Hi I have just had a look at the Lattice Alloys on my 1990 XJS V12 that hasn't been on the road since the year 2000!

This car has been left outside for about 14 years! and I haven't plucked up the courage to take the cover off, in case I'm greeted with a pile of rust.

So its only the Wheels I am talking about at the moment.

The P4000's on the rims are totally shot away and the Lattice Alloys are not a pretty sight either!

So Its going to be a new set of Tires (any suggestions?) and I want to get the lattice Alloys refurbished.

But here is my dilemma:

Do I get the Tires put on first or have them put on after refurbishment?

I'm not sure how they refurbish them, maybe they powder coat them I don't know.

The one thing that I want to avoid is having the wheels powder coated, or whatever they do and then have someone, mess up the refurbishment when they put the Tires on.

Maybe someone who has had this job done could explain the best way to go.

 

I can speak to when I had the alloys on my XK8 done. I'm not sure if the process is the same for your wheels, but I'm guessing it is. In any case... the tires need to come off. They sand/grind it down to remove any curb rash, scratches, etc. Then it's power coated. None of the repair work can be done with the tire still on the wheel. However, the same place also mounted the new tires after the wheels were refinished and balanced/aligned everything. So this should alleviate any concerns about damage upon installing the new tires since it's the same place completing all of the work.

 

From looking at prices for re-furb. and the new rare 15" tires in the UK. l chose to buy some 16" wires (flebay) and new pirelli tires.


My wheels are ok, just a few small bubbles but l seem to remember a quote of around 100.00 quid per wheel. The spares like new. Try calling the breakers to see if they have any cars with the spare in the boot .......I'm toying with the idea of shipping my wheels to the US when l ship the rest of my ****....but most prob. cheaper to get some there if l ever want to put the originals back on. ( Wasn't allowed to ship the with the car !!. RoRo ferry)

 

I suppose it would depend on what you want to do with the car as to how you have the wheels refinished.

As your tyres are shot it would be better to have them removed before refurbishing the wheels. As long as the guy is careful when fitting the new tyres there should be no problem with any damage.

When I had my lattice wheels redone they were finished with paint and lacquer as per original, but that is the way I like it. As added protection from brake dust, I also fitted brake dust shields on the front and never had a problem with brake dust after that.

Hope this helps,

 

Yup. I second the brake dust shields. Although not seen them in the UK.

 

Hi
Check at the breakers you might be cheaper out with second hand wheel tyre combo than having yours refurbished.
If it doesn't matter to you keeping the car original look for bmw wheels most are a direct fit and abundant in 16 and 17 inch. I got myself some nice 20 inches for less than 400 euro including shipment.

Bo

 

Orangeblossom.
Nobody will refurbish wheels with the tyres on.
If you can find someone that will do that then avoid them like the plague.
It doesn't matter how pretty or how powerful your car is, how stunningly expensive your tyres are; the bits that connect the tyres to the car are the wheels and they are by far the most important part of the whole kit.
Without them the rest of it is useless so treat them with respect.
Tarting them up is easy with tyres on: steam clean, wire brush, electric toothbrush, whatever; if you use chemicals then keep them off the tyres.
Once they are clean, carefully mask the tyres then spray the wheels.
Bear in mind though that you are only treating the visible side; what's going on with the other side: what about the huge amount of wheel that is under the tyres?
If you want to know how to look after wheels then talk to someone who runs wire wheels; I used to drive a '68 MGC with 72 spoke wires and without fail, every week, I would run a finger nail round all the spokes (288 spokes) and listen for differences in the tone that they made; any change in the sound meant that a spoke was coming slack which would lead to problems.
Wheel tappers and shunters, another dying breed.

 

Getting the same firm to put on new tires, sounds a good idea as any damage they do it down to them.

Cheers

Ajay

 

I want to keep to 15 inch wheels as it might affect my speedo reading but the breakers yard for new spare tires is a great idea!

 

That's just the way that I would like to do mine, so thanks for your help.

 

My grey XJS has dust shields on and She is a UK car.

 

Yeah! BMW wheels, just what I was thinking but I want to keep to 15 inch

 

Hi Steve

I used to have wires on my MGB which really looked amazing but a pig of a job to keep clean.

But otherwise thanks for all that good advice.

My grey XJS is now all ready for the MOT so now looking around to try and find the best garage.

 

What nonsense.
Get up in the morning, have a shower, clean your teeth, wipe your ****, clean your wheels.
Easy peasy.

MOT time.
Good luck.
But obviously luck should not be a factor, should it?

 

I too was enquiring as to refurbishing my Honeycomb wheel on my '89 XJS, by a local car care outfit-Atlantic Auto Spa, and was quoted $150 each, and deccribed the 5 step process, but also mentioned they do sell new wheels and tires also. I've included a photo of one I like, sort of a BMW style wheel, and was going to switch up to a 16" with a slightly shorter tire, so as to keep the stock wheel/tire heigth, maintaining the speedo reading, and perhaps helping the handling/cornering by not having so much rubber height.

-Any comments on the wheels would be appreciated, pro or con.

 

I personally am not really a fan of aftermarket rims, especially on older cars.. Not sure why but I've never really found any third party ones I like. So nothing against those wheels in particular, I just like to keep 'em OEM.

However, it's your car. Not mine. So if you like them, that's really all that matters, right?

 

Or maybe just clean my wheels and leave it at that and as for a first time MOT I think I'd rather have a root canal filling!

 

I just want to keep my XJS original but with nice shiny wheels!

 

I'm with you on that one, I've never seen any aftermarket wheels that I like better than the lattice alloys.

But then if it isn't my car, you can take your money and make your choice.

 

Moving forward and as these wheels may be difficult / time consuming to keep in good order........

Please check out Sonax FULL effect wheel cleaner or the Advanced wheel cleaner concentrate from Pinnaclewax ( a forum sponsor )

The Sonax is acid free and once applied starts to turn red as it attacks and liquifies the brake dust, so you can see it working.

you can simply spray leave for a few minutes and powerwash off, although I prefer a little agitation with a 2" paintbrush, for a shiny / sparkly good as new look
I believe the Pinnaclewax product has all the same properties and is as good although I can't speak from personal experience.

Hope it helps some....