Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: seanery Sep 4 2003, 06:05 PM

Considering refinishing 16" Fuchs in the "Classic" style, need quality refinishers that won't break the bank.

Thanks, Pics of their work appreciated.

-sean

Posted by: ChrisReale Sep 4 2003, 06:11 PM

Al Reed, about $75 a wheel plus shipping. He's in cali.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125969

Posted by: Qarl Sep 4 2003, 06:12 PM

What he said.

Posted by: 1974porsche914 Sep 4 2003, 06:17 PM

Al reed polished the 2.0 Fuchs on my car a few years ago.
He did an awesome job... click below to see the photo of them on my car.
I think he only charged me $50 a wheel and he installed the tires.

Posted by: seanery Sep 4 2003, 06:37 PM

OK, Al Reed it is. I just read about a million posts on the bird without a single negative.

Posted by: rezron Sep 5 2003, 05:14 PM

Hi,

Here's a pic on one of my wheels that I just got back from Al Reed. It was black anodized.

Hope this helps!

rezron


Attached image(s)

Posted by: ! Sep 5 2003, 05:24 PM

Here's a negative....he does not have a shop down the street from MY house....

Posted by: AZ914 Sep 5 2003, 05:25 PM

Al Reed is the man... Here is a closeup of one of mine..


Attached image(s)

Posted by: redshift Sep 5 2003, 05:26 PM

HOLY SHIT!



That man wins.


M

Posted by: vortrex Sep 5 2003, 05:28 PM

hey rezron, are those my old wheels??

Posted by: rdauenhauer Sep 5 2003, 05:29 PM

Does he "repair" wheels as well? (IE:curbing)

Posted by: BarberDave Sep 5 2003, 05:31 PM

trophy:
I called Al Reed's # 1-714-632-3907, got a fax machine . Any one have another one.
Dave

Posted by: AZ914 Sep 5 2003, 05:33 PM

Thats the number I used a couple of months ago......

Posted by: rezron Sep 5 2003, 05:45 PM

I bought my set from a guy in SF. I think he got a couple of them from Rich Johnson.
I might be able to get Al Reed's number, but it probably
won't be till Monday.

rezron

Posted by: Aaron Cox Sep 5 2003, 05:47 PM

hey rezron, how much did it cost. those are schweet!

Posted by: rezron Sep 5 2003, 05:57 PM

I gave $85 apeice- but I went through Rayburn & Williams in Chicago to get the polish job. It cost another
$10 apeice to polish and handpaint the centers.

rezron

Posted by: rdauenhauer Sep 5 2003, 05:59 PM

Are they clear-coated as well?

Posted by: rezron Sep 5 2003, 06:05 PM

They will clearcoat for extra $ but I chose not to. No doubt there's more polishing and upkeep, but I've heard that the "index of shine" is supposed to be a
little better without the clear. The black background on the webs would also be glossy vs. satin if cleared.
Probably just a personal preference on which way to go.
I'm sure they'd look good either way.

rezron

Posted by: ChrisReale Sep 5 2003, 06:09 PM

Looks good is right1 I think the five lug Fuch is one of the best looking wheels out there

Posted by: vortrex Sep 5 2003, 06:26 PM

wow, nice rezron. I am the guy from SF. big difference from the way they looked!

Posted by: rezron Sep 5 2003, 06:39 PM

Sorry vortrex- I did'nt reconized you user name and
pa. location!

Thanks,
rezron

Posted by: seanery Sep 5 2003, 10:53 PM

I've heard about guys doing clear powder over al's wheels.
Anyone done that one?

Posted by: Gint Mar 25 2004, 09:40 AM

Is this contact info for Al Reed correct?

Al Reed Polishing
3010 E. Coronado #A
Aneheim, CA 92806
714.632.3907

Posted by: seanery Mar 25 2004, 09:43 AM

i believe so. they still have my wheels.

Posted by: Gint Mar 25 2004, 09:48 AM

I'm going to try to drop a set off the Saturday before D&G. I need to call him and ask about Saturday drop off. I also wanted to have a post with his address phone in it as my search only came up with this thread.

Posted by: markb Mar 25 2004, 11:13 AM

Now THAT is a good pic of a wheel!

Posted by: Gint Mar 25 2004, 12:59 PM

Nice guy. He's going to meet me at the shop that Saturday morning.

Posted by: seanery Mar 25 2004, 01:05 PM

tell him that you know me, see if he'll show you my 16x6's

Posted by: Gint Mar 25 2004, 01:06 PM

I'll ask for sure.

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 02:55 PM

Al reed's shop


Attached image(s)

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 02:57 PM

Diane didn't know I took this pic of her and Al.


Attached image(s)

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 02:59 PM

'nother of the shop


Attached image(s)

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 03:01 PM

Al's throne


Attached image(s)

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 03:05 PM

jklsdhaf


Attached image(s)

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 03:12 PM

One of Seanery's wheels.

Sean, flip that one pic for me would ya? I can't do it right now. Dail up AND jpgs on floppy. Whewhooo!


Attached image(s)

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 03:13 PM

And finally, Seanery's caps. Nice.

Wheels are going to get final clean up and ship next week.

Posted by: Gint Apr 3 2004, 03:15 PM

Forgot the pic!


Attached image(s)

Posted by: seanery Apr 3 2004, 04:16 PM

Thanks Mike!

Posted by: seanery Apr 16 2004, 05:18 PM

Wheels arrived. I'll get them out of the boxes and pose them for more pics soon. Here's a tease. They look fabulous!


