One for the wheel gurus, help needed!

[Nik da Greek]

Okay, guys, my problem is this; when the laqcuer on my recently refurbished Volks went through they had to go back to be re-done, so I bought a second set of cheap wheels in a tatty state to get around on in the meantime. Now the Volks are back on, I\'ve been looking at refurbing the spare set. This is where I need some expert advice.

First, I don\'t really know what they are as such! They have a "Wise Sports" logo on one spoke (who I\'ve never heard of) and a Desmond sticker on the inner rim (who I have heard of, but know nothing about!). They\'ve got "made in Japan stamped into one spoke on the back. They\'re shown in the 2nd RX-7 Hyper Rev book (volume 23) as "Super Wade" which doesn\'t really help much, and looks a bit like Japlish to me! They\'re proper three-piece split rims, 17" diameter and 7" and 9" inch wide rims.

So, the questions are; are they any good, and are they worth any money? They\'re heavier than the Volks, but those are forged and these look to be cast, so you\'d expect that. The way I see it, I\'ve a few options:
1) pay a proper refurber a small fortune (at least a grand for three-pieces, I\'d expect) and have them professionally done. Unlikely given my current cashflow, and can\'t see \'em being worth enough to be economical.

2) Take \'em apart meself (already started!) and take the bits to a local powder coater to be done, then bolt em back meself. Cheap and quality finish, but a ball-ache load of work!

3)Do it all myself, with spray paint and hope I can find a strong enough home use laqcuer to keep it all together, then just use em in winter to keep my Volks free from the ol road salt. Cheap as chips, but rather pikey!

The method rather depends on whether they\'d be worth **** all in the long run, which is why I need help! Also, what about the kerbing (I think they came off Ray Charles\' RX-7, must\'ve hit every kerb in Tokyo!). Can I just batter it back with a grinder or sanding discs, or is it too bad, and need building back up with weld or putty?

Thanks for reading, sorry for going on, but I thought I\'d best give as much info as I could now rather than later! Any help would be very gratefully recieved.

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[ATTACH]39942[/ATTACH]      [ATTACH]39945[/ATTACH]

How do I get rid of the glue/silicone stuff? Just heat and brute force? or is there a solvent that\'ll do it?
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How they appear in Hyper Rev;
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[gregmacd]

I\'m no expert by any means but I have some 3 piece blitz wheels. I got a quote for a refurb on my Blitz by Voodoo Motorsport:

***********

Price for  Split Rim Rebuild:

• Split and Rebuild a    single wheel - £60+vat

Options Per Wheel:

• Centre Painted in    standard paint colours - £50+vat
  
• Inner Basket Painted in    Standard Colours - £40+vat
  
• Rim Section    Polishing - £50+vat
  
• Rim Bolt Polishing (if Stainless Steel or Titanium) -    Â£35+vat

The above prices do  not include replacement/repair to any other damage to wheels such as cracks,  broken bolts, buckling etc etc
 All wheels must be  tyre free, or a charge of £10+vat per wheel will charged for tyre  removal.
 All shipping costs  are additional to the above costs.
 
 As rule we don\'t lacquer  anything which has been polished, but it can be done on  request.
 Lacquering polished  surfaces is not guaranteed and holds no warranty as a  finish.

*************

I\'ve also done some reading and as long as the wheel is in relatively good nick, there\'s no reason to split the rim. Leave the tyre on or not and just get busy with the files and sandpaper.

That said I\'ve still not done my own wheels yet so don\'t take my word for it.

Also check out this thread for more info.

[Nik da Greek]

Sounds like an unbeleivable bargain price, most refurbers I\'ve phoned won\'t even touch three piece split rims. Some would do it if I took them aprt, but most wont do anything other than two-piecers. Got a number or web addy for this Voodoo motorsports, geezer?

