Restoring Fuchs wheels

[sebastianroher]

I have what I believe to be the original Fuchs wheels on my 71t. The car is a long-term restoration that I'm currently working on. I am looking at the wheels and I notice a little bit of road rash (I can get pics later) my question is, is there anyone on here that restores these wheels or is there a shop that can do this type of work? Thanks in advance!

R,
Sebastian Roher

[javadog]

Harvey Wiedman, Weidman's Wheels. Oroville, CA.

He's the best. It will take a little while but he's worth it.

JR

[Arne2]

+1

There are other shops who can refinish, but if you need rash repair Harvey is the man.

[sebastianroher]

Thx! I got the same reference via earlyS so he's the guy I'll go with! Do you guys know how much he typically charges? Thx

[javadog]

It depends on the work done. I'd say, something in the $4-500 range per wheel, for a full restoration back to stock.

JR

[77Targa0912]

Al Reed is about half he cost of Harvey if you aren't concerned about concours judging. Faster turn around too.

[Derek911]

I think people get a little crazy when it comes to some restoration. Like someone else mentioned, unless you are concerned with winning some type of concourse award, there is no need to pack and ship wheels halfway across the country to have them refinished. We are talking wheels here, not something that takes specific talent like some work on engine components. You have to figure out what you are trying to achieve. Just to get them to look new and clean i am sure you can find someone local unless you live in a one horse town. You want them to look great, yes, but if you plan on driving it, the wheels will get beat up. If you plan on parking it in the garage and invite people over to look at the car, then ship the wheels to California. Curb rash is a common occurance in major cities, so there are plenty of companies that do the repairs. I dont see the need to ship wheels unless you absolutely need everything to be done by some Porsche guru. In the end, if its done right, who cares who did it.

[javadog]

I'm going to respectfully disagree that any wheel shop can restore a Fuchs wheel properly. The fact that they are polished to a certain point, then anodized, as part of the restoration process is what separates the good guys from the shops that repair wheels for daily drivers. It's the same thing with the bright trim used on the early cars. There are many places that will refinish trim but damn few that will do a good job of it.

There are other options, like Al Reed mentioned above, or places like Wheel Enhancement, but there's nobody out there that knows these wheels better than Harvey. If I was restoring an early car, I'd spend a few extra bucks and get the work done right, the first time.

JR

[sebastianroher]

Personally, I don't believe that EVERY nut and bolt has to be sent off to some Porsche "guru" however there are certain things I believe should be taken to an expert or someone that deals with them quite frequently, things such as interior (seats esp.), and engines. I honestly didn't know if these could be fixed at first so I will explore my options. I'm definitely not trying to do a concours restoration and I'm not selling the car anytime soon. I just want to get it back on the road and the wheels are a long term project (still have fuel system, brakes, and assembly of engine left) that I want to tackle.

[javadog]

Something like this is what I would do for your car. Do it once, never have to screw with it again:

[sebastianroher]

Looks good Javadog!

[Raudi Driver]

Damn, even the wheel weights look amazing

[Showdown]

Have them glass bead blasted locally and then paint and polish them yourself. It’s super easy and the results can be really great. Obviously not at the same level as the pros but unless you need that degree of perfection, diy is totally fine.

I did mine and the total cost was $100 for the bead blasting, maybe $100 for paint and then maybe $50 for various sanding and polishing materials. Took about 2 hours per wheel.

They look professional at any distance outside of 1 foot. They also are almost always covered in brake dust and road grime so it’s impossible to tell they’re not pro

[Cairo94507]

I vote for Harvey Weidman too. In your case, since you are not in a hurry, he is the right man for the job. The wheels will come back looking like they did when Porsche installed them on the car. BTW, I would never put wights on the front of a wheel like in the picture above.

[javadog]

Well, Porsche put weights there, what do they know? Putting weights on any wheel, nearest the inside and outside edges, reduces the amount of weight that it takes to balance the wheel. The adhesive used to stick them on doesn’t hurt the anodized finish, so what’s the harm?

[Cairo94507]

I know; it just does not look as nice in my humble opinion and it makes them a little harder to keep clean. Mine are alll balanced on the rear and they are smooth as glass when driving.

[javadog]

Well then, I highly recommend that you scrub the red and yellow dots off of your tires. Can’t have those distracting from the clean look….

My car was restored, so I went with originality, for the most part.

[helidoc]

I know it might look crazy but this is what I just did on mine after scanning the internet for what others have done. The biggest hassle is getting the taping done. I had the wheels stripped and polished (polish was original for my "68 911L). Then I made a mold out of casting epoxy from the crafts store that I used as a guide around the petals, using some red vegetable based grease under the plastic wrap lined casting area (tried aluminum foil but it tore to easily and was concerned about leaks), making the wheel level. I used a sharpie to trace a line, moving the mold around to each section. I put the wheel on my balancer and spun it putting the sharpie on a tripod to hold it position to draw around the inner rim edge. I then used vinyl tap and painter's masking tape before scuffing the exposed areas to prime and paint in a couple of rattle cans made up by the automotive paint store. The sharpie line wipes off with a light pass of acetone on a slightly dampened rag. I took this last image of the wheel after I put the tires on last night so it still needs to be cleaned up a bit but looks factory now (at least original to my car). The only thing I worry about is the valve stems. I don' remember if the wheels used tubes or not since is it was a couple of years ago when I took the wheels apart and the valve stem holes were deep and slightly out of round. Some have recommended using the tr451-90 (NAPA) valve stems if not using tubes so I tried those and left the tires to sit and see if they loose pressure over time. I am a little concerned about using tubes as some say the newer tires are not smooth enough inside and may rub the tubes to failure. I am using the classic tire to look original. May be someone has some other thoughts about this.

[Shorty62]

Did you use any sort of special paint for the job - just thinking about stone chips?

[helidoc]

I'll have to look at the cans but I think he called it "trim" paint. Anyway he thought it would hold up the best. I wanted to powder coat them but they wouldn't or couldn't guarantee the edges of the paint being correct.