TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:36 pm

In restoring some Rivieras I bought used recently, after using aircraft stripper (cheap thrill :lol: ) I found that the outer and inner rims were smooth, and the spokes were very rough. I would like to go fully polished but the spokes were obviously made to look different from the smoother inner and outer rings.
Looking at pics on some threads, I noticed mine do not have the raised rectangle on the spokes. I am starting to think these are aftermarket.

Any thoughts?

what have you seen done instead of a full polish??

I tried to insert a pic through the gallery, but my "image was too big or corrupted"

Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:05 am

You can still polish them, you'll just need to sand them first. I Sanded and polished one and then lost interest -plus, I'm lazy as hell. I don't remember the grits I used, but I started with something course and the last one I used was a wet paper that left the wheel almost looking polished. If you have any patience at all, I'd do that. You would have to sand them to chrome them if you wanted to go that way. Otherwise, raw or painted are your only other options.

Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:05 am

I would think a Chrome Shop could polish them out w/buffing wheels.

Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:14 pm

thanks for your help! I finally figured out how to place a picture.
Man, That seems like it would take a heck of a lot of sanding. Like you, I don't have that sort of patience. A shop would probably do it, but I'm trying to not spend a lot of cash.[img]

Did the "real" Riv's with the elevated rectangle come smooth or did people sand them down as well??[/img]

Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:17 pm

Yay! Something I know about!

The ORIGINAL Rivis looked a lot like yours.... curved spokes, and NO rectangle in the center. If yours aren't original, they're a VERY close match to them....

As for getting them sanded/polished, I'm sure a shop can do whatever masking is required, to keep what you want... Mine are aftermarket, so they have the rectangle, and I just had the whole thing polished.

Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:17 pm

Skeeter, thanks for the news! I'm thinkn your right. I googled and found kinkymickshappywheelshack.com a vintage VW wheel site and there were my wheels! What a find!!

Now I guess I'll have to do a better job on the resto. In light of this news, I think I'll polish the inner and outer rims, and powder coat, or rattle-can the spokes a silverish color.

If anyone has any pics of original Riv's I'd love to see them.

Sun Feb 10, 2008 3:37 pm

I'd suggest against anything rattle-can on those rims... Best thing, IMHO, is to leave them exactly the way you bought them... polish them, maybe, but I wouldn't do anything more than that.... If you ever watch the Antiques Roadshow, the worst thing people do to their stuff is alter the appearance...

Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:19 am

Things are cheap now~a~days & if you build it for the Antiques Roadshow, you might miss alot in life, IMHO. Build it how you want it, (there are always those barn finds for the purists)

Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:29 am

Andrij wrote: Things are cheap now~a~days & if you build it for the Antiques Roadshow, you might miss alot in life, IMHO. Build it how you want it, (there are always those barn finds for the purists)

Well stated! Amen brother!

You can also media blast the rims to clean and give them a mat finish too....great for painting them.....but if you use sand "USE A QUALITY MASK"!

Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:21 pm

buggin'forfun wrote: thanks for your help! I finally figured out how to place a picture.
Man, That seems like it would take a heck of a lot of sanding. Like you, I don't have that sort of patience. A shop would probably do it, but I'm trying to not spend a lot of cash.[img]

Did the "real" Riv's with the elevated rectangle come smooth or did people sand them down as well??[/img]

that is a Formula V wheel offered by VW dealers. the riviera wheels were aftermarket copies of this wheel. and since there have been copies of copies and more copies of copies. the formula V wheel is slightly lighter than a riviera

Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:11 am

john7 wrote: buggin'forfun wrote: thanks for your help! I finally figured out how to place a picture.
Man, That seems like it would take a heck of a lot of sanding. Like you, I don't have that sort of patience. A shop would probably do it, but I'm trying to not spend a lot of cash.[img]

Did the "real" Riv's with the elevated rectangle come smooth or did people sand them down as well??[/img]

that is a Formula V wheel offered by VW dealers. the riviera wheels were aftermarket copies of this wheel. and since there have been copies of copies and more copies of copies. the formula V wheel is slightly lighter than a riviera
This is a very good site for these rims: http://www.type-14.com/wheels01.htm
Yes either 'Formula Vee' or 'G.T. Mag Type' rims. They are not Rivieras - rivs are aftermarket and were named after the dealership that helped develop these rims (Riviera Motors in Beaverton Oregon).
These are the thin lip version (what you have) that came on the two front tires of my T3. Initially I thought someone had sanded off the centers from a set of rivieras (fortunately I was incorrect).

These are a wide lip version

I've been slowly sanding down the wide lips to get them smooth on the spokes. I'll powdercoat them silver when I'm finished.

Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:01 am

I have a set of Formula V wheels that came with my 1974 Sun Bug convertible. Does anyone know what years these wheels were available as options? Would they be correct for my Sun Bug? I love the look of these whells and will keep them on the car, but I am just curious of what years they were available. Also, does anyone know where I can get replacement center caps?

Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:59 pm

I had a set of those (thin lip riv's) that I polished up. I did a black paint detail around the edge of the spokes sorta like a Porsche alloy. many many moons ago.

I used a scotch brite pad on a grinder to take down the rough casting surface on the spokes and then used a D.A. sander (aero orbital) to sand finer and finer grits till I could buff them with a die grinder cotton buffs and black rouge.

they weren't perfect but my own labour is free, they looked awesome at 35 mph.

I've been stripping, sanding and polishing the lips on a set of rims this week and it's a shit ton of work though. I'd forgot how much !
what I'm working on now seems alot harder alloy than those old rivs.

Wed Dec 30, 2009 4:43 pm

Chris74 wrote: I have a set of Formula V wheels that came with my 1974 Sun Bug convertible. Does anyone know what years these wheels were available as options? Would they be correct for my Sun Bug? I love the look of these whells and will keep them on the car, but I am just curious of what years they were available. Also, does anyone know where I can get replacement center caps?
best i can tell they started in 71. This is from a 71 T3 USA/Canada brochure for dealer options. These look like thin lips to me.

This is a sales brochure from a 71 super beetle showing dealer-only options - notice the rim looks.... odd.

This is out of a 73 VW Accessory Catalog

I don't know if they sold them in 74 or not. If they did they could have upgraded to them from the dealer. I'll look through the literature on the site later tonight and see if I can find more info.

Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:00 pm

dude ! those are some sweet adds ! man I do not dig the riv hubcap :lol:
I see those on the street now and then.

Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:26 pm

I found my riv's for sale here on the Samba 15 years after I sold the car they were on. they were in Oregon and I'm in Seattle.
maybe I shoulda bought them back ? :?

Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:36 am

Crankey wrote: I found my riv's for sale here on the Samba 15 years after I sold the car they were on. they were in Oregon and I'm in Seattle.
maybe I shoulda bought them back ? :?
For the life I me I couldn't picture it, but that looks pretty cool.

Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:08 am

Thanks Dirtsandwich. I appriciate you looking. I love the look of the rims and plan on keeping them on my Sun Bug. Now I just need to put some elbow grease into cleaning and polishing them.

Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:00 pm

Early Riverias large center hole with WBC-1 and custom adapter that Jon at Topline made:

Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:18 pm

Does anyone know what style of lug nuts were originally used with these rims? Also, what size would they be?