Refurb of steel/chromed wheels

[andywatts]

I've dug out these steel wheels, beautiful 60's bling, and am hoping to restore them. They are the original wheels from my 1969 +2S, and are a black centre with a chrome-plated rim rivetted to the centre. To get them re-chromed will need the rims and centres to be split. A relatively easy job as the rivets can just be drilled out. The challenge of course is to get them back together, safe, accurate and balanced. Plus the rims have a few minor dings and on one or two the peg holes will need attention.

So my question is - does anyone know any steel wheel restorers in UK? This used to be a very common activity, but I guess alloys have mostly replaced steel, and it's now less in demand. I've not been able to identify anyone who could do this - any suggestions? I would have a go at this myself, and I think the rivets could be replaced with a high-quality threaded fastener. But I wouldn't be able to true up and balance the result, so I think it has to be a professional job.

(Pics attached of the wheel and the rivets inside and out).

[ericbushby]

Hi Andy,
Are you sure they were chrome plated. I have only ever seen them painted silver, or black for the later ones.
When Sue Miller had a batch made not so long ago they were powder coated.
Could you not use blast cleaning and powder coat. They would then look correct.
I had no luck finding anyone to restore a damaged steel wheel. I left it with a large company who were confident they could do it but rang me a week later to say they couldn`t or possibly daren`t.
I finished up correcting a dented rim with heat and a hammer.
I made a clamp assembly to hold the centre flat and used a press to correct a slight buckling of the outer rim part.
Best of luck.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[vstibbard]

Hi Andy
I smiled when I read your post. I tried a few years ago to get the original wheels off our S2 Super Seven trued and painted. I’m still looking!
Years ago I had the people who make Borrani wheels in UK strip and powder cost my S4 Elsn knock ons. They did a sensational job. Maybe worth trying via the specialist classic tyre suppliers, they may have contacts.
All else fails, get onto YouTube and search for chrome paint, you will find a range of professional spray painters demonstrating a range of modern chrome based paints. One painted a chrome bumper and compared it to a real chrome bumper and it was very difficult to tell the difference. They painted steel, plastic and I’ve also seen fibreglass painted in chrome all very convincing.
Certainly a better option than separating and refixing your wheels which I expect we’re off original +2 or was a +2S.
Cheers
Vaughan

[jono]

The bands are indeed chrome plated - mine were on my previous 1970 Plus 2 S.

However having just spent £2,500 on chrome plating the brightwork on my Plus 2 project, except the lights, I suspect the cost of doing this would simply be uneconomic and that is before you factor in having them split and then re rivetted.

I simply had mine blasted and painted as kept as spares and then had some 14" Minilites made with black centres and polished rims as a nod to the originals.

...or consider rimbellishers?

[Andy8421]

FWIW the 'RO & Co' stamped on the rim is Rubery Owen, the engineering group who sponsored BRM in the 50s. They also produced the ROstyle wheels used on MGs and other cars of the period. A major supplier to the UK car industry, they suffered with the general industrial decline in the UK.

I can't find the story now, but I recall that Rubery Owen refused to make the original design of Elan wheel as they regarded the gauge of steel specified as being too thin, and the design unsafe. It was only after Lotus increased the thickness that they agreed to manufacture the wheels. Given that the wheels crack and bend, I can only imagine how thinner wheels would have lasted.

[ericbushby]

Hi Jono,
Ah, Plus 2, I did not think of that. I see now. I know very little about Plus 2`s even though I think they look good.
Eric in Burnley

[Bigbaldybloke]

I’ve had my Plus 2 steel wheels stripped and powder coated silver a couple of years ago, they are still sitting without tyres in the garage. Mine were originally silver, or at least they were when I bought the car in the early 70’s.
Biggest headache was which colour silver to go for as there are literally hundreds of them, can’t remember which I went for but may have been an early Ford colour.
A friend who got his Plus 2 at a similar time to mine from memory had wheels that were black with a chrome ring that clipped in, but soon changed them for a set of Revolution alloy wheels.

[berni29]

Hi

I know some people who I think can do this. They use a sputtering machine to deposit metal onto the wheel and then coat with some very special paint. Its quite specialised, and not cheap. They are called Chromespray in Basildon. its a different process from their usual cromespraying process.

All the best

Berni

[RichardHawkins]

Andy,

The centre and rim are not just riveted, there is a significant interference fit as well. My car is an S4 1968, removing the rivets made no significant difference in my efforts to separate the two components. I cut the rim off one wheel that was beyond repair, and discovered significant rust also holding the rim to the centre. I bought replacement rims from a German company MEFRO, who advised me that I needed 1mm of interference. I did this work with the help of a friendly engineering company who no longer exist, and this job taxed our combined abilities. If you still want to continue I can give more advice, but chrome paint or powder coat seems more sensible. Just make sure your your wheels are usable before you commit to the work to make them look right.

Hope this helps,

Richard Hawkins

[Bitsilly]

You can still fit new chrome embellishers.
A friend who is going through this and is in the trade has been told by many places not to bother trying to redo the chrome, but if you have a big budget go for it if you can find somewhere to take your money, I would say first try to find decent ones that do not need work and sell on your ones.

[alanr]

A while ago I too went through this dilemma on what to do about my original chrome rim steel wheels and came to the conclusion after many enquires and phone calls that if you want to retain steel wheels, rimbellishers were the only way to go. I couldn't find a way of re-chroming the original outer rims.
The problem I then found was that sourcing decent stainless steel and not plastic rimbellishers was also difficult! You can get them for an Elan but not a +2. Some suppliers have them but they aren't quite right for one reason or another.
They either aren't wide enough for the +2 rim offset or look just plain tacky. The ones you ideally want to fit the +2 rim offset were only used on the 1970's Ford Escort 1300E (The 'E' had wider rims)and they are really hard to find!
I was very fortunate to buy on here, (aka steal, thanks Jon) a set of the correct stainless steel rimbellishers, that were sold at the time of +2 production.They were quite badly scratched but I had them metal polished locally for very little money and they came out just like new!

Alan.

[cliveyboy]

Have you tried
https://www.tudorwheels.co.uk/
Also as an alternative to chemical rechroming there are some new spray processes that produce a very realistic chrome effect.

[smo17003]

This might be one of the processes that Clive is referring to - https://www.vmclimited.co.uk/metalising/ - something that I was thinking might be ideal as alternative to rechroming S3 rear lamp bezels.

[cliveyboy]

Hi Mike
My first experience of vacuum metallising was for car headlights.
Clive

[Roland]

I still haven't had my wheels done but Tudor Wheels were the only Company I found who I was confident could check them properly and then paint or powder coat them. This is not convenient for me because I am up in NE Scotland.

I did contact Image Wheels some time back when they had launched their Elan style wheel. At that point they had sold maybe 3 sets and couldn't send me a picture of a wheel in black with a chrome rim. I was unsure how original they would look. The wheels while costly should be trouble free and are strong enough even for my potholed backroads here.

Has anybody invested in a set of Image Wheels? Would be interested in some pics especially in black with chrome outer ring.

Regards

Roland