Solving the 348/355 Challenge wheels being "obsolete" problem

Chris - those wheels that have been "stripped" appear to have been very aggressively media blasted. Hi pressure blasting will damage aluminum / mag for certain.

 

Speedline is already making these again in aluminum.

Not sure what the motivation would be to do it in billet unless they end up being lighter after a bunch of pocket milling?

 

Did 5 sets of challenge wheels personally non looked like those

I am looking for sub 20 lb wheels


Yes as Jim stated Speedlines make some nice replicas in alum at a decent price

Now some polished billet challenge wheels with custom designs on the spokes you may have something cool. 11 or 12 inch rears with correct offset hehehe

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/speedline-corse-challenge-wheels.550669/

The aluminum wheels they are making now are heavier.

I think if you could make something that weighed the same or less than original you may get some interest.

 

That's a ton of money for replica wheels, when the OE manufacturer is already reproducing them at a significantly lower cost.

 

Aren’t they Italian MFR Cinel - 8x18 10.5 kg; 10x18, 11.5 kg? About 3.8k Euros incl taxes a set?

What poor QA and reviews do you have for them?




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Yep, Cinel, dealt with them a while ago:

http://www.cinelforgedwheels.com/historic-galleries/

Part of their historic range. TUV certified manufacturing. Interesting to know what the ‘problem’ is with them...



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If only these were lighter the originals...

 

The spokes are thick, maybe you can hollow them out from behind to lighten them up (a lot).

 

Somewhere in the back of my cluttered mind I recall reading (here on F-chat) about being cautious not to remove the factory base primer coat when refinishing these type of magnesium wheels. Maybe removing all coatings are not possible when repairing these wheels. Is there a special primer coating used on magnesium wheels?

 

It's not a primer. It's called Dow 7 and it's a chemical conversion process similar to alodine on Aluminum.

 

Does Dow 7 act as filler material as well?

 

Not at all. Zero build up. It's a surface conversion chemical.

 

Bradan recently published a magnesium alloy F355 wheel strip and bare metal refin to the following prep:
-BASF 2000 metal prep wipe
-Glasurit 801-703 chromated epoxy primer

Perhaps they could lend some additional insight.

 

Which is all good stuff but you must start with Dow 7. We manufacture aerospace/military parts that get paint. Every single one gets alodine prior to paint. In fact, Sticky RX is considering adding alodine for this purpose. The fact is adhesion is must better.

 

Make em in 19"

 

I agree. Make in 19 because tire selection is better.

 

Yes, Dow 7 seems to be a well-advised treatment, though I'm not so sure that I'd go so far as to say it is a 'must' or 'requirement' of the process to achieve a robust and long-lasting refinish. Certainly Bradan's work, which is highly regarded for quality and thoroughness, omitted the step, and I'd venture to say that a significant if not majority portion of painted magnesium wheels (exclusion of vintage halibrand-style or related unpainted drag wheels where Dow 7 was the original spec finish) do not follow that process, seemingly with quality results that last. As a personal disclaimer, in the interest of achieving the best result possible, I'd be inclined to give consideration to the coating, but wouldn't necessarily peg it as a requirement of the process.

 

Bradan at one point would have the wheels treated with Dow 7. I don't if they do or not anymore and if they don't, it's likely do to cost of shipping them to an outside company and many customers may not want to pay that. Adhesion to aluminum, magnesium or a blend of the two is an issue. We use an excellent epoxy primer for all metal parts but even still something like a wheel that needs to see a tire machine could easily chip. So, Aerospace parts are treated with alodine (or Dow 7 where applicable) for corrosion resistance and paint adhesion.

To say it's a requirement or not is very open ended as people do things different all over the world. For me, if I'm refinishing 355 wheels, they are getting Dow 7 as I've had done in the past which required building a crate and shipping them out of state.


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Also agree, would love a set of 19" CH wheels!!