I had a few problems with the wheels and tyres that were on my Benz.
1) The fronts rubbed so I needed narrower tyres
2) The steels weren't that pretty
I like rat look, but I wanted my car to be just that - rat look, rather than looking like just some snotter that I'd slammed.
The best way to achieve this, I reckon, is to have some tidy wheels on there - it gives the suggestion that under the patina is a solid car. So I think anyway.
So, I had a spare set of 14in rims which were a nicer design - no holes in them, sorta smooth looking. So I started cleaning them up ready to paint...
^ Degreasing
^ De-rusting. The rims were quite pitted and flaky so they weren't gonna be perfect, but I don't do perfect when it comes to paint!
I was ready to do the full set of four, but then Dez's W115 came up for sale with some reverse rims on the back. A few PM's later and I was on my way to get them!
^ Here they are at chez BenzBoy.
^ Time to apply paint. I decided on cream.
Now, here's where the problems started. I went to my friendly part-worn tyre place, got some narrower tyres for the front and got my tyres swapped onto the reverse rims.
Set off with a grin on my face until one of the rears went flat half a mile from the garage. To make matters worse I'd left my wheelbrace at home.
My bro Street came to the rescue and we got the wheel off. It turns out the valve (which is now on the inside of the wheel) had been smashed to pieces by hitting the caliper. This is odd as Dez's car is the same and he had no problems. Merc must have fitted different calipers.
^ Destroyed valve.
Today I got hold of some shorter valves, from my local motorbike place. 22mm long as opposed to 40mm. I might *just* get away with that! I was looking for flush-fit valves but a) I couldn't find them anywhere except eBay (I needed them soon), and b) I've heard that they can be troublesome.
So, back to the car, bolted up the reverse rim with shorter valve... wahey! 0.25mm clearance between the valve and caliper... that's enough ain't it?!
So, to the other side. That'll be the same, right? Wrong. The valve hits the caliper. What the fudge is going on? It needs about 2 or 3mm to clear, so I suppose everything is within tolerances and that. Doesn't help my predicament.
Well, swapping wheels shouldn't take 4 bleedin' days to do, and I was b*ggered if they weren't going on tonight, so...
^ The offending caliper, with handy score mark where the valve had caught it.
^ Out with the grinder! Take that you bstard!
So... finally...
Not the best pic but I couldn't get a good position for the shot. All ready for the PPC shoot now!
1) The fronts rubbed so I needed narrower tyres
2) The steels weren't that pretty
I like rat look, but I wanted my car to be just that - rat look, rather than looking like just some snotter that I'd slammed.
The best way to achieve this, I reckon, is to have some tidy wheels on there - it gives the suggestion that under the patina is a solid car. So I think anyway.
So, I had a spare set of 14in rims which were a nicer design - no holes in them, sorta smooth looking. So I started cleaning them up ready to paint...
^ Degreasing
^ De-rusting. The rims were quite pitted and flaky so they weren't gonna be perfect, but I don't do perfect when it comes to paint!
I was ready to do the full set of four, but then Dez's W115 came up for sale with some reverse rims on the back. A few PM's later and I was on my way to get them!
^ Here they are at chez BenzBoy.
^ Time to apply paint. I decided on cream.
Now, here's where the problems started. I went to my friendly part-worn tyre place, got some narrower tyres for the front and got my tyres swapped onto the reverse rims.
Set off with a grin on my face until one of the rears went flat half a mile from the garage. To make matters worse I'd left my wheelbrace at home.
My bro Street came to the rescue and we got the wheel off. It turns out the valve (which is now on the inside of the wheel) had been smashed to pieces by hitting the caliper. This is odd as Dez's car is the same and he had no problems. Merc must have fitted different calipers.
^ Destroyed valve.
Today I got hold of some shorter valves, from my local motorbike place. 22mm long as opposed to 40mm. I might *just* get away with that! I was looking for flush-fit valves but a) I couldn't find them anywhere except eBay (I needed them soon), and b) I've heard that they can be troublesome.
So, back to the car, bolted up the reverse rim with shorter valve... wahey! 0.25mm clearance between the valve and caliper... that's enough ain't it?!
So, to the other side. That'll be the same, right? Wrong. The valve hits the caliper. What the fudge is going on? It needs about 2 or 3mm to clear, so I suppose everything is within tolerances and that. Doesn't help my predicament.
Well, swapping wheels shouldn't take 4 bleedin' days to do, and I was b*ggered if they weren't going on tonight, so...
^ The offending caliper, with handy score mark where the valve had caught it.
^ Out with the grinder! Take that you bstard!
So... finally...
Not the best pic but I couldn't get a good position for the shot. All ready for the PPC shoot now!
absolutely love it 
;D
