Expanding with Buick Roadwheels

[Turbinator]

Gents, I’ve noticed a long term interest  in Buick Roadwheels. Over the last few years the Buick Roadwheels have found their way in my collection. The Turbines will always have top billing in my book.

So, I thought I’d get 4 of them chrome plated. The Roadwheels have numbers imprinted on the barrel for identification. The four I have are 853’s but won’t fit my 63.

 

[RivNut]

853s will fit on 1963 and 1964 Buick IF you remove the retaing ring from the back.  Same with 802s. I have them on both my 63 and 64.

[XframeFX]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:05 PM, Turbinator said:

I thought I’d get 4 of them chrome plated.

Turb, it seems you people in the east have access to a chrome plating shop or 2 or even 3.

 

I recently sold blemished Buick Gran National wheels. The Buyer was going to touch them up with the aluminum foil and coke trick.

 So, the wheels on my Riviera are also blemished with slight rust.

 Coke & aluminum foil? Hmmm?

[RivNut]

That works on surface rust but does nothing for the pits caused by the rust.  

[RivNut]

If the pitting is bad, consider this. 3" chrome trim rings on your rally wheels

[RivNut]

The full Monty.

 

 

1965 Wheels, 3” chrome trim rings, and 66-70 center caps.

 

Deeper than a Chicago Deep Dish pizza.

Edited September 22, 2023 by RivNut (see edit history)

[XframeFX]

Yes, this has come up before. A good idea. Just wondering how the back side of trim rings look like. Do they have TEETH like our wire hubcaps?

My wheels aren't blemished bad enough to add additional scratches.

Edited September 22, 2023 by XframeFX (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Just now, XframeFX said:

Yes, this has come up before. A good idea. Just wondering how the back side of trim rings look like. Do they have TEETH like our wire hubcaps?

My wheels aren't blemished bad enough to add additional scratches.

They have more pointy teeth than a T-Rex.  I’d only use them on pitted rims that were not going to be replated.

[Turbinator]

6 hours ago, XframeFX said:

My wheels aren't blemished bad enough to add additional scratches

I missed explaining these are OEM BUICK wheels. I guess the 853 stamped on the barrel of the wheel would have been sufficient information to indicate the real deal. I do deal in some items that are reproduced that soon no one will be able to tell the difference between the repros and original. 
The plating is real copper, nickel, and chrome. The opposite side of wheel could have been photographed I thought everyone knows what the other side looks like. The register ring is on the wheel.

Believe it or not Sweden is known for very good chrome plating.

6 hours ago, XframeFX said:

My wheels aren't blemished bad enough to add additional scratches

John, although I’ll ship my wheels to the moon you loathe shipping in to Canada. Besides, I don’t sell on credit.

Now that you’ve implied I’m a liar I won’t ever hear from you.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Turbinator (see edit history)

[Turbinator]

6 hours ago, XframeFX said:

Coke & aluminum foil? Hmmm?

John, you write like you’ve been snorting coke. Too much of the white powder? “Casey Jones you better watch your speed….”

[RivNut]

In days gone by, when lids used to rust to milk cans, turning the can upside down and pouring Coke (Coca-Cola) into the rim would eat the rust so the top could be removed.  Coke has quite a bit of acid in it.  A pad made of aluminum foil and water will remove surface rust.  Aluminum foil and Coke just doubles your effectiveness.  If anyone is in disbelief, let me know and I’ll post some before and after pictures of a bicycle that I used water and aluminum foil to cleaner the rust off the chrome.

 

Ed

[RivNut]

Opps

Edited September 22, 2023 by RivNut
Duplicate (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Here are a couple of pictures, before and after, of a bicycle I restored.  Nothing but a wad of aluminum foil and water to clean the rust off the chrome mixed with some time and elbow grease.
 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Dundee]

The right bike too

[Frank DuVal]

I've used aluminum foil with just water and got good results too.👍

[Turbinator]

There are a multitude of ways to refresh light rust on chrome. Coca Cola with aluminum foil is a way to refresh the chrome.

Our goal is to keep the surface rust free. I’d like to know once the chrome surface is refreshed how do you keep the surface shining?

Lator Gator 🐊 

[Turbinator]

9 hours ago, Dundee said:

The right bike too

1966 I had a new CL77 Honda 305 Scrambler. I was 15 1/2 yrs when I bought the bike. Chrome bobbed front fender, head light shell, skid plate, air cleaner cover, tool box, engine plate top cover, center stand, kick stand, tail light bracket …. Custom two color flame paint on tank and back fender.

 

im starting add some new bling to my 63. No Buick Roadwheels on the 63, just turbines.

Turbinator

[RivNut]

6 hours ago, Turbinator said:

There are a multitude of ways to refresh light rust on chrome. Coca Cola with aluminum foil is a way to refresh the chrome.

Our goal is to keep the surface rust free. I’d like to know once the chrome surface is refreshed how do you keep the surface shining?

Lator Gator 🐊 

Just keep the chrome clean. It will shine on its own. Keeping chrome clean is as simple as going over it with 0000 steel wool. 

[arnulfo de l.a.]

On 9/21/2023 at 8:17 PM, RivNut said:

The full Monty.

 

 

1965 Wheels, 3” chrome trim rings, and 66-70 center caps.

 

Deeper than a Chicago Deep Dish pizza.

