Does anyone have any experience with this? I am thinking about using an epoxy product for golf club soleplates to fill some of the curb rash on the virgos prior to taking them to the body shop for painting. All pros and cons are appreciated.

Jeff

Any epoxy product (JB Weld comes to mind) that dries hard would work in filling in rash. Tape can be used as a guide to keep it in place while drying.

On the flip side, if the rash isn't that bad, you file the rash down. The rims are soft and easy to smooth out.

-- Kane ... who's smoothed about a dozen different rims in this method.
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Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40

I do not think a filler will work on the bead because a tire mounting machine would wreck it. Interior dings can and should be filled. Auto paint stores carry aluminum filler for this purpose. A good epoxy primer also tends to fill fine surface scratches. For curb rash at the bead, and air grinder followed by 400 grit wet dry works if the rash is not too severe. But it is not difficult to spray them yourself, any auto paint store can match Volov 130 silver metallic. Probably not worth setting up for less than 3 sets of Virgos though. I have done a couple dozen sets of Virgos, Dracos, Novas and one set of Hydras. Also paint solvents are toxic to some extent and paint strippers are lethal if not handles correctly.

The old-style of mounting and dismounting do contact, but most tire shops nowadays have tire mounters that do not contact the rim bead at all. It's a liability thing when you'd have to buy a whole new set of rims for a customer because you scratched their $2k+ chrome rims.

And still no need for a grinder. A metal file works.

-- Kane
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Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40

Air grinder. Much faster.

Kane,

Thanks for the input. I did indeed use the file, but there was a little more there than I was comfortable filing. The epoxy product is designed for aluminum, so after advice, I feel fairly comfortable with this. Once they are finished, I will post a picture. On another note, do you know if the stickers that Volvo put on the inside of the virgos are still available anywhere? It's really not a big deal, but I thought it might be a nice touch to have those on all the rims that tell tire guys that you mount/dismount the rims in reverse. The original part # was 1273154, but the local dealer finds no information on that at all.

Jeff

I wouldn't fret the sticker, since you can't see the sticker once a tire is mounted anyways. You'll just have to advise 'em up front ... or let them learn the hard way and have 'em buy you brand new rims. :)

Of more concern are the feet on the machine ... all 5 of the Virgo's I have have imprints of where the wheels were clamped when they were mounted. Make sure that whomever is handling 'em to have rubber pads on the clamps.

-- Kane
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Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40

Heya Kane,

The Corona's are made from the same compound as the Virgos, right? Ergo, the ghetto special (metal file + 400 grit + 2$ rattlecan) should work just fine on them, right?

-Forest

Yes, that'll work. At least it did for my sets.

Naturally, it's not as good as a full on blast, nor as good as one that has been sanded/stripped, nor as good as one that has at least been scuffed, but it still passes the 5-feet test, and the amount of labor needed is very minimal.

-- Kane ... and if it still doesn't come out sastifactorily, the other methods are still available to use.
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Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40