3 Piece Split Rim Refurb Options?

[Mk1Chris]

What department was that in then

The bedroom storage boxes they do are just big plastic containers. Pick your size and fill it up

[JeffD]

No wet and dry used - all done by hand with lots and lots and lots of patience! :-(

They did have lacquer on which was why I had them dipped - didnt really want to "scratch" them with wet and dry.

[Leon.]

£20 for stripping - Ive already tried nitomorse and whatever it was wasnt affected by it in the slightest - hence getting the pros to have a go.

It might be a film like on my lips..?

[JeffD]

I wouldnt worry about it - Ive had it done now so dont really care what it was! LOL :-)

[JeffD]

Well I got the inner rim and centres back from the powder coaters today :-) Center caps to follow as they forgot to do them DOH! :-(





Just loosely assembled:



I'm toying with the idea of replacing the rusty studs with button head stainless bolts which would make polishing easier too - not made my mind up yet...





Anyway, tonight I managed to polish 2 of the outer rims - they still need more time on them but theyre coming along :-)

[Phill P]

Would advice against those stainless button bolts.

Don't know what the torque settings are but I managed to eaisily round of the heads to bolts just like that on my bikes discs.

Just not enough meat on the head to avoid chewing.

I would go for stainless but something like whats already on.

ps,wheels look v nice

P

[slipping clutch]

I would be a bit wary of useing the stainless bolts as they may be weaker than the oem - I dont know what type of bolt they use I.e high tensile etc? but I would think you would be better replacing like for like - safety first abd all that. Not trying to tell you what to do or trying to be a smart ass. Be a pity after all that hard work to have to strip them down again to have to replace all the bolts again. The wheels look fantastic

[Extubby]

Looking good jeff.
How much did you end up paying to have the centres, caps powder coated?

I am taking longer to do mine as I am having to wet and dry through all the grades before polishing + I am not having much time due to loads of work.

[JeffD]

If you look closely at works bolts they are stamped with 10.9 which is the hardness so you can specify equivalent in stainless (forgotten the number but its NOT 10.9).

The nearest I can find to the original in stainless is here:

http://www.titanium-touch.de/shop/produ ... M7x35.html

Nice site BTW - you can buy most pieces of a split rim.

To strip inners, outers, centres, caps and valves with everything except outers and valves powered was £200.

[planted1]

Jeff,
Im suprised the existing bolts seem rusty,my WE wheels are very similar,
and the bolts(original) are Titanium(aircraft grade),which doesnt rust.
Use a magnet as a test on one bolt,it shouldnt stick if its titainium or stainless,if so theres no ferrous content,and consequently no ferrous oxide(rust)
It may well be "transferred"staining.

The nuts however were as rusty as can be,being poor quality steel.
I used an eight pointed 8mm socket to remove the studs,
and bought 200 zinc plated nyloc nuts for £6 (total)for refitting
(12mm spanner size)
The original studs will be reused.

could i ask what powder coaters you used and would you recommend them?

thanks

steve.

[JeffD]

Theyre definitely rusty I'm afraid so am putting them in to be re-chromed next Friday and having a test polish done on the rims to see if they can bring them up any better than myself.

I used the Wheel Repair Centre in Preston to have mine done - theyre not actually powder coated but "wet painted" which is supposed to be closer to the original finish. TBH I dont feel comfortable in reccomending them - theres a better place I belive in Birmingham that Tim on xxxx has used and they are supoosed to fo an A1 job.

[planted1]

thx geoff,

Ive now found someone in exeter to sandblast and powdercoat for £25 per wheel,hopefully the quality will be good.

steve.

[vishpish]

brilliant thread jeff really informative mate!

really good timing too...today my new wheels arrived a nice set of 3 piece workmeister s1 3pieces

cant wait to take em apart and have some fun

[Extubby]

Anyone....
I am just putting my rear wheels together and being a muppet I am unable to remember what centre goes with the deeper rear lip. Is it the centre with the wider part that site on the hub to push it further toward the arch or the one with less. If that makes any sense at all.

[JeffD]

Right, a little bit of progress has been made :-)

Managed to source some replacement M8 stainless bolts from a company on eBay which cost about £17 with postage for 150 (I only needed 128 had to buy them in lots of 25). Made a slight mistake in that I bought grade A2-70 which I think will be OK but if I was buying again I would go for A4-80 Marine grade which are stronger and even more rust resistant.





Got my bolts back from the platers - Paid £40 for strip and re-chome that seemed like a bargain but TBH I'm disappointed with them. Although theyve been stripped and re-chromed the surface is not smooth - another plater (ashford Chrom) quoted me £150 for the same job but I think they burnish them too ie. gets all the rough bits off. They look ok from a distance but under close inpection they dont look so good - not rusty though :-) Let me know what you think...

From a distance...



Getting closer....



Very close....



Ive also gone over the rims again with duraglit (reccomended by said same platers) and it does give quite a good shine...





Ive decided to lacquer them as I'm not prepared to spend the time required to keep them up to spec. You can buy some from frost restorations which is lacquer to go straight on metal (I actually got some off ebay fo about 1/2 that price)

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... t=Eastwood

Ive also bought some Exterior grade clear silcone sealant from homebase to seal them with...





All that remains now is for me to get my bottle up and lacquer one of the rims....LOL

BTW ExTubby I mixed my centers up too but if you try a wheel nut in the recesses the rears always take a longer nut so you can front from back.

[Extubby]

Got my rears on.
Pics to follow when the fronts are on, which I am still refurbing.

Those bolts are S**T quality jeff!! I would not have accepted them.
I managed to bring mine up as new by running them on my polishing mop. I would send them back and ask for your money back.

[JeffD]

Got to admit I was very disappointed with them :-( JUst dont feel like spending even more money on them at moment.

[JeffD]

It gets worse..... :-(

Took my beautifully polished rim



Then gave it a coat of lacquer especially designed to go on bare metals such as aluminium



Mmmmm....out with the nitomorse me thinks - glad I only did one.



Just one tip though when re-assembling be careful as the the inner and outer rims are different between front and back - I loosely assembled mine to check the backs were 1" wider than fronts



Also check that you use the right center too as they have different offsets

[Dale_V]

those bolts are shocking , looks like they have plated over the rust

[Extubby]

You can't lacquer polished metal. It dulls it like you have found and it soon peels off as there is nothing for it to adhere to. You just have to keep cleaning them.