DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Oh yes sir Mr Strickland.

Nothing to report other than calling in at the anodisers today to find they haven’t had chance to do the wheels yet.
Common story really, I can’t find any business these days that keep their word when it comes to timings or deadlines.
They’ve assured me that they’ll be done for the end of the week so we’ll have to wait and see.
A few odds and sods turned up in the post including some 32mm venturi’s to swap out the 28mm ones in the carbs in my quest to get them perfectly matched to the 2 litre.
Kev’ll be pleased also as I painted the backs of the Porsche script securing nuts, satin black, this evening to make them less obvious in a flash photo.

But they aren't the right nuts though Darren so Kev won't be pleased

ssssssushhhh Stuart, They came from Porsche and are the superceded version of securing nuts

This morning I loaded up the 5 x Michelin tyres and took them into work. I called the anodisers this morning to see if the wheels were ready to pick up at lunchtime. The plan was to take them straight over in my lunchbreak to get the tyres fitted.
Unfortunately they were still in the tank as they hadn’t gone in until this morning.
I eventually got to collect them late this afternoon.
It was quite a surprise to see them at the end of this long process. The wheels had “toned down” massively from the highly polished finish they arrived with to what I can only describe as a dull satin. Apart from all the kerb marks, corrosion on the rear, chips and scratches (that have all been removed now) the wheels don’t look at all like they’ve been refurbished.
Part of me quite liked the very chrome-shiny look before anodising and is sorry to see it lost, but thinking long and hard about what I see before me now, I’ve achieved the goal I wanted….the fact that they look like they haven’t been refurbished at all.

The only down side today is that by the time I’d dropped them off at the tyre fitters it was too late today for them to fit the tyres.

No pics?!

I left my camera at home Stuart, wasn't expecting to come home today without the wheels with tyres fitted. I really wanted to fit them on the car this weekend but will have to wait now until Monday when the tyre fitters are open to hopefully pick them up and take some pictures for you.

Today I did a little fettling on the 914 (after working on my sons car and my Audi).
In anticipation for the wheels arriving home with tyres on, I wound back the track rod arm lock nuts on both ends and unscrewed the link rod. Everything got a good coat of copper grease and re-assembled. I'll need to get the tracking done when the car goes in for MOT so today's exercise was to ensure it can be done with the lightest of touch and little effort at the garage.
I also went around and under the car with a fine tooth comb and a tiny brush touching in a few bits and bobs.
With any luck I'll get the wheels back tomorrow.

Today I finally got the wheels home with tyres fitted.

Not that it all went to plan, that is…..I telephoned the tyre fitters this morning and they said they’d be done for 5pm today. This scuppered the planned lunchtime pick up, so I worked through and left half an hour early.
After fighting through the rush hour traffic I arrived at the garage to find my wheels exactly where I’d left them and my tyres still banded up in a pile, exactly where I’d left them too.
Returning again tomorrow was not an easy option so diplomatically I asked them to work past 5:30pm and fit the tyres & balance.
So arriving home this evening after 7pm in the miserable dark & rain I carefully placed the wheels in my No1 heated & dehumidified posh garage to spend the night.
As promised I’ve taken a few photo’s of the finished wheels.
Please excuse the tyres, they’re covered in that soapy stuff used to fit them still and soapy dirty fingerprints around the holes in the alloys from the fitters (and me) lifting the wheels around. I was going to wash them off but in the hammering rain and darkness outside I’ll leave it until the morning when I can see to do a better job.
As explained on Friday, I was quite taken aback on how they’ve come out after the clear anodising. With the test meter we measured consistently North of 20 microns so they are far, far better protected than they were new.
At first sight I thought they looked as if they hadn’t been refurbished at all, which was a little disappointing considering all the effort. Then the penny dropped….That’s because I have followed the original processes to a T, so they should look like this.
So to further talk myself into this theory and support the synopsis I started to google old factory pictures (or what I thought to be old). Kev’s post on page 40 of this thread helped too.
For some reason I’d gotten it in my mind that there was a stark contrast in light and dark between the polished and un polished surfaces (as in the photo of them in the back off my van leaving the polishers) but in reality it is all about how light hits the wheel, after all its all the same alloy, just a contrast between a smooth and textured surface.
Bingo! In some light and angles the wheels look all one shade and in others the texture strikes a contrast.
So after much ado (and waffle) here’s what all 5 wheels looked like tonight under the light of my No1 garage, seemingly one shade….



When laid flat and with the camera at an angle so the light hits the wheel in the horizontal you get the contrast.



So that’s hopefully (an OCD as best as you’ll get in 2015) refurbishment of the 914 Fuchs wheel……I tentatively throw down the gauntlet.

You win!!! They look great

Yep, you win. If you run out of things to do in 2016, I have a set that need a refurb

Very imressed, and the tiled floor!

They look fab!

SoT but does anyone know of these were every offered with black painted rough bits? Mine are like that (1975) and I see lots of pictures of them like that too.

As far as I understand Jonny...No.
The "replica" aftermarket copies of these Fuch seem to be mainly painted between the spokes.
But I would imagine that yours most probably are the choice of a PO (or even maybe a dealership) to paint the wheel in a homage to the 911 Fuch.
Kev will know

I prefer the whitewalls!

C>

Those wheels look stunning