Re: (LloydDobler)
Quote, originally posted by LloydDobler » |
How I've seen it done without welding, is to get some large hat bushings (like what is commonly in aluminum wheels, only larger) and just bore a much larger hole right on the bolt pattern you want. It wipes out most or all of the old hole, then you just pound the bushings in and you have a strong and safe modification to the wheel. Welds would worry me, personally. |
Care to share a picture of that? Anything I'm envisioning looks like elephantitis of the (lug) nuts.
Maybe I'm just not seeing it straight in my mind, but I can't imagine how that is safer than a weld which should, if done properly, yield a solid piece of metal that is as structurally sound as the original billet. It seems like you're suggesting that there should or could be lobsided holes (portions of which are unfilled and, therefore, unsupported - aka, weaker) in the center of the rim. It was AGES ago but I think Ronal did this to someone's rims (pics were on the site at one point) much to the dismay of the buyer.
How is a bushing that is pounded into a rim (2 pieces of metal) stronger than a weld (1 piece of metal)?
-Eric
P.S. Call it a "project" or whatever this whole thing strikes me as silly. You want to trust welds/bushings/Bubblicious on a Swiss cheese wheel center with the constant stresses of 295tq (from the engine) PLUS cornering forces? I don't care how much you heat and melt the cheese, you're still not going to reproduce a factory spec.
Just my uninformed $.02...and FWIW, I found similar responses on the E30 sites that I checked since I couldn't imagine anyone suggesting this was a good idea.
Modified by Sue Esponte at 4:10 PM 3-31-2009