Wheels - home refurb

[Rusti Evo]

An Autumn project is to add some "tasteful" colour to the wheel centres and polish/laquer the outer rim.

However, I've never taken a 3 piece wheel apart before. Do I just undo all the bolts and get stuck in and what stops it leaking when it goes back together?

Any thoughts on what a "tasteful" colour would be for a yellow car? (except dreary black)

[LuckyP]

Rusti Evo said:

An Autumn project is to add some "tasteful" colour to the wheel centres and polish/laquer the outer rim.

However, I've never taken a 3 piece wheel apart before. Do I just undo all the bolts and get stuck in and what stops it leaking when it goes back together?

Any thoughts on what a "tasteful" colour would be for a yellow car? (except dreary black)

A mercurial graphite - like GTWayne's BMW wheels?

[GTWayne]

Disassembling the rims is simple and rebuilding is a mere reversal although new rubber gaskets would be advisable and rims that I have seen in the past that have been rebuilt have used silicone to effect an air tight seal. I should have my sandblasting machine up and running soon and would be happy to blast the centres or anything else for that matter for you. I also have a firm just up the road that do powder coating at a very reasonable cost and have a myriad of colours to choose from.

PS. I also have the number of a good local polisher for the outer rims

Edited by GTWayne on Friday 5th September 11:57

[Steve_D]

To achieve a positive seal after rebuild, form a 3mm thick 'wipe' of silicone sealant around the well of the rim covering both joints of inner machining and outer rims. This way you don't need to get yourself and newly painted/polished bits covered in the stuff whilst trying to 'Wet' assemble them.

Steve

[Rusti Evo]

A Wayne graphite or metallic gunmetal sounds nice.

Trouble is, in a bored moment have bought a DVD on custom car painting and suddenly come over all excited about the bewildering array of fancy finishes available and fancy a go

Transparent red rims with sparklescent black centres perhaps.........suitable for an old gits yellow car???

[clynos1]

Not sure if this will help, but, I was once involved with a company called Wicked Wheels, they were a mobile alloy wheel refurbishing company. Everything that was needed was on Mercedes Sprinter Van: shot blasting, spray booth etc. etc. Sold my interest some years ago so not sure if they still exist. Might be worth doing a search on Google.
David

[Rusti Evo]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I was actually keen to do the job myself - sort of interesting little project for the Autumn.

If the quality of the wheels turned out high enough then who knows, might splash of tarty paint on the old yellow body ....

[Wilder]

Have a look at mine. They cost around £100 to do and look great.
Just polished the outers, and painted the inners then added some lightweight wheel nuts in black.
Everyone seems to love them, and it adds that extra touch to make it stand out.
On a Yellow car, I would do them in black -like an angry wasp!

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2379077610098...

Edited by Wilder on Saturday 6th September 00:58

[UltimaCH]

Going thru the photos, have to say that's a nice car, nice wheels and very nice company

[suntiger1965]

those red wheels with polished rims look wicked!!!!!!!!!

[Rusti Evo]

Great job on the wheels!

Proper tyres as well - what size fronts did you fit? Any clearance problems?

[Wilder]

The colour is actually Lambo orange though it looks red on some photos.
The tyres are Toyo R888 255x35x18 front and 335x30x18 rears. The fronts give a lot more grip than the normal 245 tyres.
No clearance probs -Chewy ran 265 Khumos on the front of his race car without any mods.

Edited by Wilder on Saturday 6th September 13:49

[Fat Arnie]

There is a company called Wicked Wheels in Royce Way, Crawley. I've seen their work, and its done to a good standard compared to others.

[GTWayne]

Wilder said:

...The fronts give a lot more grip than the normal 245 tyres...

In what way?; the size difference only or are you referring to the different compound, or both?
Have you done many miles on the 245's then to make an accurate assumption?

[Wilder]

GTWayne said:

Wilder said:

...The fronts give a lot more grip than the normal 245 tyres...

In what way?; the size difference only or are you referring to the different compound, or both?
Have you done many miles on the 245's then to make an accurate assumption?

Both, the compound is softer than the Goodyears I ran previously, and the car turns in better than before due to the performance of the Toyo design, and the greater surface area. Havnt had chance to really push it yet, but the difference is noticable even on a road.