Decided to clean my wheels wells after realizing how dirty they were a couple weeks ago at Bills when we bled the brakes.....Interesting note....if you have a slightly downhill driveway...after you jack up the front, the suspension will sit about 1" high until you drive it to make it settle....sure looks weird 1" higher than normal....but I could see inside the clean wheel wells better....also some of that dirt is seriously on there.....scrub harder, dirt still there....soak cleaner...scrub some more...dirt still there....scrub really really hard...paint and dirt come off...oh well..engine is next!

 

It doesn't matter what size, shape, or orientation your driveway is. When you lift the front of a 928 it does not settle back until you drive it. This is why there are so many bad alignments and bald front tires.

 

Looking good. It's a messy job, and most people will never know it's clean, but it just feels good.

BTW, of particular interest, I see you still have your red-painted wheel stud. I can't see red on mine anymore, and I guessed ont he orientation, but from your pic, I can now clearly see which lug it is based on the retaining screws and the press-off taps. Thanks!

 

Oh, is it always the same stud relative to the rotor screws?

 

I would think not. Typically when they do this they find the worst out of balance point and the mark it. Castings can have material in all sorts of places. I could be wrong. But any of the hub assemblys that I have seen have been balanced then marked.

 

Otherwise they would have just said use this orientation and shown a picture.

 

I did this to my 82. Hit it with SIMPLE GREEN, let it sit a few minutes, work with a soft bristle brush and wash off. Hit is again with SG and let it soak, grab an old toothbrush (and a small wire brush for the unpainted parts) and just took my time scrubbing all nooks and crannies. They now look new with no paint loss. Nice job Brian!

 

Its not perfect....but its good enough....mostly I wanted to get the bulk of the dirt off to show the red underbody and clean up the black plastic inner covers.....I wasted about an hour trying to clean the fossilized brake dust off the inside of my flat dish wheels...I succeed in making it look WORSE..man that crap is on there good....even steel wool wasn't getting it off!! One interesting note...the melted rubber attached to the rear inner covers is very difficult to remove....& I've only done two really good burnouts....I can't imagine what Bills look like!! :>)

The car just seems so much cleaner now!! Gonna put some serious time in tomorrow on the engine!!

 

My stud paint marks are long gone and I've not had any balance issues, running up to 170. Even when the paint marks were present I appear to have been using them incorrectly, putting the lock and valve stem next to it. Since the valve stem is balanced as part of a tire balance, I didn't think it mattered, but I followed what I thought was convention. Similarly, I noticed the tire guys at a race shop I use don't pay any particular attention to the red and yellow paint dots on the tires.

 

Looks great Brian! Once you get the wells clean it's easy to maintain them. You may consider trying a product like Griots Undercarriage spray if you want to get the undercarriage even newer looking. I would use it sparingly by applying it to a rag and wiping it onto the undercarriage. I would avoid the rubber bits as I think it has silicone and it always makes me nervous using any chemicals on rubber. Another trick I learned (when you get new wheels) is to have the rotors nickel plated. Here's a post I did on the 993 forum of my 500E after cleaning and new rotors. Most any electroless nickel plate shop should be able to do all four rotors for about $130. Here is the link.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...3&page=2&pp=15

 

Afshin
That looks SWEET.....so basically the coat the inside of the rotors to prevent them from rusting...my rotors really didn't have that much rust on them, but not driving in the rain helps too!

 

Exactly! Actually on the MB's the rotor hats and edges typically corroded within a couple thousand miles. The combination of wheel cleaner, water from the hose sped up this process as well. The nickel plating kept everything looking new at all times. But your right, your rotors look good as is and actually I wouldn't do this to a used set, only new before installation. Oh and I didn't have any fitment or balancing issues after having this done.

Either way your wells look awesome, great feeling to know the car is one step closer to looking the way it did out of the factory.

 

Ashfin
Its still a work in progress...but its getting there!! Did you get your 928 yet....I'm sure you will have lots of pics soon to show everyone!!

 

I suspect that the red stud is there to allow you a way to put th tires/wheels on and off at the same position every time. Missing the red on the stud? Pick one and paint the end red, then ALWAYS put the wheel/tire back on in that position. Simple as that.

Using the same position every time makes it easier to isolate NVH problems that might result from poor balancing of the wheel/tire --and-- the rotor/hat assy. If either the wheel/tire --or-- the rotor/hat assy are in fact balanced correctly, moving them to different positions on the studs whill make no difference.

It may also be that the factory did a final spin balance with the wheels/tires on the car, to get the ride just perfect. To maintain that through the dealer PDI, delivery and early service process with a customer, one would want to put the pieces back in their original posiions. A red mark would do the trick. Plus, we could then have something else to criticize when we look at other folks cars-- red marks on the wrong studs, little P emblem on the cap not pointing at the red stud or the valve stem. Criminal stuff like that.

Is this blasphemy? The emperor has no clothes.... er, little red stud!

 

Bob
I did find that when I put the wheels back on the "correct" way...with the lock over the red stud (but without the locks) the balance does seem a bit smoother than before? Before, it did have an occasional mild vibration that it doesn't seem to have now!! It must be the dirt I removed improved the balance!! :>)