Looking for a quality refurbisher for my set of Mahle Magnesium gas burners. Any suggestions? Thx!Click to view attachment

Harvey Weidman is the man when it comes to wheels. He will be able to do it all so you have confidence they are in great shape and finished correctly. Weidman's Wheels, 530.534.7903 in Oroville, CA.

These are painted wheels, yes? You could have them stripped and powder coat, 2k paint or cerakote. There are many wheel refurbishing places that can do that for you. Unless you need something more than strip and paint? For anodized wheels with only some areas painted I would go for places like Weidman etc.

Thanks!

Dont trust just anyone to wheels this X pensive. Weidman is the man

There are a lot of people that use this place over on Pelican Forums

https://www.fuchsrestoration.com/

There is also Al Reed in CA. Weidman does the best work, but I hear his backlog and wait time is very long

I just had the wheel wizard here in Atlanta strip check the straightness and power paint in porsche silver my set of gas burners, look fabulous. less than 11 lbs each! (all of the places in the wheels that look like imperfections are reflections from the lightClick to view attachment

Powdercoating sure is durable no doubt about that. I had a couple sets of fuchs done in powder coat, the only beef i have is that you loose some of the sharp edges and details because the powder is so thick. My center caps lost most of their detail in the crest. This is where I would think Cerakote would be great vs. 2k paint. More durable and can be laid on a lot thinner.

If you want absolutely orrect by the top guy in the wheel business, it’s Harvey for sure. His name is a brand that that is well known in the top tier. If you want a nice looking set, it’s an easy job for most quality refinishers.

Having Harvey do these would be like asking Picasso to draw a stick man. This is just basic strip and paint wheels, you should be able to find someone local to you.

I sent my steel wheels to John Paterek in NJ. Call him, he might do it.

www.paterekbrothersinc.com

Maybe just the light, but the wheels the good doctor showed may have a little too much gloss.

Paul

......in addition to wrong color

I only hope whomever the OP uses checks these wheels to make sure there are no cracks, bends, etc. so when the wheels are finished they are road worthy and safe. The older these wheels get, the more we have to be sure they are safe and reliable for the road. Harvey is only a couple hours from me, that in conjunction with his reputation and prior work, made it a no-brainer for me and my deep sixes.

P C on mag is not easy.....just paint em ! Mag is specialjeff c

Mike is right. I have in the past had Al Read do my wheels and it takes a super long time.


I have used Fuchsrestoration.com do my last few sets of Forged Fuchs and I have been very happy with the work and even more happy with the delivery time.

I had my 5 lug Mahle on my 74 914 back in 79 and I polished one first and it looked like chrome for a few months then turned a white like look.

I had them glass beaded and painted them myself. They looked great. If you want the stock look just GB and paint. They were great wheels. Made my 914 a whole different car. In 79 for 5 used wheels $600.


Bob B

do NOT try to powder coat them. . magnesium outgasses during the baking process. . plus if you every want to strip it off you sunk. . I did a lot of reasearch into this. .
I ended up doing mine myself. . it's not rocket science to paint. . just use a good primer suitable for Mag. .

and why wait for ever to get them done,these wheels guys amaze me they take on further customers and offer a waiting list ... employ some more staff and run a real business...really.
There are other guys around for those pissed of with the "elite" companies and their lead times,I think these wheels are simple to do ,soft blast and 2 pack they will be real nice,if not I will buy them cheap .

Gas Burners are worth more than some of us paid for our cars. Given that, I’d go with Harvey, wait his wait, and pay his price.

The only thing that would stop me right now is that fact that the mountains all around Harvey and Al are on fire... he isn’t likely to even answer the phone right now...

Those are some nice wheels. I would spend the $ and have them done by Harvey. He and his brother are great guys and some of the best in the business. Can you paint them yourself? Yes. Will they look better than new? No. Will Harvey make them look better than new? Yes

Sorry for the question, but do these come in both Mag and aluminum ? What about pedrini's ?

Exactly, a really good prep job ,etch primer then the right basecoat and clear with a quality product,then you have a real nice job...not really beyond any good paint shop if you aren't DIY.

The factory had some kind of Blue primer as base. Just For Your Info


Bob B

The way this thread is going, the OP will need to learn how to smelt magnesium, pour some ingots, make molds, melt the ingots and cast the wheels.

I hear that sixnotfour has the recipe for the magnesium, easy peasy.

These are original 914-6 or 911 wheels. They're made by Mahle, and are magnesium.

There are reproduction ones currently made out of aluminum. They are rather heavier. I'm not sure if they have 914-friendly offsets, as they are generally intended for the Bug market. They are available with several bolt patterns, including "wide five" and "narrow five" as well as four-bolt.

Note that these are not the same as the four-bolt Mahle 914 wheels. The four-bolt Mahles are aluminum, and are a bit heavier than the four-lug Fuchs (when I weighed some). They are four-lug only, and come only in one size and offset, and are intended for 914s.

