Alloys again

FIFTY

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3,100
Morning people

I dropped my car off to a well renowned alloy wheel repair shop who have helped me out in the past - they are very good - so they should be in Guildford where the roads are crumbling into the pot holes.

I was told by a garage that I may have a few buckles - one of which I can see on the front o/s alloy on the inner face when I removed the wheel.

Get a call shortly after saying that the centre cap diameter is too small and it won't fit the spigot on their hydraulic press - I have the BBS multispoke alloys that came standard on the 4200 which were on the 3200 AC. I asked if they know anyone who can help and they said the only other shop they know of is in Crawley and have the same machine so same problem. How annoying!

Anyone got any experience with getting these alloys repaired? Would have liked to have got them repaired and fully re-finished but at this rate it might have to be aftermarket(?) I am aware of the GS pattern wheels at ES but I do not want to fit 19's, the car should be on 18's imo.
 
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mjheathcote

Centenary Club
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I'm surprised two fold, firstly I don't think I have heard of the 18" wheels having buckling issues, secondly if they can't mount the wheel on their machine, how do tyre dealers manage okay?
 

davy83

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I have a front wheel with a buckle in my garage from 5 or 6 years ago that I was unable to get repaired, I got a second hand one.
 

FIFTY

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3,100
I'm surprised two fold, firstly I don't think I have heard of the 18" wheels having buckling issues, secondly if they can't mount the wheel on their machine, how do tyre dealers manage okay?

Likewise not heard of those 18" multispokes buckling but I have seen the buckle on there myself... problem is that it is on more than one alloy hence why I am talking of a full set replacement. Another reason to pop up a thread to raise awareness.

The machine they use to straighten buckles is different to the one they use for balancing - he said the fitment on the balancing machine is tight - while the tyre fitting machine I am pretty certain that grips onto the edges of the wheel - been a long time since I used one :)
 

mjheathcote

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Well if you want a change of wheel can recommend the Formula Dynamics wheels aka Forgestar F14's still keeping 18"
 

TimR

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I have a set of facelift rims from my 4200 if that's of interest. They'd need refurbishing...
 

FIFTY

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Well if you want a change of wheel can recommend the Formula Dynamics wheels aka Forgestar F14's still keeping 18"

Can you get them as Forgestars in the UK or do I have to go down the FD/Larini route?

I guess my choice will have to be educated as the principle with changing wheels is to reduce unsprung mass, luckily the standard alloys are bloody heavy

I have a set of facelift rims from my 4200 if that's of interest. They'd need refurbishing...

I was looking at these in the options brochure in my handbook the other day - these were marketed as the lightweight alloys.

Not a fan of the design of them at all, I much prefer the multi spokes or the GS alloys - the Trofeo split rims looked a bit weird maybe made sense at the time although they are 18" with the car sitting on adjustable coilovers not skyhook

GS
1534936059891.png

4200 Trofeo

1534936175547.png
 

Vampyrebat

Member
Messages
3,117
What are you thinking cost wise Tim? I was thinking of a second set for winter tyres and also a chrome finish if they need refurbishment. Also try putting the add on the 'Maserati Parts For Sale'. You will probably get a better response.
 

Vampyrebat

Member
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3,117
Morning people

I dropped my car off to a well renowned alloy wheel repair shop who have helped me out in the past - they are very good - so they should be in Guildford where the roads are crumbling into the pot holes.

I was told by a garage that I may have a few buckles - one of which I can see on the front o/s alloy on the inner face when I removed the wheel.

Get a call shortly after saying that the spiggot size is too small and it won't fit their machine much to their surprise as they have done plenty of Maserati wheels - I have the BBS multispoke alloys that came standard on the 4200 which were on the 3200 AC. I asked if they know anyone who can help and they said the only other shop they know of is in Crawley and have the same machine so same problem. How annoying!

Anyone got any experience with getting these alloys repaired? Would have liked to have got them repaired and fully re-finished but at this rate it might have to be aftermarket(?) I am aware of the GS pattern wheels at ES but I do not want to fit 19's, the car should be on 18's imo.

