I have just purchased an excellent condition original set of Fuchs 2.0L alloys and would like to get your guys opinion on what you think would look best. My car is a '74 Phoenix Red 1.8L. Same color in the picture below.


Custom Option #3: Except paint area that is gray black.


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Another option was the factory option to paint in the body color (Fuchs & Mahle 4-lugs 74 on), and the Japan version of the LE Cremescicle used Phoenix Red Fuchs 2L wheels instead of the USA LE's Mahles in that color.

I ended up buying a set of 5 of the Phx. Red Fuchs from a member here to restore to the original polished/satin finish, but then got SoCalAndy's already restored set. 914sixer was going to use them on his Cremescicle resto, before he decided to get out of 914s. So I guess I'll eventually sell them to someone else who wants to do that LE/optional wheel look 914, or else I'll do a self-restore to polished & use them for DD/AX tires on mine after the resto.

Here is a pic of them FYI, and they had been oversprayed silver by a prior owner, then the seller used acetone to remove the silver & in spots of the Phx. Red removed to the greenish chromate primer underneath, as used on aluminum aircraft skiins/parts aluminum alloy wheels, since these are a quality job done by Fuchs for the factory.

Hopefully it at least gives you an idea of yet another 4th option which would match the body color on yours!

... but I don't know if you can add to your poll at this point, maybe one of the admins can help you if you wanted to consider this look too?

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I suppose you could also have another alternative with the windmill petals & rims polished & only the background Phx. Red....



Cheers!
Tom
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Oh....and......

I don't know your 914 & how original it is, but if it's a pretty original example, IMHO I'd stick with the OE finish of the anodized polished petals & rims (anodizing takes a bit off the shine so they look semi-polished), with the stock satin backgrounds like this.......

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Those are the dead original finish on smg's Sahara Beige 73 914-2.0 (see more pix at the O&H Forum's "The few, the rare..." nailed thread near the top if you need more reference pix).

Hopefully I haven't thoroughly confused the issue for you!

Tom
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I'm with Tom, I like the duller OEM finish better than polished. But this is such a personal taste thing, you need to do what you like best.

It seems like a lot of the fake 4-lug Fuchs have the backgrounds painted black. Real Fuchs are classier without paint (4-lug anyway - 5-lug is another matter). But again, that's just an opinion.

That being said, I do like the look of Mahles with natural lips and backgrounds painted black or body color.

I vote for the OE finish as well.

I have a set of the fake Fuchs. The inset areas which were painted black are very coarse in their texture and I am not sure if they would even look good without that thick coat of paint.

I really like the look of the original finish on these wheels.

As for the body colour on the wheels.

74porsche914

I notice your a newby & welcome. We have fun playing mind games with newby's showing you all these options. How about a little "bling"?? or "Patina Oxidation"??

Tom

Get Al Reed to polish them. they will look great,

I don't have the cash to pay al Reed to polish them but just curious how much he charge?

I don't know how much Al charges but if you just want the wheels polished, there are many places that can polish aluminum. Al and Weidman wheels really specialize in factory finishes, repairs and special stuff.

My .02 is original finish, fully polished, or a combination of the two.

I do not like painted 914-4 Fuchs at all. Ruins the look of a very attractive wheel IMHO.

What is the best method for removing the factory anodizing to polish the wheels? I have used oven cleaner on my aluminum trip to remove anodizing and it worked well. Also how would I just remove anodizing from raised parts to avoid messing up matte non raised parts?

with Tom's pics. OE frosted 'background' with non-polished 'petals'.