Fuchs refinishing question - Yes, another one.

[Tommy Z]

So my new to me 79' SC has a flat spot in the one of the front 6 x 16 Fuch wheels that causes a vibration at around 75mph. Its starting to bug me and I want to address it. The obvious solution is to take the opportunity to purchase a pair of 8 x 16 replicas for the back and move the rear 7 x 16's to the front. If I had my preference I would go with the the fully polished Fuchs all the way around but I cant afford to buy 4 new wheels. So here is the question... Is it possible to make these existing wheels:



Look like these wheels:



Like I said this would be my first choice. I'm pretty sure the Maxilite standard black petal Fuchs would be a good match if I just do a refurbish of the 7 x 16's I would be moving to the front, but would it be possible to make the existing 7 x 16's look close enough to the polished version that they won't be obviously different?

Side question: Does anyone think I would run into any fitment issues moving the 7's to the front and putting 8's on the rear? The car is lowered and I love it's stance. The fenders measure from the floor now at 23-5/8" in the rear and 24-3/4" in the front. any advice is welcome. Thanks!

[RSBob]

Side question answer. No problem what so ever.

[darrin]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Side question answer. No problem what so ever.

RSBob and Tommy Z -- When I initially put 16x7 up front, I had some rubbing on the inner front fender lips, which necessitated (and was remedied by) rolling them - search the forums. I understand this to be a relatively common issue with "normal" (non-wide bodied) 911s.

As for polishing Fuchs and "faux" Fuchs -- no first-hand experience, but with zero coating/etc., I'd be concerned that you might notice a difference in colors/etc. if they had different metal composition than your current fuchs.

[Tommy Z]

Thanks Darrin. Not keen on rolling the fenders but will if I have to. If I were to remount the front 205/55's on the 7"s and the 225/50's on the new 8"s do you think I would be all good?

As far as the polishing goes, does anyone know what the original Fuch material is? Are they steel? Aluminum?

[darrin]

don't worry on rolling -- it's not a big deal if done conservatively. And, yes, you'll be all good with 205/55s on the 7s up front, 225/50s on the new 8 rears.

Fuchs are made from forged aluminum (alloy) -- most of the replicas are cast from aluminum (alloy) -- while aluminum is an element, its generally mixed with other metals/substances to form an alloy. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_alloy

Few other options to consider -- 1) selling all of your fuchs and using the proceeds to buy a set of 16x7 / 16x8 replicas? (that way, they'd all look identical) 2) keeping your fuchs and adding spacers? (pushing the rims toward the fenders will provide a look similar to the wider wheels)? 3) consider buying the forged "replicas" that Fuchs itself is now selling? (bit more expensive than other replicas but still less than a "real" pair) -- OR . . . maintain status quo with wheels for now and drop the $$$ into a griffin's mr. ice AC setup instead

[Tommy Z]

Thanks Darrin, all good info and suggestions as usual. Tough call. I have a few months before the AC becomes a priority and Griffiths is the plan. I think the stage 2 that you did is the plan. The vibration at 75mph is a drag so I thought my plan was the most economical solution. I'm going to ponder for a bit. I may take off the front 6"s and do a test sand and polish with ascending grits and see just how polished I can get them before I decide what to do. Those 8"s on the rear was something I have always pined for when I imagined the car before I bought one.

I completed my first repair today! Removed the steering wheel and exposed the high beam low beam switch to address the erratic high beam control by following a post by member Won. It worked and I fixed it. Minor repair by Pelican standards but nerve wracking from a newbie stand point but I was comfortable with the great info I found on the site. So rewarding addressing my own issue. Looking forward to the next one with just a little more confidence than I had before!

I really appreciate your guidance on all my threads! Even going back to before I actually took possession of the car. Cheers!

[darrin]

Cheers! and congrats on the turn signal stalk repair -- that was one of the first "Am I in over my head?" repairs I did that CLEARLY benefitted from this forum -- my high beams had started blinking on and off with my blinkers, causing me to be one the receiving end of one too many middle finger salutes. See you already have h4s installed (nice!) -- since folks believe that the root cause of the turn signal issue is that the headlights' full current passes through the connectors you realigned, you might want to consider installing headlight relays (https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/JWST911HLPR.htm?pn=JWST-911-HLPR&bt=Y&fs=0&SVSVSI=811) to divert the headlights' current away from the turn signal stalk. This was FAR easier to do than the stalk repair

On wheels/etc. - don't get me wrong, love how the 7s and 8s upgrade my targa (I went with silver spokes/paddles with black paint behind and silver rims -- like these https://www.fuchsfelgeusa.com/product/16-inch-fuchs-wheels-anodized-silver/ -- as it's my understanding that the anodization protects/seals the aluminum and keeps the whole thing more stable, finish-wise -- either way, fair number of folks that do a great job refinishing these wheels if/as needed.

Vibration -- these cars are QUITE sensitive to front wheel/tire balancing -- but a good spin rebalance by a tire shop that has a hunter road force balancing machine should get you good to go with whatever wheel size/combo you choose to go with (as long as the wheels themselves are still a-ok)

fun stuff!

[Tommy Z]

Originally Posted by darrin

Cheers! and congrats on the turn signal stalk repair -- that was one of the first "Am I in over my head?" repairs I did that CLEARLY benefitted from this forum -- my high beams had started blinking on and off with my blinkers, causing me to be one the receiving end of one too many middle finger salutes. See you already have h4s installed (nice!) -- since folks believe that the root cause of the turn signal issue is that the headlights' full current passes through the connectors you realigned, you might want to consider installing headlight relays (https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/JWST911HLPR.htm?pn=JWST-911-HLPR&bt=Y&fs=0&SVSVSI=811) to divert the headlights' current away from the turn signal stalk. This was FAR easier to do than the stalk repair

On wheels/etc. - don't get me wrong, love how the 7s and 8s upgrade my targa (I went with silver spokes/paddles with black paint behind and silver rims -- like these https://www.fuchsfelgeusa.com/product/16-inch-fuchs-wheels-anodized-silver/ -- as it's my understanding that the anodization protects/seals the aluminum and keeps the whole thing more stable, finish-wise -- either way, fair number of folks that do a great job refinishing these wheels if/as needed.

Vibration -- these cars are QUITE sensitive to front wheel/tire balancing -- but a good spin rebalance by a tire shop that has a hunter road force balancing machine should get you good to go with whatever wheel size/combo you choose to go with (as long as the wheels themselves are still a-ok)

fun stuff!

Thanks Darin, The relay is probably a great idea. I'll put it on the list. I'm just glad that I was able to get it working properly again for now. I love those wheels. It's the classic RSR look right? It's similar to what my ultimate goal is. I really would love to make them look like this pic stolen from the Black coupe thread:




It looks like the bottom part below the petals is actually painted white and I think this look is awesome. I'll bet if I got the 8 x 16's on the classic style from Maxilite I could either sand the black off of the petals and make it match my 7's once the petals have been sanded and add the white to both. Just a thought but I love the way that car looks.

[icarp]

Stick with real Fuchs. You will not be disappointed .
buy them from autoclub911 on pelican
Ian