims, and run 245x45x16's on them


>> Edited by jvaughan on Tuesday 12th October 12:57

[jvaughan]

Also, to undo the nuts, you can either buy a tool that is specially made for OZ wheels, or use a Gator Driver .. (splined socket that is excellent at undoing funny shaped nuts).
also the sealer they use... you can use silicone sealer

[d p - 400se]

Thanks for all the advice so far. Im going to get the wheels checked out at the weekend to make sure they are not knackered and get the tyres off, then im going to have a go at getting the bolts off with a gator drive and take it from there.

No doubt I'll be asking for more advice once i start to get into it, so be warned!

[seamus]

Little article here may prove of interest as well..

[shpub]

It is a suck it and see issue. The clearance is tight and all it needs is to be a few mm off and there are problems. Problem is that wedge build tolerance can vary that much.

[redwedge5]

Of course if they don't fit () - I don't think David will have any problem selling them on

[d p - 400se]

Got the tyres off today and had the wheels checked out. No buckling or damage apparent so looks like they're sound. Can anyone suggest a way i can get the bolts off other than grinding or ahas anyone got one of the special tools required to get them off that they could lend / hire me? Or where can i get a "gator" drive from. Went to Halfords today and theyd never heard of one!

>> Edited by d p - 400se on Saturday 16th October 14:13

[Graham]

d p - 400se said:

Got the tyres off today and had the wheels checked out. No buckling or damage apparent so looks like they're sound. Can anyone suggest a way i can get the bolts off other than grinding or ahas anyone got one of the special tools required to get them off that they could lend / hire me? Or where can i get a "gator" drive from. Went to Halfords today and theyd never heard of one! >> Edited by d p - 400se on Saturday 16th October 14:13

a quick google find this

"www.mandp.co.uk/list.aspx?tier1=Workshop&tier2=Tools&tier3=Gator+Grip"

(copy everything between the quotes in "Grip"and stick it in a browser. the + confuses teds linker)