Attached image(s)

Posted by: seanery Apr 16 2004, 05:21 PM

As an FYI. These wheels started as the late model Carrera fronts. Full black anodize centers and clearcoated lips. Al & his team stripped the wheels polished, painted (inside & out) and stripped, polished & hand painted the centers. The centers where nasty looking but still had sharp edges around the crest. His prices are very reasonable and he does other finishes as well.

Posted by: seanery Apr 16 2004, 05:29 PM

here's the one that's my new avatar


Attached image(s)

Posted by: rick 918-S Apr 16 2004, 05:34 PM

Cheap at twice the price. I just had Keystone industries straighten and refinish an 18X8.5 Hammon for the M3. I got a special deal. I paid cost 65.00. It's a butt load of work.

Posted by: lagunero Apr 16 2004, 05:35 PM

I've talked to Al and he is extremely polite and professional. Even though it seems to be taboo to ask prices around here, I'm quite curious to know what is reasonable for all that work.

Posted by: seanery Apr 16 2004, 05:39 PM

I think I paid $85 per wheel plus $15 each to hand paint the centers.
If you like anodized, I think they go for $120 each, but there is a compromise with the centers. I can't remember what it is exactly, though.

Posted by: lagunero Apr 16 2004, 05:52 PM

Thanks! That is music to my ears! You may find cheaper prices but the quality and dedication with Al is near priceless (at affordable prices )

Posted by: Gint Apr 16 2004, 07:34 PM

Wheel wood!

Those came out REALLY nice! They look better than when I saw them before final cleanup.

Posted by: seanery Apr 16 2004, 07:54 PM

yeah, I'm really happy with them. I think I may wax them before I put them on the car. I'm a bit worried now, too, about who mounts the tires on them. I may bite the bullet and go to the big high dollar porsche place here in town cause I know they'll be careful with them.

Posted by: echocanyons Apr 16 2004, 08:25 PM

Very nice wheels,

Spring for the extra bux and go for a high dollar place to mount the tires.

You dont want some jerk mounting the balancing weights on the front and scratching Al's purty work

Posted by: Gint Apr 16 2004, 09:42 PM

I hear that. There is a tire shop in Boulder that does high end stuff and race tires for a lot of the SCCA types. That's where mine will go to get tires mounted when they come back.

Posted by: Martin Baker Jul 12 2004, 09:43 PM

Does anyone know if this Gentleman (Al) does the frosted look of the 914 GT's and the Carrera RSR's? Wheel enhancement wants $220.00 a wheel for this finish, if I remember correctly.


Attached image(s)

Posted by: SP9146 Jul 12 2004, 10:20 PM

If you mean anodized Al does but it costs a little more than the polished if I remember correctly. I spoke to him on the phone once, really nice guy.

Posted by: Martin Baker Jul 12 2004, 10:49 PM

Its called frosted, it is anodized, then blasted with walnut shells. I have never seen this in person, only in pictures of the vintage race cars. I will have this. It is correct for a GT, and I like the look. Maybe not all GT's had it, but some did. I was told that they are harder to keep clean with this finish.

Posted by: Carrera916 Jul 12 2004, 11:56 PM

Martin,

These wheels are definately anodized and I'm a bit surprised to hear that it was "walnut" blasted to give the frosty look....when it's anodized, it does give a frosty look...maybe I'm wrong about these wheels...ummm


You know, the walnut blast were commonly used to blast the carbon deposit craps off the inside of intake ports on the heads, being attached to the engine....the idea to that is it wouldn't hurt the engine when running after the job is done...compare to bead blast it with glass bead or red oxide media, that would KILL the engine in no time!

If you got more info on how these wheels were anoldized and walnut blasted, direct me to that as I'd like to learn more about it....

jerry

Posted by: Korijo Jul 13 2004, 12:18 AM

paint or polish ?

for The Van ™

Posted by: seanery Jul 13 2004, 07:19 AM

pait the spokes black and polish what's left of the lips. It'll either be very cool or incredibly ugly.

Posted by: Martin Baker Jul 14 2004, 03:03 AM

This guy is super nice, I left a message, he returned my call...Great, then he does do the frost finish, for $120.00 a wheel. Even better. Turnaround time, 6 to 8 days. Perfect. Where do I sign! Just won't be able to drive my car for a couple weeks. I will survive it. Just a damn nice guy on the phone.

Posted by: Martin Baker Jul 14 2004, 03:25 AM

I know that BMW used this process to remove carbon build up in cylinder heads, vacuuming out the remains when finished, and I know it used to be used on jet aircraft engines a long time ago to clean combustion cans, ignitors, and exhaust turbine wheels. It is a very non-abrasive form of build up removal, which is critical when metal erosion is critical, on very important things, such as a turbine wheel. Long before my time. Enough airplane crap.

All I know for sure is he personnally does this, and Wheel Enhancement explained to me the same process for double the money. Al explained to me that Wheel Enhancment is kind of a middle man, they take your wheels and have them done some place and send 'em back. I know how much I can afford to spend, so that makes this choice very clear for me. The pic's I have seen of this frosted look, make the wheel look almost white, and very dull. It has that less than flashy all buisness look of a race car. That is what I am after. 100% I want my car to look like it just came off of a race track in 1970. Right down to the replica Continental treaded racing tire I found. It will take some time, and research. I will comprimise with modern saftey equipment, because I want to do some Drivers Ed events with the car for now.

Posted by: seanery Aug 13 2004, 06:24 PM

bump for jc

Posted by: Porsche Rescue Aug 13 2004, 07:08 PM

Thanks Sean. I just stumbled accross of set of 5 deep sixes in pretty bad shape. Trying to decide if I want to resell or send to Al. These pics tell me I want to send 'em.