Taking the tyres off ain\'t a prob, I have a tame mechanic living next door! :Thumbs-up
I\'ve got all the bolts out of the one in the pics, but it\'s still held by the sealant gunge, so I\'m not sure how massive and violent to get on it\'s ass! Don\'t want to damage it worse than it already is. Saw the thread of D2BBA\'s before, but it\'s no good for these. The spoke bit is clamped between the two rim halves, so I have to split them to get it out, and have to get it out to take all the old paint and corrosion off

[D2BBA]

Tis a bugger the rim wont split easy guv, but it can be done from reading other faqs.  

However, at the prices above id just pay Voodoo to do it, then youve got come back as its hard to get a seal when putting rims back together (or so im lead to beleive)

Good luck and keep us posted guv

Chris

[allstaruk]

My mates who are all into thier Vw\'s have split thier own 3 piece rims and not had any problems.

[Nik da Greek]

That\'s encouraging! I\'m sure I can do it with a bit of heat and a long lever, slightly worried about getting it back together, though! I guess if I just Sikaflex the hell out of it and torque the bolts up in a spoke pattern, it should be fine. The only Voodoo Motorsport I can find has a homepage claiming to be a VAG specialist, but their website doesn\'t seem to work! Anyone got any details for them?

No-one knows anything about the make of wheel, though? Whether they\'re class or arse? I have to say, I quite like them, they\'re a bit like one of the options you used to get on Mustang Cobras. Or is that the wrong thing to say?

[bin liner]

my mate has a Wheel refurb company....ive just had my ABT (oz) Alloys refurbed..they are a two piece..i would guess he could do them for pound notes for a lot less than the prices listed above...his number is 07977423414...based in Birmingham.....thanks

[Nik da Greek]

Thanks for that, mate. Trouble is, I\'m on the south coast! By the time I pay for a pallet to courier them or drive them up to Brum, I\'ve lost any saving on it. I may give him a go if I can\'t find a closer option, cheers for the number!

[S3TH]

Just looking at the last pic, nik (:o)... They seem to cost in region of 1.3k for a new set...? That\'s before being flown over to the UK! Albeit those refurb prices are a bit hectic, most places I\'ve looked charge £70 max, that includings polishing the rim after refurbing it...

One thing I would watch though Nik... if you\'re planning on taking the rims apart make sure you don\'t over-tighten them, I\'ve heard a couple of horror stories!

Just to swing another option in there... 4) Leave them as is & run them into the ground?

Yes... I came to read your essays .

[Nik da Greek]

Ahhh, young boy, havent heard from you in ages :wave! I knew if I wrote  loads of drivel you\'d pop up to keep me honest!

I did consider just taking option 4 and using them as winter sh!tters, but I think they deserve better, they seem to be good quality wheels. Thats obviously what they were used for in Japan, though, the rears had snow tyres on, which was frankly a bit scary for the 70-odd miles the car ran before blowing up (again!), not a lot of grip on hot summer roads on snow tyres !

Where did you get your figure of 1.3k from, btw? Is that just converting the Yen value from the Hyper Rev pic?

[S3TH]

:rollinI couldn\'t resist. Hmm... from the pic, unless I\'m reading wrong 6000 yen is something like 30quid, 5000 yen is 28, surely it\'s worth more... Figured it might mean 65000... which would land it just over 3 bills, assuming u have 2 of each variation, the more expensive ones are 0.35g\'s?

[Nik da Greek]

Hmmm, dunno. Looks like it could be 65000 and 74000, but there\'s a pictograph thing in the middle that could mean anything. Damn Japanese and their multiple bloody alphabets, they\'re only doing it to look clever! I had to learn your primitive English alphabet, why can\'t they! (That was a joke, before the Politically Correct Police come to take me away :Giggle).

I think I may have had just a tiny bit too much gin tonight to work out cryptic Japanese monetary values that probably haven\'t been current since 1994 anyway! (It\'s only for medicinal purposes, honest)

[bin liner]

last time i sent a set of rims it cost 30 quid...give him a call he may be able to get them collected.....