Shoghi
Who is the wheel refurbishment company? If it's the wheel specialist I would be very surprised to hear that!
If it isn't then I would suggest going to the one nearest you. They are a franchise so there will be one close to you.
My family and I have always used our local one as does Dickie Grace....... And we all know how fussy he is!!
 

mjheathcote

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Bought my FD's secondhand unused. Only after buying them discovered they were actually rebranded Forgestar F14's.
Not sure of the availability direct from Forgestar/UK agent. They are very popular in the US and the F14's have that rare design that they look good with most modern cars. Bit like the minilite wheels with 70s cars at the time. IMHO
 

FIFTY

Member
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3,100
Shoghi
Who is the wheel refurbishment company? If it's the wheel specialist I would be very surprised to hear that!
If it isn't then I would suggest going to the one nearest you. They are a franchise so there will be one close to you.
My family and I have always used our local one as does Dickie Grace....... And we all know how fussy he is!!

It's the local one in Guildford I'd rather not name them in case they get narky over it - not that I am saying anything bad I think they are a great outfit but not able to help me this time.

There is a "the wheel specialist" in Farnborough I could give them a try

@dickygrace have you had experience straightening these alloys?

1534937539151.png
 
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1,117
Shoghi
Who is the wheel refurbishment company? If it's the wheel specialist I would be very surprised to hear that!
If it isn't then I would suggest going to the one nearest you. They are a franchise so there will be one close to you.
My family and I have always used our local one as does Dickie Grace....... And we all know how fussy he is!!

^^^ What he said. The nearest one to you appears to be Farnborough:
https://www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk/locations/farnborough/
 

lifes2short

Member
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5,821
I've used the wheel specialist in Farnborough and personally speaking found them very helpful/informative and they did a top class job on some of my wheels
 

MaserMatt

Junior Member
Messages
47
You could ask Autofficina at Kingston who they use - refurbished all of my 18" wheels and did a lovely job, cost less than I feared too. They weren't buckled though AFAIK.
 

FIFTY

Member
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3,100
^^^ What he said. The nearest one to you appears to be Farnborough:
https://www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk/locations/farnborough/
I've used the wheel specialist in Farnborough and personally speaking found them very helpful/informative and they did a top class job on some of my wheels

Tried calling a few times left a message for them to get back to me

You could ask Autofficina at Kingston who they use - refurbished all of my 18" wheels and did a lovely job, cost less than I feared too. They weren't buckled though AFAIK.

So they re-finished your alloys - they have their own spray shop on the premises so I guess they did it for you there.

I am talking about straightening the buckled rim, it uses a special press

I haven’t had any experience in straightening them.

Thanks Dicky, goes to show the 18s are the stronger alloy but a combination of the car living in Devon, up north, London and Surrey through its life has done the rims no good.


I picked the car up from the alloy repair shop, I asked them a little about the machine and they said that the two main ones on the market are either from Turkey or the USA, all of the Turkish press' will have the same standard spigot size but the USA ones might come in different sizes and said to try WS in Farnborough if they have a different machine to theirs
 

FIFTY

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3,100
Got hold of Wheel Specialist Farnborough and they said that the wheels won't fit their machine either.

New set of rims it is then :/
 
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Sorry to hear it. You might like to contact these two - Lepsons in Kent (used a lot by Porsche owners) and the company called "Reinventing the Wheel in Tewkesbury:

http://www.lepsons.com/wheel-straightening/#

http://www.reinventingthewheel.co.uk/buckledwheel.html

Lepsons has a very high standard and very reasonable prices - even offering refund on some of the courier cost. They do a ,llot of high-end Prestige Vehicle wheels and are very popular with Porsche owners I know from that circle. GT3 wheels and Turbo 2 Hollow Spokes are managed with confidence by them.

Hopefully they can sort the issue for you? Good luck.
 

GeoffCapes

Member
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14,000
When I had my alloys on my 4200 done by Lepsons, they had a 3200 in there with the same alloys, so I know they can do them.