The Joy Of 240's, with issues...

[Othen]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

Not so good, I thought I'd try and tidy the Torslanda alloys. Always had good results from Bilt Hamber stuff, and their wheel cleaner is well thought of. In fairness it too an awful lot of the ingrained brake dust/iron off, but when I put the wheel back on the car you'd be pushed to tell which one I had done...
I'm contemplating getting a set of 15" wheels at some point, no rush mind as the 14" ones fitted had new tyres just before I bought it.

Scruffy looking alloy wheels are an issue. I spent ages trying to improve the Trilogy wheels on my Skoda Superb (I think the reason why they all corrode is a lack of paint from the factory) but eventually gave up and had them powder coated for only £160/set. This has completely solved the problem and should last for years (certainly much longer than the factory finish). I suppose it depends how much one values one's own time, I thought £160 (plus two trips to Brum to drop them off and collect a week later) was a bargain compared with days spent trying to rub down and patch paint them - which always looked rubbish afterwards.



The Virgo wheels on the RB had already been powder coated (a nice grey colour) by the PO (I don't know how long ago), they look very smart indeed and the finish seems to be most durable.



Just an idea: if your 14" Torslanda alloy wheels are otherwise in good condition then £160 might be a good investment compared with buying a replacement 15" set?

Alan

[Bugjam1999]

I bought one of these sets of scrubbing brushes that go on a drill and the toilet brush one is excellent for cleaning wheels- although I have 5 spoke wheels so the brush can fit in-between the spokes easily.

If you can find a smaller version of the same thing it would probably work well on your wheels.

Cheers

[CosmicBike]

THB I think refurbing the wheels on a Tors is not really worthwhile. It's not world ending, they do the job.
Whilst I had the wheel off I noticed a small bit of the underseal on the arch peeling away, so picked up some underseal this morning.
No point in doing half a job, so Grace has her bum in the air on the driveway, both rear wheels off. I figured I'd do it properly, so off with the mudflaps, which led to broken rusted screws etc etc.
A quick job yes!! I'm breaking for lunch now after drilling out and fitting rivnuts to re-secure the mudflaps when I'm done.

[Clifford Pope]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

THB I think refurbing the wheels on a Tors is not really worthwhile.

I'm inclined to agree - As long as the larger holes and the front easy bits are clean then the small holes look pretty dark anyway. I have sometimes considered painting those recesses mat black.

I've got the Scorpius wheels on my 1991 SE - they were a factory option, and in my view the most elegant of the alloys. Generally I'd prefer traditional steel wheels with chrome caps and rimbellishers.

On a general point I thought alloys were meant to be alloy coloured - ie highly polished bare metal lacquered to stop them rusting? They usually end up patched up with filler and silver paint because of the expense of proper restoration with metal spraying, re-grinding and polishing.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Clifford Pope

On a general point I thought alloys were meant to be alloy coloured - ie highly polished bare metal lacquered to stop them rusting? They usually end up patched up with filler and silver paint because of the expense of proper restoration with metal spraying, re-grinding and polishing.

Hi Clifford,

I look out of the window as I write this and can see BMW (4 of them), Ford, Nissan, Volvo and VAG (my Skoda) cars parked in the street and on drives - all with factory painted wheels. The only one can I can think of in the street with polished and lacquered wheels is my Porsche - so I think it is just down to the manufacturer (and most seem to paint their alloy wheels).

The issue I had with the Skoda Superb is that the factory do not paint the inside of the wheels or the inside of the rims. With all the VAG cars corrosion seems to start inside the wheels on the unpainted part. Not painting the inside of the rims led to an extremely slow puncture in one of the Trilogy wheels - which was completely solved when I had them powder coated all over.

I have no idea whether the RB's Virgo wheels were painted from the factory, but I suspect the powder coating was not original - someone will know whether the Virgo wheels were painted from the factory.

I have no dog in this fight: in my experience (of one Skoda and one Volvo 240) I have found powder coating to be a really good finish that looks smart, is easy to clean, much more durable (than just lacquer or paint) and makes alloy wheels very airtight. It is pretty cheap as well.

Alan

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Clifford Pope

I'm inclined to agree - As long as the larger holes and the front easy bits are clean then the small holes look pretty dark anyway. I have sometimes considered painting those recesses mat black.

I've got the Scorpius wheels on my 1991 SE - they were a factory option, and in my view the most elegant of the alloys. Generally I'd prefer traditional steel wheels with chrome caps and rimbellishers.

On a general point I thought alloys were meant to be alloy coloured - ie highly polished bare metal lacquered to stop them rusting? They usually end up patched up with filler and silver paint because of the expense of proper restoration with metal spraying, re-grinding and polishing.

Hello Clifford.

David's experience trying to strip Volvo Omega wheels back to bare metal to be lacquered found these wheels had filler apparently from new.

I guess there would be less scope for the makers to use filler on Scorpius.

Regards.

.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Othen

Hi Clifford,

I look out of the window as I write this and can see BMW (4 of them), Ford, Nissan, Volvo and VAG (my Skoda) cars parked in the street and on drives - all with factory painted wheels. The only one can I can think of in the street with polished and lacquered wheels is my Porsche - so I think it is just down to the manufacturer (and most seem to paint their alloy wheels).

The issue I had with the Skoda Superb is that the factory do not paint the inside of the wheels or the inside of the rims. With all the VAG cars corrosion seems to start inside the wheels on the unpainted part. Not painting the inside of the rims led to an extremely slow puncture in one of the Trilogy wheels - which was completely solved when I had them powder coated all over.

I have no idea whether the RB's Virgo wheels were painted from the factory, but I suspect the powder coating was not original - someone will know whether the Virgo wheels were painted from the factory.

I have no dog in this fight: in my experience (of one Skoda and one Volvo 240) I have found powder coating to be a really good finish that looks smart, is easy to clean, much more durable (than just lacquer or paint) and makes alloy wheels very airtight. It is pretty cheap as well.

Alan

Fight ????? EEK .....


Comrade Stephen Edwin


.

[CosmicBike]

She's back on her wheels. I fancy a set of Adharas, they look nice, easy to clean too.
I'll look to get the front suspension arm done next week, I think after that I'll aim to get the heated seats working.
At some point I may get some work done on my actual project car!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

At some point I may get some work done on my actual project car!

The Capri?

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

She's back on her wheels. I fancy a set of Adharas, they look nice, easy to clean too.
I'll look to get the front suspension arm done next week, I think after that I'll aim to get the heated seats working.
At some point I may get some work done on my actual project car!

Adharas. Like this?

https://i.imgur.com/Gaz2pi3.jpg?1

Should be easy to clean.

.