Appliance Wheel Refinishing

[Mike W]

So as the original owner of my 260Z, I purchased a new set of Appliance mesh wheels (14 x 6) shortly after I purchased the car sometime around 1976 or so. I have had them ever since and have done my best to keep them like new, but admittedly after 35+ years of use, they are beginning to show their age.

Recently, I was also in need of a new set of tires for my car and contemplated moving to a more modern wheel where I would also have a much wider range of tire options, but in the interest of keeping the car period correct I decided to stay with the Appliances (which I do like the look of on my car) and live with the limited selection of tires that are available for this rim.

So based on that I did a fair amount of research on companies who refurbish / recondition wheels and found a number of them relatively close to me in Austin, TX. After speaking with a number of potential companies I ended up going with a local comapny here in Austin called "HubCap Annie" who has a lot of experience in repairing and recondiitioning aluminum and steel wheels and also had a very good local reputation.

In any case, when I took my wheels down to them for an estimate on what it would cost to do this as well as the time involved, I was rather surprised at the recommendation they made to me. I was fully expecting that they were going to recommend a thorough cleaning of the wheels followed by a polishing and buffing. It turns out that my wheels had quite a number of scratches and scrapes and they were very confident that the "cleaning and polishing" approach would not remove much if any of these defects. They indicated that the wheels would look good and would have a reasonable shine to them, but the scratches and scrapes would still be there. This was pretty disappointing and not what I was expecting to hear.

Instead, they recommneded that I have each of the wheels re-machined. Thye indicated that this would remove all of the defects and would result in a much better finish. Needless to say, this was pretty scary to me because if they were to screw them up its not like I could just go to my local tire and wheel shop and get a replacement. After much discussion and many questions on my part, I decided to go ahead with this.

The process they used was first to thoroughly wash each of the wheels (not sure if it was an acid bath or not but it was definitely more than soap and water) to remove all of the grit and grime from 35+ years of use. If any of you are familiar with these "mesh" wheels from Appliance you know that the inside mesh part is extremely hard to clean and in fact the metal in the inner parts of the mesh is pretty rough from the original castings. This is how they were originally when I purchased them. They recommended that before re-machining the wheels that I have them painted with a color of my choice so that after re-machining the inner mesh would retain the paint, would look much nicer, and would be a lot easier to upkeep. I decided to do this as well and chose a color (silver) that blended in nicely with the rest of the wheel. After this step was completed they re-machined them and once that was done, they applied a clear coat to eac of the wheels for easier upkeep all around. Cost was around $125 a wheel and they quoted about 2-3 days to complete the work. This also included removal of my old tires and mounting and balancing of the new tires that I had already purchased. (decided to go with BF Goodrich Radial TA. 225-60 R14. Purchased from Tirecrawler.com. Best prices and the only ones that had them in stock)

In parallel with this I ordered new center caps from Eagle Alloys as well as the "Z" emblems from MSA so I would essentially have a brand new wheel in the end.

Well in the end, the results far exceeded my expectations and any fears that I had of this process resulting in a completely damaged wheel were unfounded. I am astonished at how good the wheels look with no real side effects from anything that they did. On top of that the radical improvement in ride and handling from the new tires made me feel like I was driving a completely different car. It had been so long since I put new tires on the car that I forgot how big of a difference they could make. Finally, with the clear coat, they will be a lot easier to care for and I expect another 35+ years of use from them. I've attached a few before and after pictures so you can see the difference.

Fnally a quick plug for Hubcap Annie. These folks were awesome. They knew their stuff, executed as planned, and in my opinion were very reasonable from a price perspective. I would not hesitate to go there again or recommend them to friends and colleagues.

Let me know what you think.

Mike.

[5thhorsemann]

Awsome finish product.

[kinfish]

Refurbished wheels look outstanding ................ better than new!

If Hubcap Annie was closer to my house I would do same with my Appliance "slot design" wheels which were purchased in 1971.

[Arne]

That's awesome, Mike! I didn't know there were any shops that would re-machine vintage wheels. I agree that trying to make them look really good by sanding and polishing is difficult, at best. I'm impressed.

[Threehz]

Sounds like what my tired could use, but I don't think they're worth that much new heh!

[Bonzi Lon]

There was a 'Hubcap Annie' on East Colfax in Denver about 7-10 years ago. Last time I was in Denver it had closed or moved. Is it a chain store?

Bonzi Lon

[Mike W]

I don't think it is a chain although when you do a search on line for Hub Cap Annie, you find a number of different companies that go by that name around the US. As far as I know the one that I went to started in Austin in 1980 or so and it has been going ever since. From the folks that I talked to there they apparently have another location in Dallas, but I think any others that go by that name are unrelated to the one here.

Here's a link to the one in Austin in case anyone is interested.

http://www.hubcapannieonline.com/

Mike.

[ajmcforester]

Hubcap Annie was in Denver in the 70's as a kid I still remember the TV ads. I they had a problem at one time because people were stealing hubcaps to sell to the shop.

[Mike W]

Arne,

I also did not know that there were companies that existed that would re-machine these wheels. It is what made me extremely nervous about doing this as I was very worried about them being damaged in the process which would not be a good thing for what is arguably an irreplaceable wheel.

In the end, my fears were unfounded as the wheels came out great.

If anyone is interested in doing this to their wheels, I would be happy to work with you and my local shop to get them done. Not sure what shipping would be to get them to Austin, but if you cannot find a local shop to do this for you, it could be an reasonable alternative. Just PM me if anyone has interest in this.

MIke.

[rtaylor]

Well done. Superb end result. I have the same wheel, albeit the smaller width but it is full of imperfections and stains. Great price too. You keep the period correct look that way.