Well,  I’ve started the restoration of five, original Porsche 356 wheels. Thanks again to my buddy Dave for sourcing these.

Pre-Restoration

They’re actually in better shape than they look.  It appears that these wheels sat for a number of years, because they had the much older style of valve stems and wheel weights.

After Sandblasting, Back, Front and Side

I LOVE getting parts back from the sandblaster! So clean and fresh, ready for round 2 in their lives. I made sure to only handle the wheels with gloves, so as not to get any oil from my hands into the metal, which could revist me after their painted.

The Details (In Bare Metal)

Manufactured in July 1960. 4 wheels were made in 1960, 1 in 1961. I will use the 1961 wheel for a spare.

Wheel size is 4.5 inches by 15 inches.

Part number 1585

Original manufacturer for Porsche was Lemmerz.

More wheel manufacturer details, containing all of the info. above in one place, on the inside of the rim.

Damage

Overall, the wheels are in good shape. A little bit of cosmetic damage to the rim lip was found on 3 wheels. I say cosmetic because it didn’t make the rim out of round, but was more of the edge of the lip. Further, there were very few weights on the wheels which is often a sign that they are not beat up. We’ll see when they make it to the wheel balancing shop.

I addressed the lip issue with a hammer and a file.

Each rim has 5 hub cap clips, totaling 25. 5 clips are broken. I thought long and hard about removing all of the clips for a cleaner look, but decided to go with running the clips for a racier look. Plus, if I decide to eventually sell them, there will be more potential buyers in the 356 crowd. I will not be running hub caps.

More on repairing the broken clips in a future installment.

Prepping for Primer

After some light sanding here and there, the wheels were thoroughly cleaned and allowed to dry.

In Primer, Back and Front

I’m happy with the results so far, and the rims look 100x better. There are still a few things before I shoot the wheels in the original Wurth silver paint. Stay tuned…

Cheers,

John