Wheels and Tires, Let's get this discussion centralized Options

[wonkipop]

What is the correct color and type of paint (metallic, non-metallic, single stage, etc.) used on 5.5 x 15 sport steel wheels aka "star steelies" on a 74 2.0? Also, are the flat plastic center caps for these NLA? Thanks!

outer face.
silver - VW color L97u Grey Aluminium.
or RAL 9007. ask a paint shop for RAL 9007 you should get it mixed right.
(straight up single stage - it was a semi gloss or satin finish originally).

rear face.
black or very dark grey.


the centre caps are flat black plastic press ins.
Pelican Psrts used to have them but look to be NLA on their website.
the diam is 56mm outer.
these might work. close to the very plain originals.

https://www.amazon.com.au/56mm-Black-Wheel-...s/dp/B073SR3Q9J

this variety are available from VW classic parts retailers.
but its the one for beetles. looks like a fake nut.
not what 914s had. but it would fit.

https://www2.cip1.com/vwc-111-601-171-set/


wheel bolts had plastic press on covers. "fake bolts"
pelican still has them.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/1116...&DID=201382

also available from VW classic parts retailers

https://www2.cip1.com/stock-steel-wheels/

Thanks for all the info !! BTW, if somebody has a couple of the center caps I'd appreciate it !! Condition unimportant.

I did see earlier in this thread where rattle can Wurth or Wyeth White Alloy paint is correct or close.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...4857&st=320

I was asking since I have a set of rusty star steelies that I want to put on my car during resto, along with a set of quasi-matching tires that hold air, plastic bolt caps and plastic center caps so it doesn't look quite so janky in the garage when the garage door opens. I currently live in a gated community / leased townhome and need to keep the neighbors happy.

I'd like to put a "10 footer" coat of rattle can paint on the wheels that is "close" to OE but doesn't cost $30 per can. Any tips on a lower cost alternative rattle can paint would be appreciated.

the wurth will be close for your purposes.
another one that is close is ford "argent silver".
i have had my 914 alongside a steel wheel ford here. both with original paint.
indistinguishable.
the ford color might be pretty common as a rattle can color from an everyday auto parts chain store.
its called argent silver in australia, but i assume its the same colour for ford usa.

if you are just making it look decent, i'd suggest mail ordering the centre caps for the VW version and grab the plastic bolt covers as well from CIPI. pretty cheap and easy solution in one package.

[914rrr]

Forgive me if I missed this on this thread. Does anyone have close up pics of the stamped #'s / markings on 5 1/5 x 15 plain steel wheels? I think I have a full set of these but they're so crusty I can't find the markings on them.

BTW, are there any awards for the crustiest, nastiest steel wheels? I have one sport steel wheel with large gaping rust holes in the front of the rim!

[914rrr]

I may have stumbled onto a decent facsimile of white alloy / argent silver rattle can paint. I used Glidden Shining Armor Satin spray paint that I picked up at Home Depot. I'm going for a 10 footer kind of paint job on these wheels while the my teener is under resto. I did a quick couple of passes with coarse and 0000 steel wool. One benefit is that this is a paint + primer and covers incredibly well. I've painted 3 wheels with 2 light coats and still have paint left in my first can.

Here's a before and after shot.

[914rrr]

Another one...

[doug_b_928]

In the past I've read through this thread (and others) and it appeared to me that the 74 steel wheels (which were often discussed as having dark grey centres and black barrels) may have received a different treatment than the 73 steel wheels in some respects. Below are some data for 73 steel wheels.

I believe the wheels that came with my car are the originals. The chassis went into production in August of 72 and the wheels are stamped September of 72. I bought the car in May of 85 and not long after installed empis, so the original wheels show an appropriate amount of wear for 12 years of use and 40 years of indoor storage. Here's the date stamp on the wheel:



My wheels did not have dark grey paint in the centre and had silver (not black) barrels.

