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restojohnny
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Joined: February 13, 2004
Posts: 1994
Location: SPLITSVILLE , SON !!!!
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 Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Jake Martinez wrote: |
| where do you find the 4 inch barrels? |
you use stock 4 lug outters 
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EMPI KICK'S ASS EMPI KICK'S ASS
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Jake Martinez wrote: |
| where do you find the 4 inch barrels? |
That's the question of the month.
Here's what I got so far.
Furthest 5.5
Middle 4.5
Nearest (stock smoothie stamped 4/58 ) looks like 1/2 inch narrower than the 4.5 in the middle to me.
I looked at all of thevwcollector's original Sprints including his 4". There are actually different barrels depending on when they were made as well.
Cool stuff.
I learned a whole bunch about the barrels on Sprint stars this past weekend that I had no idea about. I definitely know which ones to give preference to in a pile though!
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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MIL-C-14538C
...not the fake "Black Chrome" applied by 99.9% of the shops out there like this from CalChrome:
Shooting for some straight up NASA optics coating.
Donations accepted! 
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Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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new painted (thank god) 5 1/2 inch barrels located for the rear.
Shipping delay to follow.
Hunting for a 4" center for the spare up front now and 5 original center caps straight enough to refinish.
No progress expected for at least a couple weeks now.
I'm betting the center caps are going to be the hardest part of this whole process. Nobody repops one that matches the originals, and those are not easy (cheap) to come by.
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69 Jim
Samba Member
Joined: September 27, 2004
Posts: 6629
Location: Chickengeorge's Neighbor
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| 55reasons wrote: |
new painted (thank god) 5 1/2 inch barrels located for the rear.
Shipping delay to follow.
Hunting for a 4" center for the spare up front now and 5 original center caps straight enough to refinish.
No progress expected for at least a couple weeks now.
I'm betting the center caps are going to be the hardest part of this whole process. Nobody repops one that matches the originals, and those are not easy (cheap) to come by. |
Have you seen these?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=104152 |
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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Yep. Check out the lip around where the decal goes compared to the originals.
Originals are rounded, those are squared off and flat.
See below:
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sprintstar.com
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Joined: July 17, 2004
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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what about these ?
 [/img] |
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69 Jim
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Posts: 6629
Location: Chickengeorge's Neighbor
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| sprintstar.com wrote: |
what about these ?
[/img] |
I thought those were the ones I posted. I run them on my 4 lug restored wheels. |
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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Better.
I like the set screw security idea, but the top lip is still subdued compared to the original.
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sprintstar.com
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Joined: July 17, 2004
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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ohh i though they were way off... 
with billet you can't have that sharp cut at the ridge of the cap, but I have seen, and owned just about every sprintstar center cap from around the globe
and these are the best reproduction to date, even better then the stamped tin ones that come with the BBT reproductions which should be perfect considering the construction process ( wheels too ) but then they aren't  |
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restojohnny
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Joined: February 13, 2004
Posts: 1994
Location: SPLITSVILLE , SON !!!!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:30 pm Post subject: |
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There's only one sprint star center cap everything else is just a cheap re-pop best stick to real caps since you got REAL WHEELS  Nice ones are out there I know I buy them ALL the time just got to pull that trigger when they show up 
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EMPI KICK'S ASS EMPI KICK'S ASS
**I HEARD "RUST IS COOL ROT IS NOT" ? **
**SURE I'LL SELL IT TO YOU : ) **
**IF YOU DON'T KNOW JOHNNY...YOU DON'T KNOW JACK !!!!!**
**WANTED: Drivers side huls type 3 recliner**
O.G. POMONA VULTURE
$$ SWAPMEET MAFIA $
53 LHD, LH cargo door standard kombi
54 Pre-A Porsche
47 split beetle MANG !!!
67 euro squareback
Wanted: Astro wheel's So "STAY OUTTA MY BACKYARD !!! " |
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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Restojohnny, I totally agree.
Some are closer than others, but there is no confusion among the repos with the originals.
I appreciate the effort companies put into their attempts for the sake of the masses, but there's almost no chance that I would run fake caps that are obvious fakes on a set of wheels that will consume thousands of dollars in refinishing and repair to get back on the road the way I want them.
In one hand it's a shame to apply a non standard finish to an original cap, but when you're the one on the hook, spending the time and money just to end up with poor quality reproduction caps doesn't make any sense.
Inevitably people will take exception to critiques of their product, but nobody should ever assume that a reproduction part can't be differentiated from an original one. The same goes for the reproduction wheels themselves (obvious differences), steering wheels, sheet metal, Albert mirrors, badges, buttons, etc.