These wheels have been widened by 1” . I did the same thing to mine.

[Turbinator]

Looks good to me. I had a friend who had a 65 Impala with “ wire baskets “and a knock off. The wire baskets bolted on to a bracket that was bolted on the chrome wheel. With the wire basket capped down over the chrome wheel with a 2 bar spinner bolted in it looked good.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Turbinator (see edit history)

[Turbinator]

1.,2,3

[Turbinator]

Here is an expansion of a newly chrome plated Buick Roadwheel. Webs are powder costed satin black.

i tiny touch up needed but that is all.

 

[DrownedRiv]

On 9/29/2023 at 3:17 PM, arnulfo de l.a. said:

These wheels have been widened by 1” . I did the same thing to mine.

Widened?

Interesting....

How? By who?

Thanks!

[arnulfo de l.a.]

Pico wheel in Camarillo California. He cuts the outter lip and welds in a new one that is 1” wider.

[RivNut]

Who? is a good question but basically anyone can with the proper tools.

 

How? Cut the rim in half. Cut a piece of steel the same gauge as the wheel to the width you want to add, the same length as the circumference of the wheel. Run it through a roller to shape it, and weld it in place.  On the Buick rally wheels they’ll have to be re-chromed.  There are videos on YouTube that show the process.  

[arnulfo de l.a.]

Cutting in half wont do it. Needs to be cut at the edge because thats where you want the additional depth. The cutting was done on a lathe that he has set up for the cutting process and he trues and welds on another fixture he has that rotates. Takes skill and experience to get it right. Dont have to rechrome being the purpose of doing it is to run the deep beauty ring

Edited October 12, 2023 by arnulfo de l.a. (see edit history)

[RivNut]

4 minutes ago, arnulfo de l.a. said:

Cutting in half wont do it. Needs to be cut at the edge because thats where you want the additional depth. The cutting was done on a lathe that he has set up for the cutting process and he trues and welds on another fixture he has that rotates. Takes skill and experience to get it right. Dont have to rechrome being the purpose of doing it is to run the deep beauty ring

I didn’t want to get into any details but referred anyone interested into watching a couple of DIY videos on YouTube.   But I would think that welding might discolor any chrome that would get hot enough to be welded.  

[arnulfo de l.a.]

Yes welding will discolor chrome but not on the face of the star which is all that will show with beauty ring on. The welding takes place far enough from the star that it wont affect the chrome. On the picture that I posted the chrome on the face of the star is original factory chrome

[Turbinator]

Your creativity and imagination is consistent with some of the things I remember in Southern California. Chrome wire baskets with chrome knock offs and discrete use of “dummy spots” on early model Chevrolet come to mind. Also, at one time the style of mounting an Olsmobile 88 white ( with deep V) steering wheel on their cars was hot.

[Turbinator]

Error 123

[RivNut]

My memories include the dummy spots that Bob mentioned but “4 bar Lancers”, fake lake pipes, and “blue dots.”  If you had the money, you have Watson style panels painted on your car.  

 

[XframeFX]

On 10/11/2023 at 8:45 PM, arnulfo de l.a. said:

Dont have to rechrome being the purpose of doing it is to run the deep beauty ring

Makes sense. I noticed the Trim Ring and you referenced it with your latest comment. I like no chrome plating. No resources for that anywhere near my area. They're all gone! Also, no desire to pay for shipping a set of 4 round trip!

I like the look! I always found the wheels were too deep inside the wheel well.

There's a How-To on rivowners.org for converting these wheels to 17".  I like the above method better in 15".

What tire size are recommended for the now 15X7 Rim? Couldn't find 235/70-15 in WSW except Vitour sold in Long Beach CA:

https://www.performanceplustire.com/tires-for-sale/vitour-tires/galaxy-r1-whitewall/ts:235-70-15:ty:Tire/

 

[RivNut]

12 hours ago, XframeFX said:

Makes sense. I noticed the Trim Ring and you referenced it with your latest comment. I like no chrome plating. No resources for that anywhere near my area. They're all gone! Also, no desire to pay for shipping a set of 4 round trip!

I like the look! I always found the wheels were too deep inside the wheel well.

There's a How-To on rivowners.org for converting these wheels to 17".  I like the above method better in 15".

What tire size are recommended for the now 15X7 Rim? Couldn't find 235/70-15 in WSW except Vitour sold in Long Beach CA:

https://www.performanceplustire.com/tires-for-sale/vitour-tires/galaxy-r1-whitewall/ts:235-70-15:ty:Tire/

 

Could you post the link that shows how to convert 15” wheels to 17” wheels. This I have to see.

[Turbinator]

Here is an 895 in satin black.

[XframeFX]

On 10/13/2023 at 10:24 AM, RivNut said:

Could you post the link that shows how to convert 15” wheels to 17” wheels. This I have to see.

Link to ROA Tech Tips by fellow Member in WI.

Quite the project but a quality finished piece. Not sure if 17" tires can be had in a WSW.

Title: "Build a Larger Rallye Wheel"

https://rivowners.org/members-only/Tech/larger_rallye_wheel.html

17" Wheel for 275/55-17 which would be an oversize tire for 1st Gen Riviera's at 28.9" overall diameter:

[Turbinator]

Here is an 895 with customer requested black gloss. Applying a powder coat the applying black epoxy paint will give the roadwheel good protection.