have steel wheels on my 73 1.7. look like they were painted black. the spare is silver. here's the question . what would have been original or stock for my year? would like them to be silver but want to try to keep the car as original as possible. i actually like them. am i nuts? if anyone has pics that would be nice.

Probably the spare is original. 165 SR 15 on a 5.5" rim? Does the date code on the spare rim match the date on the decal on the drivers door latch post? If not there, tell me the VIN of the car.

If your avatar is of your 914, the wheels may be 4 1/2 inchers (early non-appearance group wheels), which would normally have 155 tires on them. Appearance group upgraded the wheels to 5 1/2, which would have 165 tires & could easily go bigger, to a degree.

Wheels should have been a satin silver, with flat black bolt areas and backsides.

Not exactly perfect, but see the attached - from a very late '72. Should be the same. Yes, that's Jack Daniels & my favorite pipe on the roof!

Wheels should have been a satin silver, with flat black bolt areas and backsides.

mine are 5.5's with 205/55's on them. that is exactly the finish i want . how did you do it? thanks. by the way beautiful car.

Hey Rich,
I have a 73' 1.7 with wheels that are just like yours (black painted steel and chrome hub caps). I have found a few spots where the paint has been worn off and the paint under the black looks silver, so Oh, and I like the black with hub cap look too.
Keith

are you gonna refinish yours? leo may have a shop to strip off the black, i'm trying to find out how to get that satin silver look.

Wurth's Silver Lacquer in a rattle can if it's still available. Same paint used on Mahles & Pedrinis. Straight von Der Faderland.

Wurth's Silver Lacquer in a rattle can if it's still available. Same paint used on Mahles & Pedrinis. Straight von Der Faderland.
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available from pelican. now anyone know a media blaster in the north east?

Richie - fwiw, I've had a couple sets of wheels blasted - should cost no more than $25 per wheel. Might be worth it to buy a blast machine from harbor freight & do it yourself. Pay about the same amount and have a blast machine to call your own when you are finished.

-pt

yeah..the northeasters could use a blasting machine =]

I plan to refinish the wheels myself, but I have to get the car back on the road first. I thought about getting a small blasting setup, but have not looked into it much. For now I can live with the black.

For blasting rims you need a big cabinet, and at least a 5HP compressor with a drier. I have a big cabinet, and set it up at a friends shop with a good compreesor. I still have to install the drier. The cabinet needed lots of tweaking to get to work properly. It is not the cabinet itself, but the gun, air lines and fittings that are crap. I could not even use the stupid hose clamps they supplied.

I'm hoping in about a year or so, I'll have access to blasting machines...powder coating...etc...etc...
...if the environmental attorneys get their act together...finish contracts and let us build.

thanks aaron that was helpful. how big a unit would i need to buy to fit 4 wheels and a 6'1" 20 year old PITA . p.s. the interest is still accumulating, up to about $12 bucks by now. we should all try to get together this weekend

I'm around this Sat. In fact, I want to get out to MovieTime to put on the tow bar brackets so come Dec-1 when I ship out to Buffalo, I can just roll out easily w/the green machine in tow...

-pt

Oh heavens, are you coming out to our neck of the woods. There are a couple of guys near or in Buffalo, and several of us not far from the border. Better pack some snowshoes, I think Buffalo is still digging out from that 2 foot snowfall.

Yup, I'm all too familiar w/winters in Buffalo. Actually, that is the reason I'm heading there. I need to do nothing but study for grad school entrance exams. Outside of Anchorage, Alaska I couldn't find a better place to hole myself up than Buffalo. Plus, my dad has a house there and it sure beats paying NYC rent while I'm not working...

hey rich, you know me, always here to help haha...not sure if ill be around on saturday yet..its a possibility

Pete, what are you going back to grad school for? I recently became motivated to go back as well (company I am working for is slowly dying), looking to get in next fall. Masters? PhD? Looking like a masters in a field combining mech/elec eng (controls or robotics) for me, but PhD hasn't been ruled out yet. The thought of spending the next 5-6 years in school is a little daunting right now though!

-Chris

Going back for my MBA. I've worked for 8yrs. Almost 6 of the 8 @ JPMorgan where I was working w/MBA's from Wharton, PHD's from Carnege Mellon, etc & I held my own but I don't want to just hold my own anymore. Need new tools in my toolbox and w/an undergrad from The University of Toledo, I can't quite rely on the alumni network to prop me up. 21 months and $150k out of pocket is a tough pill to swallow but I've been through the numbers and long term the MBA pays for itself over and over and over...

