Last summer I bought my lovely 964 3.6 Turbo, and whilst it was in good condition, I asked OPC Reading to perform quite a bit of work to really get the car to 100% shape. They did, as ever, a fabulous job. The work included outsourcing the refurbishment of the Speedline wheels, which were in fairly ropy conditon in places.
One of the wheels post refurbishment:
The wheels came back looking fantastic (as shown above), but recently I spotted some corrosion under the lacquer around the bolts. I am aware that this is a common problem, and in fact happened to new wheels out of the factory. I've been super cautious to only use P21S (i.e., pH neutral) wheel cleaner, but still the dreaded corrosion has appeared.
I have been speaking with OPC Reading about options. They have already had the wheels refurbished and relacquered again (which is very good of them), but they remain concerned that the corrosion probably will return at some point in the future. They have suggested an alternative treatment which, as I understand it, involves replacing the out edge of the rim with a stainless steel rim. This does not need to be lacquered, and is corrosion proof.
I've asked whether this new outer edge to the rim is heavier than the OEM alloy, but I am assured any difference is small.
The only other issue is the Speedline logo. At the moment, my wheels have a sticker instead of the OEM etching, and the sticker is protected with the lacquer. However, with the stainless option the logo would not be lacquered, and hence would simply not work (it would eventually come off). So with this option I would definitely need to find a company who can perform the etching to a high standard.
I plan to speak with the company who perform this type of refurbishment tomorrow, but I thought I would also call on the assembled wisdom of this forum for any advice.
My instinct is to stay original (i.e., stick with the newly refurbished wheels, and just accept that an annual relacquering is required), but if others have tried the stainless steel option it would be really interesting to hear what you think.
Kind regards
Steve
One of the wheels post refurbishment:
The wheels came back looking fantastic (as shown above), but recently I spotted some corrosion under the lacquer around the bolts. I am aware that this is a common problem, and in fact happened to new wheels out of the factory. I've been super cautious to only use P21S (i.e., pH neutral) wheel cleaner, but still the dreaded corrosion has appeared.
I have been speaking with OPC Reading about options. They have already had the wheels refurbished and relacquered again (which is very good of them), but they remain concerned that the corrosion probably will return at some point in the future. They have suggested an alternative treatment which, as I understand it, involves replacing the out edge of the rim with a stainless steel rim. This does not need to be lacquered, and is corrosion proof.
I've asked whether this new outer edge to the rim is heavier than the OEM alloy, but I am assured any difference is small.
The only other issue is the Speedline logo. At the moment, my wheels have a sticker instead of the OEM etching, and the sticker is protected with the lacquer. However, with the stainless option the logo would not be lacquered, and hence would simply not work (it would eventually come off). So with this option I would definitely need to find a company who can perform the etching to a high standard.
I plan to speak with the company who perform this type of refurbishment tomorrow, but I thought I would also call on the assembled wisdom of this forum for any advice.
My instinct is to stay original (i.e., stick with the newly refurbished wheels, and just accept that an annual relacquering is required), but if others have tried the stainless steel option it would be really interesting to hear what you think.
Kind regards
Steve
]