The wheel on the left is not refinished and is clearly silver:



Upon blasting there is no evidence of repaint (multiple layers of finish). I suppose they could have been blasted and repainted back in the day but, given the way that the rest of the car was treated in its first 12 years, I highly doubt it:



Also, the 73 owner's manual shows the spare with the air line for the windshield washer attached and there's no indication of dark grey paint in the centre there either:



In an attempt to get the colour correct, I did some testing of different colours that have been mentioned:



The Wurth wheel paint on the right is labelled as BMW and it's a good match for modern BMW wheels but is not even close to the original 914 finish. The Wurth White Aluminum (on the left) is closer because it's darker but it's not as dark as the original finish. The centre colour is brushed on (badly) RAL 9007 as mentioned in this thread. There is black in it and it needs to be atomized to appear even, so brushing on a test piece didn't give an accurate representation. But it's evident that the black in it makes it darker. Here's a pic of the RAL 9007 in a cup and it's visible how the black stays largely separated even after stirring.



I sprayed the RAL 9007 on the wheel and it came out very nice. When comparing to the original finish in some lights it looks lighter:



In some lights it looks darker:



That suggests to me that it is probably a good match to original (bearing in mind that the original is now nearly 52 years old and assuming that my wheels had the original finish).

Also, as another related datum point, the 73 manual says that the original wheel was 5.5Jx15 with 165/15 tires (SR for 1.7; HR for 2.0):

[wonkipop]

nice work @doug_b_928
you got the right color with the RAL9007


a possible explanation for the rims being completely silver front and back is they are VW spare parts rims.

the ones from the factory when the cars were built were i suspect a typical bit of VW penny pinching at the time. they shot the rims with a black coat front and back and then a quick squirt around the front rim edges with the L97u (RAL 9007) silver where it was exposed without a hub cab. every cent counted.

real early cars had solid black rims and used silver slotted trim rings with the hub cabs or just plain black with only a hub cab. thats very early cars in 69/70.

i have seen photos, might even have been in this topic thread way back in the earlier pages which are of a box set of VW genuine spare parts star steelie rims dated 1980 in their boxes and they are silver all round, front and back. do not have the black or dark grey backs that the star steelie wheels fitted at the factory had.

suspect they painted those spare part rims completely silver and you paid for that paint in the spare part price. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) made em look good when you unboxed them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
saved their penny pinching for the factory made cars where every pfenning on every bit of the car counted. esp from around 1973 on when inflation and rising dm set in.

personally i think its fine to paint them all silver. its really getting fanatical to duplicate VW miserly-ness. esp when there is firm evidence that if you bought a replacement wheel later in the day after production finished it was completely sliver. its right both ways.

[doug_b_928]

Thanks @wonkipop . I believe it is you who identified RAL 9007 somewhere in this thread, which is incredibly helpful! The spare parts rims explanation is interesting. The thing is, all of my rims are the same: all silver, all stamped 9/72. The car is a 1.7 appearance and so came with steelies. It would have been bad luck for the first owner to need all new rims within the first few months of ownership, but even then, the odds that the spare would have needed replacing seem very unlikely and the odds that the date code on the parts bin rims and the original spare would be same would be even more remote (as would the odds of the spare also being all silver, if indeed, the original wheels had to be black). If it is an established fact that all 73 steelies like mine were black barrelled etc. then I think the most likely explanation is that a PO had them blasted and painted in the correct colour. Still seems unlikely to me given that the car was never repainted in its original colour and so the POs weren't very concerned with originality (and so would have been likely to paint the wheels a different colour). Anyway, as folks become more interested in restoring these lovely little cars back to original the more data points we can get in this excellent thread the better.

[doug_b_928]

P.S., pictures don't do RAL 9007 justice. It's quite a beautiful colour, especially when the sunlight hits it.

[wonkipop]

Anyway, as folks become more interested in restoring these lovely little cars back to original the more data points we can get in this excellent thread the better.

precisely. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)