DIY Bent Wheel Repair ?

[jeffSDguy]

Heat or flame, wood, and hammer should do the job. a metal heated will bend. unless if you use lava then it will evaporate. LOLOL

[Simon S]

Zen? What the heck you smokin'? Gonna share?

Well - it must be some good shit if I'm contemplating full-DIY refurbish on a set of gnarly-ass weaves..

Google map, Wheel repair in your area.

Believe me - I have. Basically, it's like:
$560 + transport trips across Chicago to have a shop repair/refinish them
OR
$60 in paint + 20 hours(?) of my time

I’m unemployed. Guess which route I’m leaning toward?

If it's one thing I've learned about working on this car - is that the hardest roads are often the most satisfying when done..

But we'll see - I need to check for bad wobble before I do anything.

[ZekeTheSneak]

Google map, Wheel repair in your area.

[StereoInstaller1]

Zen? What the heck you smokin'? Gonna share?

[Simon S]

Oh – I will. All part of my Zen journey madness..

[StereoInstaller1]

I like the look of a nice set of weaves...but I will never ever own a set.

GL, and post some pics as you fix those up.

[Simon S]

Cool. Thanks guys. Very helpful information.
Yeah - I have a high concern regarding use of heat. Liking the idea of a heat gun over a torch. I've been wanting to get a heat gun in my tool collection anyway..


1 - Spin and check for signs of wobble. Mark trouble areas.

if wobble is negligible and bends are localized to lip areas -

2 - Warm areas with heat gun and reshape as possible.

3 - Spin to double-check things out. Reshape as needed.

4 - Strip any areas with curb rash and fill as appropriate with JB weld.

5 - Straighten caps as appropriate for tighter installation (1-2 of caps I have fit ‘loose’)

6 - Clean/scuff/prep wheels and caps for uniform finish and paint adhesion

7 - Paint wheels and caps with wheel paint (Wurth or Duplicolor)

8 - Install new roundel emblems to caps

9 - Mount/balance tires on wheels with stick-on weights or lip weights on inside lip.

10 - Avoid drifting into curbs at all costs.


Oh god – I think I am going to be hating life while spending hours cleaning and scuffing out all that weave surface area on all four of those f’kers.

P.S. George – you funny.

[frankenbeemer]

I also found this on the BBS site:http://www.bbsalloywheels.co.uk/manu...roduction.aspx

Heat Treatment:
The heat treatment phase, which lasts several hours, is in place to make sure that the material properties of the future wheel are exactly how they should be. The three-phase heat treating of the casting blank helps to improve the firmness of the aluminium alloy. Step one: solution annealing which takes place following the alloying stage in accordance with DIN 1706 and at temperatures of between 480 and 550 degrees Celsius. The temperature is selected so that a large enough amount of alloying elements are dissolved into the mixed crystals to increase the strength of the alloy. Step two: quenching. During the quenching phase, the casting is cooled down as quickly as possible to around 70 degrees Celsius so that it is ready for the next stage. Stage three: warm ageing. Warm ageing is in place to ensure that the material obtains the right strength. The process requires absolute precision. If, for example, the solution annealing is conducted at a temperature in excess of 550 degrees Celsius, the casting can no longer be used and has to be melted down.

[frankenbeemer]

ASM Handbook Volume 2, Properties and Selection: Nonferrous Alloys and Special-Purpose Materials has the following information:

356-T6: aging at 305 to 315 °F for 2 to 5 hours
Yield stress = 185 MPa
Ultimate stress = 262 MPa
Fracture strain = 0.05

356-T7: aging at 435 to 445 °F for 7 to 9 hours
Yield stress = 165 MPa
Ultimate stress = 220 MPa
Fracture strain = 0.06

Don't heat the wheel over 300 degrees and you should be fine.

[8380 Labs]

i've been told by knowledgeable people that heating an aluminum wheel up with a torch will change the properties of the metal and anneal it in a way that could be detrimental.

[der affe]

I'd spin it.

Thanks George, that made my morning.

[BoxDriver86]

Method I used on a bent bottlecap. I just wanted to see if it works and it did.

http://vagwales.forumakers.com/t3235-diy-wheel-repair

Other options:
BFH - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAsYm...eature=related
How the pros do it in case you find a way to replicate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNa5RmO-UDs

Best of luck saving those!

[Simon S]

Thanks guys.
I guess my first step is to spin them and check for warp/wobble.
Should be able to mount them as pictured - and set up a guage to check them out.
If i'm lucky - and bends are localized to lip areas - then I'll go for it.

[george graves]

I'd spin it.

[BrettsE30]

Spin it first to make sure the whole wheels not outta whack. I just smacked the crap outta my bottle caps to make em straight but all my bends were on the inner lip.