arjay

Hi everyone

Thinking how best to refurbish the wheels on my 3.6T. I am anxious not to have to split the rims at this stage - various reasons (living in deepest South of Spain with poor garages. post etc. Also need the car quite frequently). I absolutely cannot afford to send the wheels away to be professionally done at this stage.

Photos will show that I have some corrosion where the lacquer has been damaged etc. Has anyone had a go at doing the work without splitting the rims?

Any help re methods, materials etc greatly appreciated. I am working through reading posts here and also other forums but not sure i have got what I need to start any work at this stage. Photos follow:

Metal Guru

I afraid that leaves you with no options.
The photos show severe corrosion that can only be remedied by dis-assembly, stripping, sanding, polishing and re-coating. It's not easy and it's not cheap. You could dis-assemble the wheels yourself and send them to Jim Dorociak. I'm thinking that your still looking at $1000-1500 to restore those.

TT Surgeon

Agree w above, would be worth every penny.

jim dorociak

Speedline 3.6 Turbo wheels are very time consuming to restore and expensive. There are several issues that have to be dealt with when doing these wheels. First is they have to be verified straight and round. It makes no sense to restore a bent out of round wheel. Secondly the factory finishes fail. They assemble the wheels and then clear powder coat over the face of the center, the bolt heads and the outer rims. When the wheels are moving cracks develop around the bolt heads and moisture gets under the clear powder coating causing the white veining you are seeing on the outer rim and even worse your polished centers. Next usually the bolt heads start rusting and now it is all down hill. The veining gets worse and even after the clear powder coating is removed you can have pits down into the rims that can not be sanded out. They will be better but never great. I use a different clear coat called TSC that requires 8 days to dry and once dry will not crack, chip, nor allow moisture under the clear coat. It also allows a brighter shine. I re plate the bolts with a more durable finish and shoot TSC over the polished centers as well. jdorociak@gmail.com jim

Turbo Jonny

I am currently getting mine re-furbed in the UK . Jim , as you can see does fantastic work,
But if the shipping costs are too great , the UK might be an option. As said , it is
Worth it to get the job done right.

Sharker

Is it wrong to drool every time I see Jim post pics, or when I look at my rims that he did?

arjay

Thanks for the advice.


I presume you guys missed the bit in my post where i said I live in deepest rural Spain. I think sending the rims to California or wherever for refurb. is not realistic.

Jim - your wheels are really a work of art - absolutely gorgeous. I have seen examples before and they are on my wish list should I win the lottery

Turbo Jonny - having them done in the UK is just about a possibility. Could you let me have any details of where, cost, turn-round time etc - here or PM would be fine.

Last question - if any of you were to be silly enough to try a temporary cleanup how, for example, would you get the lacquer off? I have plenty of time but not much cash at the moment. I want to try and do a passable effort at tidying them up and also preserving any further damage while I think about where to go next.

I might well look for a better set of second-hand ones, though they are pretty rare from what i can find on Google.

jim dorociak

Well I just spoke with my Porsche parts guy, my best price for 3.6 Turbo polished Speedlines are almost $8000 US dollars. It is not going to get any better as time goes on. Problem now is also the age and condition of the used sets and the number of new parts needed to make the wheels serviceable and presentable. Many times when I start restoring Speedline sets I have my cost, the vendors I work with and cost of almost unobtainable Speedline parts and it is not uncommon for a $3200 bill or more depending on how many inner or outer rims are needed. Hacks have worked on many of these sets over the years and it is one thing to make them round again, but some shops actually damage and ruin the rim halves with heat, grinding and turning on lathe to make them serviceable. The outer rim profile actually gets changed when worked too much and at some point they have to be replaced. I sell new outer rims to guys outside of the USA who want the crown jewel of the Speedline wheels. jdorociak@gmail.com Good luck. Jim

labcars

Jim has done the wheels for my Flachbau.....I can attest to his work being of BETTER quality than new!! He is THAT good! I'd buy a used set of RH's or something equivalent and send the originals to Jim if you plan on keeping the car, or even selling it for that matter. Good luck whichever way you go.

arjay

Pardon the ignorance but what is a "set of RH's"?

Sharker

RH makes a replica of the Speedline

http://www.rh-wheels.com/index.cfm?P=wheels

jim dorociak

RH makes a copy of a 3.6 Speedline Turbo wheel. Much less expensive, not as high quality as a Speedline. You are probably better off doing nothing on your set until you can afford to do them right. What is the condition of the outer rims? Curbed? Do they balance alright? Did you show us the worst visual of your set? jdorociak@gmail.com jim

Nski

Great, who are you using in the UK? they any good?

Turbo Jonny

I hope to get my wheels in a couple of weeks or so. I will post details and pictures for all to see.
The shipping costs made working with Jim impractical this time - Maybe i can buy some spares next. Is there any better way of investing our depreciating £$¥€ than in these Porsches ?

theporscheguy

Can't wait for the day when I call Jim to get a set rolling my direction. Blew the first quarter budget on the 944, but the day is coming soon.
Arjay, show us some pictures of your 3.6 and good luck with your wheels.