[Wanted: Parts] Looking for advise on banded steelies on beetle
- Thread starter Mark_Iggy_Foy
- Start date
right, time to put my money where my mouth is. This is something I've been meaning to get around to for a while and this very thread has spurred me into action.
Re-Rimming (contain yourself Coxy!!) instead of banding a steel wheel.
step #1
gather up your raw materials, in this case a 6Jx15" "G60" steel wheel from a mk2 Golf/B4 Passat GT etc and a 7Jx15" bog standard, poverty-spec Mercedes steel wheel.
Feel the extra girth
step #2:
remove the centre from the Merc "hoop". Hack away at the centre, make a dogs dinner of it if you need to, it's for the bin anyway. Just do whatever you have to do not to damage, bend, cut into etc the hoop. It must be kept perfect. Grind back any remains of welds inside the hoop to make it smooth inside.
step #3:
now do the opposite for the centre of the rim you want to keep. Make a hash of the hoop, just take extra care to mind the centre this time.
leaving the centre you want to keep and the wider hoop
step #4:
pop the centre into the hoop and make it true. The centre will be a snug enough fit to hold itself in place while you carry on adjusting it.
Make it true? Now how do you do that? Ideally you'd get the centre close to where you want it to be, offset-wise on the floor then bolt the whole lot to one of the hubs of the car in question so you can spin it. You need a stationary object like an axle stand beside the front of the rim and using a ruler or something, touch the very edge of the rim. Spin the wheel slowly and see if there are any high spots. Tap the rim with a hammer at the high spot and repeat until you have the rim spinning true to the hub. If you can get the run-out (the difference between the highest spot and the lowest spot) to less than 1mm you'll be doing fine. Now gently remove the whole assembly from the car and get a couple of tack-welds on the inside of the rim. Once tacked together, crank the welder up to 11 and go nuts. The factory usually use 4x4" welds evenly spaced around the rim. If you cut the donor rims up yourself you'll be familiar with them. Try to emulate those welds and make sure you get good penetration. If you're at all unsure, farm that job out to someone whose welding you trust.
I should make a point of saying this is for off-road purposes only and use of modified wheels on a road vehicle may void your insurance policy. I am not suggesting that anyone would use modified wheels on a road-going vehicle. And seriously, weld the fuck out of them or have someone competent do it for you. You don't want these coming apart at speed...
Re-Rimming (contain yourself Coxy!!) instead of banding a steel wheel.
step #1
gather up your raw materials, in this case a 6Jx15" "G60" steel wheel from a mk2 Golf/B4 Passat GT etc and a 7Jx15" bog standard, poverty-spec Mercedes steel wheel.
Feel the extra girth
step #2:
remove the centre from the Merc "hoop". Hack away at the centre, make a dogs dinner of it if you need to, it's for the bin anyway. Just do whatever you have to do not to damage, bend, cut into etc the hoop. It must be kept perfect. Grind back any remains of welds inside the hoop to make it smooth inside.
step #3:
now do the opposite for the centre of the rim you want to keep. Make a hash of the hoop, just take extra care to mind the centre this time.
leaving the centre you want to keep and the wider hoop
step #4:
pop the centre into the hoop and make it true. The centre will be a snug enough fit to hold itself in place while you carry on adjusting it.
Make it true? Now how do you do that? Ideally you'd get the centre close to where you want it to be, offset-wise on the floor then bolt the whole lot to one of the hubs of the car in question so you can spin it. You need a stationary object like an axle stand beside the front of the rim and using a ruler or something, touch the very edge of the rim. Spin the wheel slowly and see if there are any high spots. Tap the rim with a hammer at the high spot and repeat until you have the rim spinning true to the hub. If you can get the run-out (the difference between the highest spot and the lowest spot) to less than 1mm you'll be doing fine. Now gently remove the whole assembly from the car and get a couple of tack-welds on the inside of the rim. Once tacked together, crank the welder up to 11 and go nuts. The factory usually use 4x4" welds evenly spaced around the rim. If you cut the donor rims up yourself you'll be familiar with them. Try to emulate those welds and make sure you get good penetration. If you're at all unsure, farm that job out to someone whose welding you trust.
