I like vintage mag wheels....

[RC10th]

I love vintage mag wheels and thought I'd clean up this set. I thought this set would have been a TON of work compared to wheels I've done in the past due to their poor conition.

I thought I'd try an aluminum dioxidizer and etching acid to clean them and man what a difference, probably at least cut work load in half. Scrub wheel for 10 minutes with brightener and let soak for a few, viola. I used the acid undiluted and worked great, not nearly as harsh as caustic soda. The results were so good I had to try 2 wheels first just to make sure

The wheel face just needs a quick sand, polish and paint..... easy

[RC10th]

Here's a few more that I've done.

This was the hardest set I've done as these took a couple of days to strip, paint and polish up. They were worse in person then they look in the photo. The coating was HARD and had moisture spots/oxidation under it.

[RC10th]

These were my babies for a couple of years before they started to become too hard to aquire. I must have bought and sold at least 7 sets of Vectors. Although I still have 2 sets (one mixed) I wish I kept a couple more.

[green510]

Those first pair are Rebel wheels?

Great work on the finished product,
I know how much work goes into them, very sore hands!

[RC10th]

A few more...

Some center cap stickers I had made and a few more Vectors.

Mine are on the left side cap and original is on the right. I originally wasn't happy with the printer as they didn't send me a proof and just used a bolder font.

[RC10th]

Good pick on the wheels, I believe they are like Rebels but apparantly a few different manufacturers made similar wheels. These were made by Cheviot.

I'm not finished with the Rebels yet. I just stripped them and still need to wet sand the spokes and lip followed by a polish and paint. I wanted to paint them black but my wife disagrees.

My goal is something like this, obviously just not as wide and with either black or gunmetal "inserts"

[green510]

Yep I dare say there were various copys of all sorts of wheels.

The "vectors" I know as "hurricanes"
I think ROH made them...

The gold painted rebels look outstanding,
to be honest they remind me of old japanese wheels.

About 10 years ago, I imported, restored and sold wheels from japan.
13,14 and 15" in sizes, was great fun but hard work making 20+ year old wheels look new again without power tools

[RC10th]

I agree the gold does look awesome and does have a Jap look to them. The only problem is gold only suits certain color cars. I'm not sure what I want to do with the rebels yet.

It's a shame Australia stopped making or at least importing wide 13" and 14" tires, it's what made everyone go to 15" and larger. 245 is about the widest 14" tire you can still buy.

It is hard work but a nice set of wheels can really make a car pop. I mainly just do it for fun and made a few bucks along the way. Some of the CNC rim restoration machines today make it a piece of cake, something a small guy like myself couldn't compete with today.

How come you stopped importing and restoring wheels?

[green510]

BFgoodrich imported from the states is basically the only option for wide small diameter tyres.

Great set of wheels and a nice ride height can make ANYTHING look good

Regarding import / restore stopping,
the market was changing.
More people got on board, prices of wheels over there went up and it was no longer viable to make a few bucks.
I wished I had stored them all and sold them at todays market prices though

I do have a set of 4 stud, 14x7 hotwires that ive been meaning to clean up (its been about 13 years so far )

[RC10th]

Now that I finally got tires for my other car I can put this wheel set back on the car they belong. I cleaned up one mag and put it next to a neglected one to compare the difference. I polished these up a couple of years ago but they sat outside in the elements for 18+ months while I was working on the car.

I sanded out as many imperfections as I could and while not perfect still look ok. The rim came out good but I'm not 100% happy with it as it still has minor pitting on the surface. Before on top, after on bottom. I am going to try a med cut Jewlers rouge with a heavy wheel and a high speed drill and see if it makes an improvement, if not I'll just leave them. You have to get right up close to the rim to see any pitting, but I think it kills the clarity of the finish slightly.

I am going to repaint the white and these should pop.

[dinglem]

Great thread!

Rare 1960's JA Pearce Magna Alloys.

jap 10inch01.JPG (37.2 KiB) Viewed 1512 times

jap 10inch01.JPG (37.2 KiB) Viewed 1512 times

[green510]

Cool as hell, Dinglem!
Look like TRD 'Tosco'

Heres my latest project.

They are called "berg -d" , made by bridgestone.

My landcruiser usually wears globes (I guess only aussies would know what they are )
but im changing to these guys.
Unfortunately the machined finish on the faces had corrosion and the previous owner painted them at least a nice shade of grey.
Pic shows as much as I could peel off without getting the paint striper out.

Will run them through the bead blaster on tuesday before I resort to that aweful paint stripper.

[RC10th]

I tend to do everything the hard way..... I'd kill for a bead blaster.

Wet sanding in 1st gear

[Coelacanth]

I tend to do everything the hard way..... I'd kill for a bead blaster.

Wet sanding in 1st gear

That's a great idea, I'll have to try it. Thanks for sharing that!

[dinglem]

I tend to do everything the hard way..... I'd kill for a bead blaster.

Wet sanding in 1st gear

That's a great idea, I'll have to try it. Thanks for sharing that!

Haha! That's brilliant. Love it.

As well as the JA Pearce rims on the Mini that I posted earlier I also restored a larger set which are now mounted on my van...