Refurbishing the QV Rims

[KY2006]

I have planned to refurbish the Speedline rims on my QV24. Bought these metal studs from another 164 enthusiast in Italy to replace the plastic originals.




Got another project right now, so will take some one to get this done.

[164 TD]

Hi Marcus,

I got the same bolts and the same project on the " to do" list. Porto did an excellent job on his rims. He didn't polish and clearcoat the outer rim, but just polished it. Looks awesome and so far the poliished part still looks good.

[KY2006]

The QV rims are very unique and stylish in their own right, but they are difficult to refurbish well - the replacement bolts are one of the challenges. It is a pity that the rims do not come in 17" which would look handsome on any 164. Wish one day someone would decide to reproduce the QV rims and in 17". They look awesome on 164 and many other young classic Alfa models.

[petrolhead]

heres what i did with some QV 16's.

these were in a pretty terrible condition, so drilled out all the original plastic studs, complete shotblast which sadly revealed some quite advanced corrosion.

Base coat them in matt black powder coat, cure, then sanded flat.

Coloured them in Graphite Grey, cook, and clear powder coat, final cook. Hard as nails now, which is a shame because then its onto the spinner to pick out a slightly different polish area to standard.

Hard work sanding powder coat off, but worth it, and to be subtly different, i left the raised stud coloured to give me more contrast against the rest.


I didn't want mirror finish, i wanted to recreate the diamond cut look of the more modern wheel, very clean and precise, so stopped short of full rag and autosol and left it with am ever so slightly lined coarse spin underneath the top polish.

finally, used these A2 stainless steel cap head screws, which being a UNC, cut their own thread into the wheel and powder coat, no need to glue or anything, i could swing on the ratchet no problem, and tested them to beyond the torque that an actual split rim stud requires!

Job done, and they look stunning in the sunlight which picks out the stainless, the polish, and the metallic in the graphite altogether.

hard work but worth it!

take a look here,

http://www.classicalfaforum.co.uk/forum ... p?f=6&t=28" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Porto]

I also refurbished those Q4 rims some 2 years ago.
Throughout this topic there are many pictures of the work and the final result!
Unfortunately it's a Dutch topic, so no English in there.

http://www.alfa164register.nl/viewtopic ... 84&start=1

@Petrolhead:

May I ask you which graphite grey colorcode you used, and which brand of paint? (Motip, Spraymax?)
I have a set of 75 QV rims I have to refurbished for the winter season but am thinking of spraying them in silver or graphite grey / antraciet color.

[petrolhead]

Hello again

They werent painted. They were powder coated. No wet paint at all


The closest shade im wet paint is a jaguar colour which I can get you the colour of if needs be, but what you see is what i did in powder coat only.

[fasani]

Nice bolts Marcus...
I also have them from Michele, for 5 rims.

My rims needed some work also.

Sam as Porto is my topic in dutch.

http://alfa164register.nl/viewtopic.php ... 5&start=25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also started to work on my Zender Stern rims, these are 17".
http://alfa164register.nl/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=9048" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
after a search for 3 year for the zender rims i dammaged 1 within a day after i placed them under my car..

good luck with the rims.

[alfistiJW]

Hi,

Can anyone point me to contact details for the chap in Italy that can supply those 'speedline' washers please?

Cheers,

John

[KY2006]

PM sent. Also, another Alfisti in the UK obtained his rim screws from Germany. Here is the screws that he possibly used on that occasion.
http://www.titanium-touch.de/produkte.p ... =show&id=9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
He has his QV rims refurbished and sold them via eBay a few years ago. They looked stunning. Pity the web link is gone now.

[ON6FOUR]

Hi there guys

I've got a white '93 164 QV and have sent the rims in for refurbishment but alas, am looking for the steel bolts and washers [spelling] now. I am in South Africa just to let you know. From whom would i be able to acquire these from as there is another bloke that i know in SA that has 2 AR 75 gold clover leafs also looking for these but have run dry with help and no one wants to help us? Very frustrating! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[KY2006]

Hi, since I have received another PM asking me the source of the custom-made rim screws for the QV24 Speedline rims, perhaps I should share the info more openly as in fact the supplier is a member of this forum, but who may not have logged in for a long time and therefore not aware of the discussion and desperate search for his products. Over the years, I have also noticed that some other 164 enthusiasts have obtained their rim screws from their own sources; one from Germany and one from the UK. There are also various listings of similar screws from the eBay, but perhaps these have to tested through trial and error to find the best fit. I am listing the above leads below.

(1) Contact Forum Member "Miclanci" by PM to see if he still have the screws in stock. I wrote him two years ago and at the time he still have a few sets available.

(2) an AO member in the UK refurbished his QV rims and successfully sold them for GBP710 on eBay! He said in the AO forum that he sourced the M7 Allan bolts from Germany. Here is the link he sent and I thought this is the screw he used:
http://www.titanium-touch.de/produkte.p ... =show&id=9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(3) A forum member in this thread mentioned a discussion in the Classic Alfa Forum of the UK where an Alfisti found and used "A2 Alan Bolts in 3/8 inch in UNC coarse thread" in the refurbishment. The link to the discussion and pictures are here
http://www.classicalfaforum.co.uk/forum ... p?f=6&t=28" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
With these clues, I conducted an Internet search for "A2 Alan Bolts in 3/8 inch in UNC coarse thread" and found this supplier in the UK: http://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/A2_ ... .3750.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(4) Random listings of Hexagon Screws from eBay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Steel ... 1209188715" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is another option in refurbishing your QV rims. The existing Allan bolts on the original QV24 Speedline rims are actually made of plastic. They are NOT screwed on but pushed in by rubber hammer. So if you remove them carefully, you may probably be able to reuse them after giving them a new paint.

