So I bought a set of Rays Texan Shotgun wheels



I knew going in that these would need some repair/restoration. The lips need to be re-cleared and have some oxidation. The chrome centers have some scuffs, pits, and a couple of sports of bubling. Additionally, the chromed plastic centercaps are fading a bit, too.

Can anyone recommend a good wheel restoration/repair shop in the PNW? The closer to Portland, the better, but I am willing to drive as far as Seattle or Eugene (perhaps farther) to get these in better shape.

 

Custom Wheel repair re machined and re-cleared all 4 lips on my old 18's, and straightened all 4 as well, plus fixed the one that was run into a curb hard (reason he sold the wheels), all for $300! I do not have his number anymore but can get it if interested. I think Dustin knew a place farther south though...

 

Looks like the same boat I'm in.

1st. question. Are they one peice or two?

If they are one peice, and you were thinking of having them rechromed, you will be in for a surprise. It cannot be done without splitting the rims. In other words, the shop will have to cut them apart, rechrome them and weld them back together.

Two peice will be an easy (but not cheap) fix.

My person opinion on clear coat on wheel lips, is it'a a bad idea. Once it's cleared (again), you will be stuck when more damage happens. I'm not talking the big curbage type stuff. I'm more talking about rock chips and such that happens to all cleared wheels.

If you leave the clear off the lip, you can maintain the looks of those lips forever (or however long you keep them) with a little 1500 grit sand paper, Mothers aluminum polish and my favorite Mothers power-ball.

If you cannot find a shop local for your plastic centers, DO NOT use M&M chroming out of cali. They redid my plastic centers. Initial costs estimate was suppose to be like 12.50 per center for the vacuum vapor deposition rechroming. But when they cleaned them up, they found that the OEM chroming was a done with a base metalic layer (or so they said). So the cost of having them done shot up to right at $50.00 per center cap. SO in essence I went from 50 for four caps to over 200 when s&h was added (both ways). They only do COD. And after all that, they didn't do such a smash up job.

So I guess the point of my long winded blurp on center caps, is you might find it cheaper to buy new from the manufacturer, than have them rechromed depending on how they applied the chrome.

If you don't mind a DIY and have the tools. Other than bends, a palm sander and one day you can have those wheels lips in top shape in no time at all. It's just a matter of feathering out blemishes and keeping the contour of the lip the same. The clear can be removed with any brush on paint stripper,

Other than that, there is two shops in the Eugene area that do wheel work. One shop is Precision Metal Polishing (pmpshine.com) 541-998-2103. This guy is out of Junction City and does good work from what I hear.

The other is a number I will have to search for. I will find it and post it up for ya.



ps.... I love those wheels....

 

I've had a number of folks recommend Tim Foster's Dependable Wheel Repair in Renton. I can't vouch for 'em personally, but they've got a good rep.

 

^^^^^^^^^

TIMS!!!!! I love those guys, they are the best and Tim himslef does a lot of the high end rim work. i.e. work, Rays, HRE, etc...

Great guy, great price, great work.

 

They are two-piece.

I'd love to be able to fix them myself. The centers will probably need to be rechromed. However, I'm bringing these to my dad's house this weekend to wash 'em and see how clean I can get them. I think the lips have some oxidation on them, but I can scrape it off with my fingernail.

Good to know.

These are pretty rare wheels; I doubt I could get centercaps for 'em. I could ontact Rays Engineering, I guess.

More good info!

Thanks; me too! I just want to get them refinshed so I can put them on the car.