The Pedrini wheels you refer to are similar to the 914 Mahles but not identical. They are also aluminum and were made for 914s.

--DD

missed the whole reply please explain ????

Everyone is making this into something a whole lot bigger than what it needs to be, it's just paint. The wheels may be special, but the finish is not.

understood
It is just paint...
And powdercoating is likely a hazard to the end product....and most assuredly Porsche did not powder coat

BUT
"what"..is the "just paint". Anyone know the color code, etc that Porsche used...

I, for one, would like to know, as I plan on doing my own "someday"

I agree with those saying just use auto paint.
No powder coat.
I would never put a magnesium wheel in an oven, period.
Plus if you ever need touch ups in the future, ya going to touch up the powder coat? Normal car paint is easy to body work and touch up.

Just get the correct silver paint and get a good shop to paint and clear it.
Done deal.

Be aware Harvey is in the middle of Fire watch in Oroville, CA..maybe a little hard to get a hold of at the moment..

I think everyone gets that it’s just paint. The point is, it’s not just a wheel...

I am going to need more convincing before I can agree with you

All kidding aside - a previous post stated that the primer may be a blue color. So I did some searching and found that there may be a conversion coating or special chemical dip that helps seal the metal so there can be better long term success with paint

http://www.vintagebonanza.com/prep_magnesi...or_painting.htm

https://www.pfonline.com/articles/painting-magnesium

I admire your confidence Travis. I agree, you can just paint it. With some skill, you might make it look very good. My point is of course that Harvey would know exactly what that blue primer is and he would use it. If you visit his shop you’ll get a tour and he can show you factory original wheels in original condition. He will then restore yours better than that.
My point is that the value and rarity of the wheel calls for extra care.

Here’s an example of Harvey’s work. Anyone can anodize a wheel. Harvey’s processes include a pretty precise temperature for the anodization tank. He won’t tell the process. These wheels are now about 6 years old and still flawless. That’s tough. I don’t baby them...

How long was the wait for Harvey to do his magic?

He usually takes a year /-. Like people said, it's just paint but there are times where you want something 100% perfect. For wheels it's Harvey.

Silver.


I have read somewhere around here that Wurth silver wheel paint is a very good match to the original paint. Don't know how true that is.

--DD

That is quicker than what I heard. At one point someone shared that the running backlog was 18+ months a few years back. There are more players who are restoring porsche wheels now with a faster turn around time.

Data point: Back in 2013, I purchased a set of 6x15 flat Fuchs from Harvey. He sourced the wheels, refinished them and put tires on them. It took 8 months. I'm really pleased with the wheels.

I've heard Harvey is more like 2 years now.

Be aware Harvey is in the middle of Fire watch in Oroville, CA..maybe a little hard to get a hold of at the moment..

I pray he and all the others in these areas remain safe. As far as the Mahle wheels, I’d be more concerned about their structural integrity than the absolute correct share of silver paint.

Nine months. He’s doing a second set of full polished with painted crests

I did some more research today. I am curious about the process and if my initial thought that the finish is just paint, or there is something more to it.

Bob shared that a set that he saw had a blue primer. I found that there are many ways to prep mag for paint.

https://www.finishing.com/faqs/magnesium.shtml


Here is a soup to nuts refinish of some Ferrari mag wheels.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/m...-options.62908/

Not sure where I fall on this one. I have some first hand industrial experience with anodizing on aluminum and magnesium. I am sure Harvey is well equipped to anodize aluminum. It is a well known process and not “proprietary” and commonly done. The market is huge.

Likewise for mag, but the market is much smaller so way fewer people do it - mostly only those serving critical aerospace applications. I seriously doubt that Harvey does anything close to a full blown Dow 7 conversion coat process, even less likely that he does Dow 17 anodizing. Both of these processes are environmental and regulatory nightmares. I would suspect that these wheels were not anodized even by Mahle - most likely conversion coated with one of the processes in Travi’s finishing link, primed and painted.

For most of our uses, a mechanical finishing method (blasting or abrasive pad) followed by a zinc chromate primer and then epoxy painting would result in a very good service life in our “non-critical” applications.

Doing a bit more research, if you insist on a conversion coating, here is a good one https://www.sanchem.com/magnesium-conversion-coatings.html. Not sure how available it is This is a non chrome bearing coating - chrome ones are highly regulated (bad carcinogens)

PS - the chance of ever igniting a mag wheel in a paint cure oven is zero.

I read an article a long time ago that he does all the polishing, painting etc. and he subs the anodizing work out to a specialty shop and has them re-do them if it does not meet his expectations.

I too suspect that the Mahle factory used an etch primer to seal the surface based on the "blue primer" comment, but who knows.

It would make sense that Harvey ( and others) farm out anodizing. It is a capital and regulatory intensive process

Harvey farms out anodizing. It is indeed an aerospace guy...