The wheels are finished, and even if I say so myself they look pretty good:
... in my humble opinion well worth the £60 total they have cost me (plus about 2 whole days work spread over the week - but I don't account for my labour, otherwise the RB would have to be worth £10,000!).
I'll leave the paint to harden overnight, then mock them up in position on the RB so I can get an idea of how they would look. My feeling is that they will give the RB a nice look, so I have 4 options (I know, I've discussed this previously, but I'm still thinking aloud and mulling things over):
a. Sell them - probably to a 900 series bloke - having done the work I think we can discount this straight away.
b. Put them on a pallet and store them until I need them one day for the RB (maybe if a Virgo wheel becomes damaged). I think the wheels have come up too well for that (notwithstanding tomorrow's photo shot).
c. Fit a set of normal tyres (cost about £150), like the RB has on the Virgo wheels now. This would be fine, but would be a bit pointless because then I'd just store the Virgo wheels.
d. Fit a set of winter tyres (cost about £190), and use the RB through the winter (I was going to SORN the motor car from December until it become tax exempt in April, but I think I'd miss it).
... again, thinking aloud, unless the wheels look ridiculous on the RB I'm heading for 'd'. For a small outlay that makes the RB safer in the winter months and doubles the life of the tyres on both the Virgo and Pholus wheels (in practice probably the rest of the life of the car if I store them each summer/winter away from that nasty UV light).
I've enjoyed this little job this week, it has been my first attempt at restoring car alloy wheels - I have learned a bit and gained a few small skills.
:-)
