Polishing Borrani Wire Wheels

blue magic or mothers aluminum polish and a lot of elbow grease.

 

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they make an entire line up depending on issues - this should be fine for fresh wheels

 

Perhaps it me, but I don’t quite understand whether you’re trying to polish/refinish the (aluminum) rim, the (chrome plated) hub and spokes or all ?

Also, are these (modern) reproduction wheels with perhaps (unauthentic) stainless steel spokes or original wheels with original style chrome plated steel spokes ?

AFAIK, the best(?) “how to” way to polish the aluminum rims is to disassemble the wheels and polish the rims, then reassemble and true them.
This would be the ideal time to refinish for hub and spokes also.
Reproduction stainless spokes can not be polished to look as lustrous as chrome plating.

 

i think mothers has foam? polishers for a drill.

 

Make sure to take good, detailed photos under identical (indoor and outdoor ?) lighting conditions before and after, not to mention separate areas (of the rim) to document the results, especially if testing/trying different compounds, equipments, materials & methods, etc…

… so you can provide expert advise based on documented, hands-on experience next time someone else asks the same question.

 

Disassembling/reassembling and truing wire wheels is ridiculously effort intensive especially just to polish. I have a lot of respect for any owner that does so on their car. Whatever an expert detailer charges for this is well worth it IMO.

 

To polish properly is going to take some time, so I suggest if you can take the wheels off the car and rest them on a chair or bench so you are comfortable and also allows you good access to either side of the wheel. Clean them well with soapy water and dry them, use some compressed air where the spokes are mounted as any water wetting the polishing cloth can be a pain. Use the polish of choice with good cloths or microfibre, I use cotton for the polishing and microfibre for the wiping off. For tough to get at spots try a jewellery cleaning cloth. A soft tooth brush can be good for getting gunk out of the spokes-rim junctions.

 

How about simply buy some new ones?

https://www.borrani.com/ferrari-wheels/250-gt-ellena.html

Hopefully we will have some new 185VR16 Pirelli CInturato soon.

Do you think an Ellena ran Cinturato or the crossply Stella Bianca that Pirelli are making now as well? https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/pirelli-collezione/stella-bianca.html

 

Your judge was wrong.

In period 6.00V16 Pirelli Stella Bianca would have been the standard OE on these cars. https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/185-16/600-16-pirelli-stella-bianca.html

However it took me untill 2019 to get the 6.00V16 Stella Bianca made, and let me tell you it took some doing to get them to make a crossply again. It has taken me untill 2022 to get the 5.50-16 Stella Bianca made! However things have been tricky recently.

4 years ago you could have got Avon TurboSpeed. not fitted by Ferrari.
600H16 Dunlop RS5 had ceased production over 4 years ago and i dont think was fitted by Ferrari.
Nothing else crossply is reasonable as a road tyre.
Maybe the Dunlop Racing, but it wouldn't have fitted the current R5 tread pattern that only developed in 1958 ( idont know what month).
Yes the 6.00-16 Dunlop Racing R5 is road legal but you wouldn't want to drive through a puddle in them. In the day the Dunlop Race tyre they would have fitted was the R1 which they no longer make 16" tyres now. so the world of crossplys 4 years ago for a 600-16 was mickey Mouse for your car.

However what is certain is the Cinturato was an option and the CA67 Cinturato came out in 1952. So at the time the 185VR16 Cinturato was the correwct choice. the judge was wrong.

Is there a more suitable 600-16 tyres made. all the good ones are on here.

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/600-16.html

sorry i think you were robbed. i think the Ciunturato was correct the other correc tand probably in period more comon was the Stella Bianca, but the Cinturato wa there.

