How to tell what wheels I have.

The paint has flaked off my rims and they need restoration. My chassis 31829 is early 1980. Wheels original but I suspect restoration several years ago. Outside is ok but inner rim is terrible condition.

I want them to be as original as possible.

How do I know what I have, I can't see any cast lettering. Are they Mg or Al? Painted or Powder coated? Should there be stencilling? I really don't have any idea.

Any advice on what was standard and what to look for is welcomed. Thank you.

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Can you post pics of the wheels?

 

Whilst knowing the manufacturer would be nice, I'm looking to find out wheel material, paint type and colour primarily. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

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I can't quite read the number on the back of the top spoke, but if it says TBE 40899 it is a Campagnolo

 

magnesium wheel, original part number was 108752.

 

Many Thanks Gentlemen.
Am I correct in my understanding of earlier threads that they should be painted, not powder coated?

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Magnesium alloy wheels require special care when stripping and preparing, prior to paint. There's a unique zinc primer required for magnesium alloy wheels - with a regular primer, it's said that the paint will suffer from bubbles rising from the wheels.

So not just painted, but processed and painted with the specifics for painting magnesium alloy wheels.

 

Andrew, check out my blog “Derek’s 308...” where I describe what I did. I couldn’t find a company that would guarantee mag wheels restoration and I understand why as it is lots of work. If you are quick you may still be able to get some chromate paint from LAS in England (or check local aircraft maintenance suppliers.)

 

Thank you so much for the help. It sounds like I could have got into real trouble. The corrosion is nothing like I've ever seen and has lifted all the paint off. It is very pitted.

I live in Ireland so it sounds like I'm going to have to send the wheels away or DIY.
Thanks again.

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If you decide to DIY I can send you some zinc chromate paint if you can't find any. The previous restoration may have only done the outsides or didn't properly address the corrosion under the paint on the insides. Seeing how porous these castings are, I would feel far safer on some modern repro 16" wheels (which are also cheaper than a proper restoration of the old wheels.)

 

The wheels in the photos are the Campagnolo 14" wheel. While they are most often called 'magnesium' in fact they are an aluminum / magnesium alloy that behaves much more like aluminum than straight magnesium. As such most of the information on refinishing these wheels is generally too biased towards the special requirements of pure magnesium rather than to treat it as the alloy that it is.

Given the current condition of the wheels I would suggest removing the tires and valve stems and having the wheels media blasted rather than chemically stripped. Make sure a softer media like glass or plastic is used however in this instance there is some scale and corrosion to deal with so the media needs to be harder than something like walnut shells. Sand is too aggressive and is not the correct media for this application. I suggest avoiding chemical stripping because the porosity of the wheels can encapsulate stripper that leeches out in the future damaging the new finish.

Once the wheels are stripped it is important to quickly put either a zinc chromate primer or some type of conversion coating to protect the raw alloy from beginning any corrosion. You can do any repair on top of this coating but getting in on early is imperative.

Regarding the final finish as already discussed powder coat is not a good option so paint is your best choice. The original finish was not a high gloss so if you do the wheels in base/clear the clear should be a 60-70% percent gloss level. I do not have a colour code for you however this has been discussed extensively so you should be able to search for the code. If you have limited painting experience I would suggest you find a company that refinishes alloy wheels. They are normally a fraction of what a body shop charges and they know all the tricks to painting wheels which are very difficult to get right.

As Derek already said a set of repro 16" wheels will cost you less than the refinishing of your existing wheels. If you want to be original you will also need Michelin XWX tires which will easily top 1000GBP for the set. I have 14" wheels on my 308 and love it but it is not an inexpensive route to take.

 

Thank you Nuvolari . Like some others on this forum, I tend towards getting it as exact as possible. The 14" are going to stay!

I've to get it serviced next month, so I'll start getting my ideas and materials together ready for after then.

Thanks a lot Derek for your kind offer, Zinc Chromate is banned I think now but there are other modern alternatives mentioned on this forum. I don't want to use up your supply on you. I'll update this and hopefully end up with finished wheels as good as yours.

Thanks again.

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LAS has 111 cans left as of today. If they don't ship to Ireland, I can send you some £6.50 plus VAT and post. If you are near Shannon, Cork, or Limerick I have a friend coming in 2 weeks.

 

I have almost made up my mind that the wheels are going to the UK. I just don't trust some here in Ireland to do Magnesium. Found one guy who on speaking to, I'll definitely use for my daily driver alloys.

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