Marc:
Good eyes on the wipers. It never rains in California, so they say.
The original LE wheels had a fairly wide variation in paint finish, as
the painted areas were "as cast" and varied in surface from smooth to
slightly pebbled.
The paint was pretty thick and was a high gloss, so much of the
imperfections were covered.
The rims were machined, but not highly polished, then sprayed with clear
coat. The clear coat did not hold up very well to sunlight, so is often
yellowed and dull but the unpolished rims were never highly reflective.
The owner of the LE on the Moss cover had his wheels polished and
refinished during the restoration of the car, which is why they look so
shiny. Since they are not clear coated, they do shine much brighter than
original.
We snagged the car from the owner to do a Fuel Injection test install
before the owner had a chance to add the final touches such as wipers.
BTW. The LE wheels have been produced again, we received a shipment last
week. They do look very nice and the finish is an exact match to the
original. I compared the new wheel to those on our 50 mile LE.
The only visible difference is that they have the manufacturer's
identification on the inner face where the size and part number are
cast.
If anyone wishes, I can send them an image of the new wheel.
All the best
Kelvin
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Marc
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 6:38 AM
To: MG List
Subject: LE on the cover of the new Moss catalog...
The LE on the cover of the new Moss catalog looks _real_ nice... nicer
than mine.... BUT - at least my LE has windshield wipers... :-)
The wheels on that car have a serious shine! Did the LE wheels
originally look like that, or did they have more of a satin finish? Mine
have a worn satin finish... and a PO had the grey paint resprayed black
which is starting to peel...
I am going to have to replace all the rubber on my car due to the age of
the tires. Plus I think the spare is the OEM tire! I'm certainly not
going to drive on that! But the wheel is in unused condition, and it
sports a satin finish (and the original grey paint) as well...
During the winter layover I'm planning to pull all five wheels, and
perhaps see about some refinishing. Can I bead blast the rims to clean
them up, or will I regret that?
Is polishing them realistic? Wondering how to spiff them up a bit
without spending a fortune...
--
Marc
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