 

Longstone, I respectfully disagree with you. I do not believe the judge is wrong (much as it pains Ed!!). While the Cinturato may have been developed in the early 1950s, It was NOT routinely used by Ferrari until starting later 1959 and more so 1960. There were no doubt exceptions here or there, but the far majority of period pictures show cross-ply Pirelli Stelvio through much of the early/mid 50s, and Englebert also around roughly 1956 to 1958; data sheets show other cross-ply brands in the later 50s - Continental, a different Pirelli, Dunlop. To suggest that the Cinturato was a Ferrari standard earlier, regardless of its existence at the time is incorrect in my opinion. The 'Stella Bianca' is as close as you can get to the Stelvio, same tread pattern, a good period option available. 6.00 x 16 is I believe a cross-ply size designation, correct me if wrong. A look through the period Ferrari Pininfarina studio pictures I think illustrates my point.

 

As far as I know, Borrani does not use stainless spokes. Had a long discussion with a Borrani representant a few years ago, whose lecture of materials I listened very carefully as I was able to receive it all having done my share of metallurgical studies for my M.Sc. He made it very clear that they under no circumstances use stainless and are terrified having received their share of failed wheels with stainless spokes of unknown origin. The problem with stainless is the work hardening, the undulating stress will pull the spoke million cycles where it gets harder and harder and harder... until it snaps. My advice: make sure the magnet sticks!

 

even on bad stainless steel the magnet sticks, not as good as on non stainless steel. I brought back last year a case with 1000 M 6 nuts becaus ethey all have been a little magnetic ( this has been V2A ) and I got then V4A what was not magnetic

 

Short note as this is getting off-topic: forming will make A2-grades mildly magnetic, so bolts, nuts, forks etc. often stick a little. Molybdenium alloyed A4-grades will remain non-magnetic even when formed.

 

Yes, I’m aware of all this ^ and apologize if my comment implied Borrani themselves using Stainless spokes.
It was more in reference to general acknowledgment as there is or has been some (“unknown”?) wheel rebuilders using such in the past.
OTOH, just like those reproduction Stainless hub rings readily available and often seen on Cromodora wheel, polished Stainless spokes are quite easy to spot, even without a magnet.

 

No! Eventual inaccuracy is on my behalf, just want to do my share to point out that after market stainless are not an improvement on the original design. They can be really dangerous!

 

Hi Lancia

I do generally agree with what you say; However It is not my suggestion that the Pirelli Cinturato was "standard". My suggestion is that they were an option in period..

I beleive the issue of the penalising for Cinturato was before the Stella Bianca had been produced, so under that circumstance the Cinturato was the most original tyre available at the time.

Yes i agree that a 6.00-16 crossply tyre would have been the Standard, but if a radial were requested then the Cinturato would have been fitted.

As i described earlier at the time there was not an OE crossply tyre being manufactures. the only period suitable crossply tyre being made was the time was the Avon which was not a Ferrari fitment, However the Cinturato was, though as you correctly stated is was not a standard fitment, but it is ore periodf correct than anything else available at the time.

So my point is that a more modern incorrect crossply is not more period than a radial that was an option in the day? specially when you consider that they moved onto radials soon after that.

However it is all sort of irrelavent as we do now have the 6.00-16 Stella Bianca.

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/pirelli-collezione/stella-bianca.html

Excitingly Pirelli have also made a 55-V16 Stella Bianca as a front tyre for some cars like the 250F Maser, and a 5.50-18 Stella Bianca for 6C Alfa.

I t6hink i have posted these before. I found them in the Pirelli archive. this is a record of motorsporting victories in 1954, where they list the Cinturato.

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Agreed about the Stainless steel spokes.

Borrani doesnt use Stainless steel spokes.

We always discourage customers from having stainless steel spokes in wire wheels.

My other bug bare with this is inner tubes.

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-tyre-inner-tubes.html

We say put inner tubes in all wire wheels.

Inner tubes should not be fitted in a tyre with a profile lower than 70%. No wire wheel should be fitted with a tyre lower than 70% profile because it will spoil the handling and it did not happen at the time, so there is no concern. Always fit wire wheels with inner tubes.

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I agree and like to think a common sense should too.

 

Hmm! if only

 

Yeah, looking at a world around me daily, it doesn't appear that "common".