original wheels out off of centre

[Keith Scarfe]

I have a contact for straightening our wheels but I am not sure I would recommend them. It is however worth mentioning. Whilst they are a genuine place and everything went well regarding sending and receiving them, I wasn't fully satisfied with their work because when I sent my 4 rims to them, about this time last year, they came back pretty much the same. He said that he does straighten them by using the same machines as he uses for straightening alli wheels and using heat then re paints them. He seems nice enough and they indeed looked lovely on return but one of them still had bad run out and was still wobbly when I put it on the car (even though it balanced to zero). Which was the same as before I sent it. Maybe they settled back during posting them back.
I am going to give them one last try (sorting it out right now actually) by sending my spare which I know has a big ding in it and I think is un-repairable but I am going to try anyway because as the above posts say there is no one else that I know who will do this and these rims are like hens teeth now. If this doesn't work then I'll keep looking for spares on fleaybay (silly money) or as a last resort will have to consider Minilites. I really want to keep the standard steel rims though if I possibly can and I am not sure the larger Minilites will fit a standard S3.
You can try this company if you like. At least they are willing to have a go with them.
http://www.ianjemison.co.uk/
I found they don't answer emails, the only way is to phone and speak to Ian. Can't remember exact cost but it was about ?80 per rim I think including paint post and vat.
HTH cheers.
Keith.

[Keith Scarfe]

It was actually Rob (Mazzini) who recommended Ian Jemsion to me (Hi Rob thanks for that). As he said Ian did a good job for him so you might have a good result as well. I'll see how he does with this spare of mine and post back on here (prob end of Feb).

[mgourwcg]

The company I have dealt with when I distorted two wheels a few years back had no reservations about me watching him. Heat the wheel when he has found out where the distortion is if not obvious and 'smack' it judiciously. He then runs it up on a lathe and spins the wheel round using a big hard stick. If he is concerned about the possibility of cracking then the crack test is carried out when the paint has been removed.

The tyre new or the old one will be fitted and the whole assembly balanced once the wheel has been re- painted.
With the thin metal it is fairly straightforward to 'move' the metal with heat and a hammer then by spinning. Thicker conventional ones take more effort.

With wheels that need welding of rims to hubs then this is a whole different ball game and this becomes expensive.

With alloy wheels then there is a strong possibility that the repair will involve cutting out the damage welding and remachining and reprocessing v expensive but in some instances necessary due to the unavailability of replacements.

His charges for doing my two wheels were a bottle of Scotch for the alloys for another ally customer ?120. plus.

Hope this is of use

Michael