Rebuilding Borrani's in L.A.?

valley wire wheel in los angeles/valley area. approx 550-650/wheel. pebble beach quality i've been told.

 

A friend of mine uses Valley and swears by them. He showed me a set he had done for one his Daytonas and they were beautiful.

-steve

 

I live in southern CA and send all my wheels to Precision Wire Wheel, Cork Adams, (217)228 8315 Quincy Illinois. Me uses Buchanan Spokes
I redo approx 10 sets a year and have been using Cork for over 12 years.
Actions speak louder than words.
I went to Valley Wire Wheel once, only never to return.

 

I guess I've had better luck with Mike at Valley Wire Wheel than Tom has. I've used Cork Adams as well. He does good work.

The only difference is in the details. Do you want a period correct date stamp? Valley Wire Wheel has it, Cork does not. Do you want to use chrome or stainless steel spoke nipples? Etc. I'm not even sure the typical Concours judge knows the difference.

One could argue that all this correct date stamp vs non-correct date stamp, chrome vs. stainless steel nipples, etc. is immaterial since both use Buchannon stainless steel spokes (as most people do these days) which makes the Boranni wheel incorrect. Borrani uses non-stainless steel spokes(their claim is that stainless steel is brittle, which it is). Of course, chroming the spokes makes them more brittle as well. Which is why Borrani makes wheels with painted spokes, etc. for racing applications. They also make wheels with different spokes (thickness and butts), machined and stamped hubs, different rim profiles, etc. based on the application or what the customer orders. Back in the seventies, Chinetti had Borranis made with machined hubs because the stamped hubs were failing on Daytonas.

Steve

 

Steve,

You are correct re the hardness of stainless vs chromed steel, however
a chromed spoke with a surface imperfection (e.g. corrosion spot) will have a stress point that is more likely to fail than an unblemished stainless spoke.

This makes stainless spokes are more practical for cars that are used, while chrome is of course correct for show cars.

I've been happy with Cork Adams work in the past. Have no experience with Valley Wire Wheel.

Ian

 

Doing a google search, I got this:

Valley Wire Wheel Service
7306 Coldwater Canyon #16
North Hollywood, CA 91605, USA
Voice: 818-765-3258
Fax: 818-765-8358

From My Classic Car's website.

But the Daytona registry has this phone number:
Valley Wire Wheel
818-785-7237

hopefully one of them will work!

-steve

 

There's also one on Lincoln in Venice just a few blocks out of Santa Monica. Whether theyre recommended now or not, I don't know.

Yup... halfway down...

http://mog.org/race/apr98.html
"Trouble with wire wheels? I went to Borrani Wire Wheel at 328 Lincoln Blvd in Venice and am satisfied. Call at (310) 399-9492."

 

I think the place on Lincoln is long-gone.

 

James, who ran the place on Lincoln, sold out and retired a couple of years ago. I have heard that he has resumed operation somewhere else, but I don't know if that's true, and I don't know how to find him. Anybody?

 

Sorry, wouldn't know - it was still open within roughly same timeframe I left L.A.

 

Valley Wire Wheel's contact info is:

Mike Rizenman
Valley Wire Wheel Service
14731 Lull Street
Van Nuys, CA 91405
(818) 785-7237

He'll be up to his eyeballs with Pebble Beach coming up.

Ian is correct about chrome imperfections. Also, of course, once you breach the chrome, probably after the first hard turn over a bump in a Daytona, rust starts its evil process on the steel. I stick with stainles steel on my rebuilt wheels and painted spokes for anything that will see track duty. For real spirited track duty, I dump the wire wheels altogether.

Steve