A final option which I once considered, is to custom-make the entire rim from Taiwan, where cost would be relatively low. But only if there is sufficient order that it is more cost efficient to go that route. I found this company <http://www.bcec.com.tw/wheel/index.html> which indicated that they can do this. In 2011, the price quoted, excluding shipment, was US$2,070 for a set of 4.

So happy refurbishment, and share with us which route you will take or have taken, and show us the results!

[KY2006]

Folks,

I have looked up my files and found a picture of the original plastic stud used on the Speedline rims.



You might find the measurements useful in searching for replacement or modifying any near-products. Please note that the plastic studs were pushed in, there is no thread on the stem of the studs. So if you remove them carefully by prying it up with suitable tools, like you remove a wine bottle cock, you might be able to reuse them.

[alfa east]

Great info, thank you!

[Alfan]

Great photo with the dimensions

[david20-100]

hi there
finaly new arrival speedline bolt plastic copy of original one.
free shipping in UE from 100€
1.5 € each

mp or mail

[fasani]

Great to see that the speedline bolts have been reproduced.

I did it with the Zender bolts.

1 week ago i received my order.
I have a few left, others where sold in pre order.

Hereby some pictures.

[KY2006]

Folks,

I started this thread some years ago but did not get into action until lately. The four challenges are
(a) finding the right replacement bolts;
(b) finding a professional workshop to remove the previous metal bolts (my set was refurbished once before and the previously workshop planted some metal bolts which did not really fit and look right on the rim);
(c) finding space to lift up the car while you take the wheels away for refurbishment;
(d) coming up with the determination and time to put (a) to (c) into action.

I noticed a recent discussion on Facebook about the QV bolts, so in addition to the metal version (M) mentioned in my earlier post here, some plastic bolts cloned (PC) from the originals have become available (I bought a set too). While waiting for the PC bolts to arrive, I noticed some plastic bolts made for BBS rims (BBS) also became available on eBay so I bought 100 pieces. My original preference is to use the PC ones as they are also made of plastic and look 100% original except without the letters, but as they are still in transit when my QV was about to finish the suspension and engine mount replacement, I have decided to try the BBS bolts which have the advantages of being of the same measurements as the original and are already painted chrome - thus friendlier to the workshop in terms of ease of installation and finish.

I attach some pictures so you understand more. The result is pretty good and lights up the QV entirely. Among the pictures is one spare original QV rim (the picture of rim without tire) so you can see the difference. The lip of the original was not 100% polished to give a whiter rather than shinny look. The original also has a very thick layer of lacquer that delierbately dulls but protects the metal surafce. However, the problem is stone chips will slowly break up and destroy the lacquer letting water and elements in to corrode the metal underneath. So I have taken the workshop advice this time round not to apply any lacquer to the lip area so I can polish the metal directly for future maintenance. I also replaced all factory brake pads with ceramic low dust pads so the rims stay clean for a week even if the car is used daily.

Let me know if your have other experiences renewing the QV rims. In my view the most beautiful Alfa rims are Zenda Siena and the Speedline rims on our 164 QV24.

These are pictures of my spare wheel in factory original colour, shape and plastic bolts with the "Speedline' letters





These are my rims before the latest refurbishment - note the metal bolts that were not fitted well



These are the Metal bolts with the Speedline letters on the washers, and BBS bolts



These are the refurbished rims with the BBS bolts

[KY2006]

Here is how the refurbished rims look on the QV.

[MikeCZ]

Really nice work I will hopefully get a hand on a set of those wheels for myself in two weeks (I was hunting for them - for a reasonable price - for some time) so I guess I will be undergoing this process too

[KY2006]

Here is a comparison of the measurements of the original plastic studs from QV rims and the BBS plastic rivets.

[MikeCZ]

How did you manage to pull out the original plastic stud without destroying it? I heard they're glued in and it's really difficult to do so, since if you heat them they start to melt...

[KY2006]

The factory original Speedline studs are made if plastic and were just pushed in. So removing was relatively easy - just grip the head, twist and pull. If you remove them carefully you can re-use them - but if you break one or lose one you would have to find an aftermarket set - there are many different attempts by 164 buddies. My story was more complicated, as somebody took away a few original studs so I have to find a full set. I did hot have much luck many years ago so the workshop which did the refurbishment refilled the holes with metal bolts - they were screwed on and not done too well. Some were not fully screwed in - apparently they did not think about the thread pattern - actually there is none as the original plastic studs were just pushed in. So the greatest challenge for this second refurbishment was removing the metal bolts; 96 of them in total. Not until they were all removed could the workshop file, sand and polish the surface. Fortunately, the workshop did a good job, and the BBS rivets were very good replacements making installation simple. They locked in perfectly well, and have a chrome finish. I am very happy with the result.