Hmmm..
Sit at a bench and true rusty wheels for $3.00 per hour for penny
pinching, declining market sports car owners, or take early retirement and
see the grandkids.
To true a wheel properly requires stripping the wheel of paint and
grease. Careful inspection of the splines. Cutting out any seized spokes.
Replacing all damaged spokes. Setting the wheel on a jig and artistically
adjusting the spokes till the tensions are correct and the wheel runs true.
Then the wheel is undercoated and painted with a highly durable paint.
At this time there is no way that the job can be done correctly on
demand, and be competitive with the price of newly fabricated wheels. This
is an indication of how highly competitive the British Car Market in America
is.
The Australian market still seems to have the available labor and
demand to make rebuilding feasible. I sent 50 of my used wheels over there,
rather than having to junk them. I got $4.00 apiece which was what I
figured the value of a used wheel discounted by how many times I had moved
them.
Kelvin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Max Heim [mailto:mvheim@studiolimage.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 10:41 AM
> To: MG List
> Subject: Re: sills and wheels
>
>
> Hmmm, Rick and Tim may be calling attention to a widespread problem...
>
> My former source, British Wire Wheel of Santa Cruz, CA, has
> apparently
> ceased servicing wire wheels, as its costs had increased to the point
> that they compared unfavorably with purchasing a new wheel. I
> found this
> out earlier this year when I attempted to have a pair of wheels trued
> through my local shop, O'Connor Classics. But seeing as I had chrome
> wires (which would have been more expensive to replace), Mike
> convinced
> them to replace the broken spokes and true them while mounting 2 new
> tires.
>
> I must say that the economics of this situation seem very wasteful. I
> mean, how many hubs and rims will pile up if no one will rebuild wire
> wheels, and everyone has to buy new every 5-10 years?
>
> I would think that the continued demand for servicing would create an
> opportunity for local specialists -- but where are they?....
>
> Tim Economu had this to say:
>
> >Speaking of truing wheels, is there a place around Seattle
> that can do this
> >for my chrome wires?
> >
> >Tim Economu
> >'69 BGT mona
> >
> >>>>
> >------------------------------
> >
> >Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 19:27:22 EDT
> >From: Rhbuxton@aol.com
> >Subject: sills and wheels
> >
> >Hi All
> >I live on the east coast of the US near Washington D.C.
> Does anyone know of
> >a good place to have wire wheels trued near me? Also,
> where is the best
> >place to buy sills and floor pans?
> >TIA
> >Rick
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
>
> ===============================
> Max Heim
> mvheim@studiolimage.com
> Studio L'Image/San Francisco
> 415 643 9309 : 415 643 9307 fax
> Studio L'Image/New York
> 212 242 3366 : 212 242 3399 fax
>
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