Three piece wheel modification and restoration

[zedrift]

I have had these very poor condition mix matched (3 same ,, 1 different) set of Stern wheels for years with the intention of using the centres to paint a different colour as a spare set for the same set i already have ..




I had a go at restoring the original set bought of Grant at Otomoto and they came out ok .. But ...




The paint is now chipping of around the centre caps and a couple of other places so i have decided to restore them again and try to custom build two of them to fit the rear of the car better combining both sets .. The front are practically perfect for the guards so they will be restored again but left as is ..

The idea came to mind when i noticed the offset to three of the wheels was 8.5 +43 with a 25mm lip compared to the restored wheels i currently have on my Soarer that are approx 8.5 +35 with a 40mm lip .. At first i was just thinking of taking two of the +43 barrels and putting the 40mm lips on them for the rear gaining approx 10mm of inner width and the same fitment under the gaurds with the wheel centre face and lip remaining the same .. With the gaurds in there current condition there is room to bring the lip out another 15mm but Stern dont make wheels anymore as far as i can tell .. I found that OZ wheels custom make lips for $130-150 so i decided this would be the way to go with an extra 15mm of lip and 10mm of inner wheel turning my rears into 9.5's with a 55mm lip ..

Unfinished but cleaning em up



I would have been happy with that but when paint stripping and cleaning up the centres i noticed something else that gave me another idea .. The wheel centre from the one odd wheel that has a bigger lip than the other three has around 15mm more meat on the fitting face compared to the other wheel centres ..
This got me to thinking if i fit this into the plan i should have have room for another 15mm of dish bringing it up to 70mm ..

You can see what i mean here




This is where i need some advice =) Can i have the fitting face from one of the other centres machined down to match the other centre so i have two to use safely without comprimising the strength of the wheel ..

[Willofan]

It all depends on how much material you have between the taper of the wheel nut and the hub face in the taller centre, my guess is you do not have enough there to machine them down without comprising the wheel nut holes.

My advice is to get a 15mm hub centric spacer made and use longer wheel studs on the shallow centre.

[zedrift]

Yeah ok ,, I understand what you mean .. I will take a look at em ..

I have two more of the taller ones so its not necessary to manipulate the fitting of the smaller one to the bigger one .. I wanted to go the other way around to give me more space for dish =)

[zedrift]

Bugger ,, you are right .. There is no room for machining .. Oh well ,, i only lose 15mm ..

Anyone got a set of these in any size and condition ??