<VV> wheel restoration--no Corvair

[Bill Elliott]

Just for your amusement, I had two sets of very rare Mini Cooper rims in 
the same basic condition...one with a painted rim and the other with a 
polished rim.

The ones with the painted rim went out for professional media blasting 
and powder coating. Prior to power coating, they sanded down the edge 
gouges and I think actually used a little filler (in cosmetic areas 
only) to smooth out the appearance. Except for some unfortunate 
outgassing of the magnesium during curing, the refinish was very acceptable.

However, with the polished rims, I knew this procedure would not work as 
well.  On those rims, I sanded down the painted centers by hand, primed, 
painted with Rustoleum Metallic black (gives a dark grey appearance that 
sparkles in the sun). Then I set about trying to figure out how to make 
the polished rim look better.

Following the guidance from an old  UK restorer, I bolted the wheel to 
the jacked up Mini, started the car, and put in first gear at idle. 
(WARNING: THIS IS POTENTIALLY VERY UNSAFE AND I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THAT 
ANYONE TRY IT.) If I did my math correct (idle speed 1000rpm, 1st gear 
ratio 3.525, final drive 2.95) this gave me roughly 100rpm. This was a 
very workable speed and I used a combination of different sandpapers, 3M 
pads, and aluminum polish to smooth down the rough rim (not to show 
quality but to a very acceptable driver quality) and bring it to a high 
luster. I did foul out a set of plugs doing all 4 rims... ;-) but also 
found out I needed a 1/4" spacer to clear the brake calipers in the front.

Bill Elliott


Chuck Kubin wrote:

>Hey Frank (and anyone else who knows),
>   
>  I'm interested in hearing what others think of this idea.
>  Anti Christine currently has a 1960s set of original Shelby 14" mags, "0 offset," complete with new inverted-teacup center caps. The only thing spoiling terrific looks is dings and gouges in a narrow (maybe 1/8-3/16 wide") raised bead on the very outer edge caused by scraping against curbs. The bead is cosmetic and doesn't contact the tire. None of the gouges are deep enough to contact the face of the wheels, but are of course obvious damage that collect dirt and spoil the perfect looks.
>  I know restoring the mags to perfection would mean having all the dings welded and the bead returned. Instead, I'd rather have it just look good without throwing a micrometer on it to check their accuracy to how they were made in 196?. 
>  I am a woodturner with a British-made VB36 lathe, designed to precisely turn really big and heavy wood bowl blanks. It uses the same bearings as Rolls Royce jet engines and is adjustable from 0-3800 rpm.
>  It would be easy to make a centering flange to mount the wheels and, since the mags are soft metal, use wood hand tools (works great on brass, aluminum etc.) to turn the beads down to a point below the dings. This would retain enough of the bead to keep the look without goofing up the balance. The only thing that would spoil the plan is if the wheels are bent enough to eliminate the bead before the dings. This is easy to check with a dial indicator before I turn the machine on.
>  So whatcha think? is there any reason to NOT try this, and what would be a good rpm to turn?
>   
>  Chuck Kubin
>   
>  
>


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