The purpose of this thread is educational just as much for myself as well as the others who might hit the search button some day before taking on the same project.
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| sprintstar.com wrote: |
ohh i though they were way off...
with billet you can't have that sharp cut at the ridge of the cap, but I have seen, and owned just about every sprintstar center cap from around the globe
and these are the best reproduction to date, even better then the stamped tin ones that come with the BBT reproductions which should be perfect considering the construction process ( wheels too ) but then they aren't |
I thought the first ones I posted as away off were the ones that come with the Flat4 aluminum sprint star wheels and the ones you posted up were the metal ones made in the UK.
The caps that came with the Flat4 wheels I bought years ago are chromed plastic and look exactly like the ones in my post.
The ones you posted look a little better but the distortion in the chrome caused by poor base finish is a dead ringer.
Like restojohnny said, there is only one cap. (well maybe two if you have seen the ones with the wave in the back side from them not getting turned and trimmed after getting stamped.
I didn't say they were horrible. Less than 1% of the population even knows what a Sprint Star is, let alone what a correct center cap is for what wheel. Those repo's will work just fine for the other 99% of the World population and probably more than 70% of the even smaller VW portion of that culture. The significance of the struggle for notoriety of something as important as an anthill in comparison to the surface area of the Earth is moot.
There's no replacement for original, never has been, never will be.
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sprintstar.com
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Joined: July 17, 2004
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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| it boils down to price ... repro for $129 a set of 4... where restored originals are $350-$400 depending on the chrome shop you use and how good or bad the caps are you start with... |
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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Price is always a factor.
Some projects more than others.
True black chrome estimates are running in the neighborhood of 350 - 400 per wheel, so at the end of the day, after barrel replacement, de-chroming of OG centers and polishing of bare steel before copper, polish, another dip in copper, polished to high luster, then two coats of nickel before the alloy top finish, the money spent for the original center caps starts to seem rather insignificant.
....but that's because a. I've been daydreaming about this project for a long time, and b. because I'm stubborn.
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neil68
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Joined: March 17, 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:07 pm Post subject: EMPI Sprintstars |
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Sometimes I see wheel caps with the EMPI globe sticker...I believe that this is incorrect. I have a set of original '68 EMPI Lemmerz 4-bolt Sprintstars.
In researching, it became evident that the EMPI GT sticker is correct. Here's a photo of mine:
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:41 pm Post subject: Re: EMPI Sprintstars |
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| neil68 wrote: |
Sometimes I see wheel caps with the EMPI globe sticker...I believe that this is incorrect. I have a set of original '68 EMPI Lemmerz 4-bolt Sprintstars.
In researching, it became evident that the EMPI GT sticker is correct. Here's a photo of mine:
|
Correct cap and decal:
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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Progress has been slow.
CIP1 has not replied to any of the emails I have sent them regarding some parts I need. That's really getting annoying. The only thing worse than bad service is just ignoring customer emails and requests. Simple ones like "is there an ETA for this part to be back in stock?".
One of the lessons already learned is that the Lemmerz Sprints come apart way easier than a stock VW wheel.
Welds totally gone clean from a 4" stocker and she's still holding on for dear life.
The next step is to use a stock 4lug drum on the hydraulic press to convince it to come out.
...it's a lot easier to get the center out without damage than it is to do the same without damage to the barrel it seems.
slow and steady.
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restojohnny
Samba Member
Joined: February 13, 2004
Posts: 1994
Location: SPLITSVILLE , SON !!!!
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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I just lay the rim on a 5 gallon bucket put a 2x4 across the middle of the outter and wack that shiat out of there and it's out in a jif
_________________
EMPI KICK'S ASS EMPI KICK'S ASS
**I HEARD "RUST IS COOL ROT IS NOT" ? **
**SURE I'LL SELL IT TO YOU : ) **
**IF YOU DON'T KNOW JOHNNY...YOU DON'T KNOW JACK !!!!!**
**WANTED: Drivers side huls type 3 recliner**
O.G. POMONA VULTURE
$$ SWAPMEET MAFIA $
53 LHD, LH cargo door standard kombi
54 Pre-A Porsche
47 split beetle MANG !!!
67 euro squareback
Wanted: Astro wheel's So "STAY OUTTA MY BACKYARD !!! " |
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55reasons
Samba Swamp Cooler
Joined: December 31, 2003
Posts: 991
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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| restojohnny wrote: |
| I just lay the rim on a 5 gallon bucket put a 2x4 across the middle of the outter and wack that shiat out of there and it's out in a jif |
I'll try it!
Thanks for the tip!
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