Project FD, part 1 - measurements

This one's gonna be special.  I bought a set of 17" BBS RS ages ago for less than a pair of Nikes and was planning to save them for a build for myself, but a mate has now chimed up for a set and thought, why not use this set since I won't be using them for a while?  So here it is, part 1 of this new build based around a set of staggered BBS RS262, RS263.

I had disassembled them a while back.  Plenty of oxidation on the lips and under the paint in certain sections of the centres, baked on brake dust on the centres and barrels, lips were gutter rashed and the bigger barrels have cracks.  Bolts are, surprisingly, still very shiny and the caps were in decent condition.

Some preliminary fitment on the car that the wheels will be destined for were done and some calculations were done.  Fitment will be aggressive.

Porsche 993 Turbo Twists - rush build

This was a somewhat impulse buy/build as I wanted to get my 8L A3 ready for Motorex 2012.  I had Porsche 986 Boxster calipers lined up for it and wanted to get a set of Porsche wheels to match, and these Porsche 993 Turbo Twists came at a good price with two sets of adapters.  Being such a rush build, I neglected to take detailed pics of the wheels in before and after condition, but I'll try and describe them as best as I can.

Specs were 18x7.5 ET50, 18x10 ET65.  Being OEM Porsche wheels, centrebore and bolt holes were OEM-spec and used ball-seat lugs/nuts.  Everything was included like genuine caps and all the studs and nuts with each adapter.  Slight buckles here and there but was difficult to pick up by eye; some rashes around the wheels though.  One was sprayed in black plastidip which peeled readily.

Took it to Morton & May for a re-roll, rash fix and paint in 2-pack semi-gloss black.  Again, did a good job but price was less than ideal, seeing as they were in better condition than the Work Equip Voaggards but cost the same flat-rate price per wheel to repair.  Think I'll take my stuff to another shop from now.

Also bought some matching (not non-genuine) black caps with coloured crest.  Also have another set of non-genuine caps in black but with silver crest.

Here are the photos of the 8L on the Twists with the coloured caps.  205/40 on the 7.5", 215/40 on the 10".

Photogs courtesy of:
Justin Sung
Tony Sol Han

Work Equip Voggards

I found these on eBay put up by a Mk2 Supra owner.  Was the only bidder which was fortunate as I managed to snap them up for an awesome price.  They weren't in the best condition, but wasn't too bad either - bits of gutter rashes, slight flat spots on three of the wheels; but they all came with centre-caps, original metal valve stems (though seals look like they need replacing) and no big gashes.

17x8 ET35, 17x9 ET35, 5x114.3, 73.0mm centrebore (need a double check with a decent caliper), 12mm bolt holes.  I took it in to Morton & May in Warwick Farm for the gutter rash and flat spot fixes as well as bore out the bolt holes to 14mm.  They do good work (TIG-welded the rash) but work quotes weren't the most honest (fixes were quoted as a flat rate per wheel, even though one or two of the wheels had very minimal damage) and service not the friendliest.

After that, I took it to Chris @ Craved Coatings and had them powdercoated in bright white.  I've got many good things to say about Chris, who was able to accommodate me in his busy schedule and get them done for Showcased.  He had them sandblasted (contracted) and powdercoated the wheel entirely, even within the bores of the wheel.  I was gobsmacked when I first saw them, it was simple but beautiful white finish.  He mentioned some slight orange peel that he was sorry about and couldn't avoid due to such flat spokes, going to show his level of quality he expects from his work.  He went the extra mile and wrapped the wheels in bubble wrap even though I provided boxes.  I will not hesitate taking more items to be powdercoated by Chris and will whole-heartedly recommend him for anyone wanting good powdercoating done.

Had them wrapped in 195/40 and 205/40 tyres.  Unfortunately one of the 8s are leaking pretty badly; I'm assuming it's the valve stem.  Will swap it out soon.

And some on the A3:

Wheels are for sale now, contact me if you're interested.

Photo credits to the following champs:
Aleks.B Photography
Justin Sung
Dacri Media