I should make a point of saying this is for off-road purposes only and use of modified wheels on a road vehicle may void your insurance policy. I am not suggesting that anyone would use modified wheels on a road-going vehicle. And seriously, weld the fuck out of them or have someone competent do it for you. You don't want these coming apart at speed...
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I think this is a simpler, safer way of widening steel wheels than banding. There's less cutting to do, less welding to do, you don't have to make a band and roll it to shape, you don't have to try to ensure the welds don't warp the wheel, you don't have to grind back the welds to make them pretty, the wheel is guaranteed to hold air.
The only drawback is that (when doing it as above) the valve is now on the inside of the rim. You could weld up the hole and drill a new one on the outside or you could just live with it and enjoy the "stealth" aspect of having a hidden valve and totally smooth wheels. Bonus scene points.
oh, when fitting tyres, the wheel has to be mounted to the machine the "wrong" way if you do it like I showed above. If you fit the centre to the wider hoop the normal way then it's business as usual.
The only drawback is that (when doing it as above) the valve is now on the inside of the rim. You could weld up the hole and drill a new one on the outside or you could just live with it and enjoy the "stealth" aspect of having a hidden valve and totally smooth wheels. Bonus scene points.
oh, when fitting tyres, the wheel has to be mounted to the machine the "wrong" way if you do it like I showed above. If you fit the centre to the wider hoop the normal way then it's business as usual.
Nice one trev . i have done this before but i was making narrower wheels for a lad he brought me 2 wide Empi sprint stars and wanted them narrowed i removed the centers from them and rewelded them into some standard bug rims the car was driven to and from the uk at motorway speeds without any problems . i have also welded a steel Porsche center to a space saver rim to make a very narrow spare for a split it will be fitted under the van .as you say trev it is a much safer way to do things
nice one trev! looks great job.
on a side note was reading the other day 8,000 cars failed nct last yr for having tyres goin the wrong rotation, say down to lazy fitting. they say it pushes water the wrong way and can cause aquaplaning. i wonder is there anymore risk of aquaplaning than having incorrect tyre pressure, wonder when they'l start failing for that. anyway as its classic i realise u dont need to worry bout nct though.
on a side note was reading the other day 8,000 cars failed nct last yr for having tyres goin the wrong rotation, say down to lazy fitting. they say it pushes water the wrong way and can cause aquaplaning. i wonder is there anymore risk of aquaplaning than having incorrect tyre pressure, wonder when they'l start failing for that. anyway as its classic i realise u dont need to worry bout nct though.
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as far as I can see they're the same for the same diameters.
Think about it, the tyres HAVE to be the same internal diameter between manufacturers so it would follow that the wheels those tyres have to fit would be the same between manufacturers.
From my own experience I can say that the aircooled VW 15" steels and the Merc steels above have the same internal diameter, same goes for watercooled VW 15" rims, see above. I once put the rear of a Toyota 14" rim onto the front of a VW watercooled 14" rim and they were the same. Problem is I couldn't get a tyre on it, now it's a hose reel on my wall
Sorry for re opening this thread. I'm still quite unsure on which route to go about it. Thanks for all the info! The earlier beetles do have nicer finish to them with the dome hubcap and no holes around the alloy. Any chance of finding an older set off alloys,getting them banded and then put adapters on? Is th
Thank again,
Thank again,
Cool thanks trev! If i do go the route will the adaptors push out the wheel? Like will there be clearance issues with the wheel and back wings?
yeah, you'll push out the wheel the thickness of the adapter. However, if you're banding/re-rimming wheels you have the opportunity to set everything up as you need it to avoid any rubbing. You get to choose the width and offset to suit your application...