I'm hoping for a top program - the likes of NYU or Columbia but I havn't scored high enough on the GMAT (entrance exam) to guarantee my acceptance. So, off to Buffalo I go to study - NO DISTRACTIONS. I'm having a second meeting w/the director of Notre Dame's MBA admissions @ the end of the month. ND will likely be my fall back school and I'd be proud to be associated w/such a fine institution. If I score well enough I'll apply to the big ones - Harvard, Stanford, etc. We'll see how things go...

For your field of engineering take a look at Toledo. Don't laugh, they've got one of the best engineering schools in the country. It's a very competitive program but the cost is very affordable, even for out of state students. I'm pretty involved in the alumni organization (was invited back to the school this past summer to met w/all the deans & president). You would likely rcv a partial scholarship to cover out of state costs - the school is pushing for students from the NE...

Happy to talk to you offline - I just can't talk about it on the phone while @ work b/c they don't know I'm leaving yet... They'll know at the end of the month...

Pete-

Thanks for the tip, and good luck with the tests/admission process! I'm not interested in moving to the midwest though, hell, I'm not really interested moving out of Philly right now with the 3 car garage 1 mile from Center City that I have. And with solid institutions like UPenn, Drexel, and a lesser Temple, I should be able to swing a good education locally. Although depending on what MIT says, I may have to bail on the Philly scene.

-Chris

Mine are 5.5's also. They were rusty messes when I got them. Gave my originals to a friend for a vDub when I went to my first set of chromies.

Had these bead blasted & resprayed w/Wurth about 17 years ago, so I could have a concours set w/165's on them. Usually run a wider offset of chromies w/Aoo8's on them when not going to a concours.

Unfortunatley, the guy who did these wheels went out of business 6 months ago! He did excellent work (Cincinnati). Don't know what he's up to now, since I live in Philly these days, but if you come accross a guy named Forry Hargitt - get in touch. He's also built some VERY potent track engines for 914's & 911's, so he knows what he's doing.

Attached is what I usually run.....

found a blasting set up i think i can use. owner tells me it is set up for sand. heard somewhere not to use sand. i can buy whatever medium that is best. is it bad to use sand? or is there no difference.

ritchie - i have the 4-bar steel wheels on the 'original' (the 72 that started it all when Tyke was about 13) - i sanded them down & sprayed them with an aluminum wheel paint (get at auto parts stores) - silver would be gaudy. then i went over it with acrylic clear to seal it & give it some durability. results were terrific - the clear added a bit of depth to them. can't beat the price either.

'am i nuts?' - you're still hangin on to your 914, aren't you?



daryl

[quote name='dtravni' date='Dec 24 2006, 05:06 PM' post='837503']
[quote name='nycchef' post='811566' date='Nov 7 2006, 05:16 PM']
'am i nuts?' - you're still hangin on to your 914, aren't you?



daryl
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no plan on selling my 914, so i guess i,m the one whose nuts. just haven't done any work on it. happy holidays

Be advised that the dealers back in the 70s liked to play fast and loose with wheels....I remember spares that came from the factory ending up in the parts department......

Four cars, four spares, you suddenly have a "full set" of brand new alloys to sell as an "upgrade" to a car with "only" steelies...

Anyways...a 4.5 steel wheel, while original is flat out an unsafe wheel/tire combo in my opinion......

There are PLENTY of nice steel 5.5s, 6s and even 7s that can be had in paint or chrome. They can come in the proper offset and you can get some decent rubber in there.

At one time the XLUB, had a deal with www.jbugs.com to supply proper custom offsett 4x130 wheels for out 914s....you have to call them, it's NOT listed on the online catalog.

Rich, I have a set of steel wheels off of a 71 that im parting out with the baby moon hubcaps. Rick Ollah may want the car as a roller, but if I do cut it up you can have the rims, I am buddies with a wheel refinishing shop in town and could have them blasted for you pretty cheap.

thamks. i am gonna have the rims done locally , but am interested in a good set of hubs. keep me in mind

Anyone else have wheels painted body color?Click to view attachment
Looking at this picture, it was probably the orange wheels that made me want to change the car to black, which I now regret.

My spare tire on my 73 is painted light ivory to match the body. Original unused spare tire to boot.

if you need sand blasting done, look for a gravestone etching place...they have he equipment, and they need filler work.

Usually pretty cheap.

Rich