KO wheel refurb: pitting

[afragilis]

Hi,
I recently acquired four steel KO wheels for my (new-to-me) Elan Sprint as I really prefer the look of the original wheels over the scratched up Panasports that came on the car. All four appear nice and straight, no cracks, lose rivets, etc. Some surface rust on two of them - or what appeared to be surface rust on two of them. I just got them back from being bead blasted in preparation for painting and found that one of the wheels has some pitting. My question for the hive mind is what is an acceptable level of pitting? Is any amount acceptable - or should I hold tight and find another wheel and retire this one and take it out to pasture? The pits are not deep enough to break through, but then again, the metal isn't that thick either.
Thanks for the input - much appreciated!

[512BB]

Lets face it, anything is better than a set of Panasports, and I would be more than happy to use the wheel you picture, if those knocks are all that is wrong with it, and they could be filled before painting.

What usually determines if a wheel can be used or not, is the condition of the inside, and if the tyre will seal. If that area is poor, then an inner tube could always be used, so long as it is compatible with the tyre.

Leslie

[gjz30075]

Since they are being used on a Sprint, then embellisher rings will be used and that
will cover the pitting shown.

[ericbushby]

I agree with the above comments. The weak point on the Lotus wheels is the centre section. It can get distorted with heavy use and knocks. The rim is stronger.
Have you checked the wheels for axial and radial runout. The specification is in the workshop manual.
If they are not round and flat there is not much point spending money on there appearance.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[Sadbrewer]

I've seen new cars with worse pitting than that!!

[afragilis]

Thanks for the input. I was mostly curious if pitting like this would make a structural weakness. I do have a TIG, and could fill the pits and smooth down, but I don’t know if that adds more potential for problems beyond where it is now.

The look doesn’t concern me so much though - yes, I do have a set of embellishes for my sprint on their way. The inside of the wheels all look solid. No gaps/cracks/pinholes…but not 100% until there are tires and air in there. Tubes will be a fallback, if necessary. By eye, there doesn’t appear to be any runout, axial or radial. I haven’t put them on a hub yet with a dial to measure- that’s my next step.

I’m probably being overly cautious - but these are what I’ll ride on, so better to be sure!

[prezoom]

Since you have a tig, I would suggest using silicon bronze rod as it requires less heat and flows easier that steel rod.

[wdb]

What is the likelihood that the trim rings themselves are the cause of that pitting? Is it just at one spot, or at several spots around the rim?

[afragilis]

Good suggestion with the Si bronze rod - if it is just for aesthetics, then brazing would be less risk than going in with steel rod.

The pitting is over only part of the rim, radially distributed like what you see in the picture, along the same profile. Zooming into the full wheel pic shows it. I don’t know the history of the wheels, so no idea if they had rimbellishers on there or not. Good question though.

[The Veg]

Aren't tubes supposed to be used with these wheels anyway due to riveted construction?

[jono]

I've never had an issue with air leakage with these rivetted rims. I always run a smear of Tigerseal around the rivets inside the rim but even where I haven't done that they hold air just fine.

[ericbushby]

Even the workshop manual recommends Firestone tubeless tyres. I know that was back in the 60`s and wheels and tyres have improved since then.
I have had two sets of tubeless tyres in 13 years and never had any problems and I have slid sideways into a kerb a couple of times but I am not talking about that !
My rear wheels are originals without the extra ridge on the rim, but the front ones are the `Sue Miller` stronger wheels with the ridge, as modern wheels have.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[512BB]

Not fitted tubes to original steel wheels in 45 years of Lotus ownership.

Wheels on my Europa Special with original alloys are a different matter. Bloody things.

Leslie

[afragilis]

Tubes vs no tubes has been beaten to death on this forum, so I specifically avoided that topic in my post I'm probably rolling with no tubes, FWIW, as the general consensus seems to be that it's okay. I'd possibly spring for those reproduction steel wheels, were they still available - but unfortunately, it sounds like the tooling was scrapped, and they're rarer than the original thing.