SSR Mesh (how do you take the mesh out?)

[chaRwie]

Just got my mesh....wanting to paint the insert. I should talk to 741, but is there anyone else that knows how they come out??? I am thinking they need to be pressed out as I have taken all the bolts out...but no cigar. Any other suggestions? or should I get it done by a pro??

These are the rims in question:

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/4/8/4/3/170046.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/4/8/4/3/170047.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/4/5/2/22810.jpg

[Ade_Mc]

have you remove the tyres?
are these a 3 piece rim?
may need to pire them apart?

[djscheppy]

the mesh has small allan key bolts on each end take all thes out and then the centre part comes out

[Konakid]

Maybe needs a bit of persuasion with a rubber mallet?

[works510]

20 allen key bolts,
either rubber mallet as said above, or just put the rim on the floor, with the face side down, then kick the centre out.
chuck norris style, works for me

[chaRwie]

haha ok i will get my ninja kicks on and roundhouse them out

[Ksevn-T]

Nah, Id say the mighty "doorkick" SWAT styles!!!!

[blair]

roundhouse will fuck up your shin...

[johl]

real men headbutt shit

[Todd]

i slap the centres out with my balls of steel.

[hatzo]

ive done some pretty much the same

get a rubber mallet and flog the shit out of it and itll pop

putting it back in is trickier cause you have to get it perfectly straight

use 4 opposite bolts to pull it in even

[ae71]

what about welded 3 piece??

can you get the welded part machined off so they can be separated?

[Oly AE86]

I used a lump of timber on end and large hammer on the floor to separate my 2 piece SSR Meshies, quite a mission as they were very tight.

I believe the "3" piece welded which is pretty much a 2 piece wheel can be machined/grinded and then separated. This is the process performed when wheels are "widened" when a wider outer section is then welded on.

[chaRwie]

hey boys I ended up with a piece of wood and mallet knocked them out, sprayed em, then screwed them back in one screw by one to pull it in.....this is what they turned out like:

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/4/5/2/22812.jpg

[Sherlock]

F-ing Shmick!

I thought you had to torque the bolts when putting them back in? Or am I trippin...

[chaRwie]

i just put them in one buy one and pulled the mesh in, i didnt do the bolts up all the way because it wouldn't work. I put one in far enough so I could thread the next one to it, then went around and did that until all were super tight. I took me about an hour a wheel......sober saturday 7am mornings FTW!!!

[Gullie]

if you want to reverse them you just put them in backwards, and do exactly the same?
or can you only reverse certain rims?

[chaRwie]

nah man if your thinkin bout gettin positive offset mesh cheap and flipping them to get massive negative offset its not a good idea as other people will tell you. The rim of the wheel would be set up for a specific offset and if you totally reversed it, it would put massive strain on not only the rim, but also your stud bolts. Fuk buyin cheap pos offset, save some cash like me and buy neg

[Gullie]

well they are ssr reverse mesh with 7+ offset
that I'm thinkin about buying
if i reversed them would it only make it -7 then?
its not like I'm reversing +30's

[amulday]

Damn Hayden they came up looking real shmick, Looks like your 86' is coming together nicely.

[Fozz]

wow they look

what colour paint did u use

spray cans?

[samc]

That looks mint! Good work man. I'm also keen to know what paint you used. I'm going to do this to a couple of pairs i have. Do you have any other tips besides the ones in this thread?

[chapl]

what did you use to polish the lip???

[chaRwie]

fozz, samc. I went down the the hardware store and brought some decent primer, and heavy duty ''gold' paint and some paint stripper. Used the stripper to get all the old crap off and couple of coats of primer and then 3-4 coats of the gold, went through 2 and abit cans of gold paint. only other tip is, if you have air in the tyres...let it out lol, alot less pressure on the rim.


Chapl: I gave it a light buff with a polising wheel, but mostly used mothers rim polish, couple of goes with that and they cam up pretty good

[samc]

thanks for that haydenzz. i was thinking of sand blasting mine rather than paint stripper. I will remember the paint though.

Cheers

-Sam

[chaRwie]

yea I would reccommend sandblasting rather than what I did, I could have but I fixed mine up over a friday/sat morning session, so i could have them ready for the sunday to be put on. but they have turned out great for the quick job I did

[Fozz]

cheers man I'm gonna try that on my rims soon

[samc]

^ like wise.

[works510]

hayden, damn I shold have had a look at these wheels when your were around, but fuck i was pretty dazed still.
Damn there nice!

[balistic]

Just a thought - to remove the centres without bashing them, as long as there are no tyres on them you could heat the outer rim with a gas torch to expand it and the centre would probably drop out. Basically the opposite to how they make the welded 2 piece rims :2thumbs:

[Oly AE86]

Back on the topic of the restore process itself, so people don't make the same mistakes I did.

I sand blasted the centers to remove all the old paint and a little corrosion from age. It took ages as the paint is pretty baked on after 15+ years of driving, but was good surface for painting. Spend a good 3 hours at work on a sunday afternoon making sure all the paint was gone from the little diamonds in the middle. :confused:

Then had the centers powder coated while the rims themselves where polished by a wheel repairer. I initially bought some HD wheel paint, but because the metal was bare the paint easliy chipped, and made me angry. So I sandblasted them again, and proceeded to the powdercoater. If you are painting onto a bare metal, it is reccomended to spray an etch acid or similar especially onto an alloy so the paint can get some bite.

I then got some new Stainless bolts and re-assembled the same as Hayden, one bolt at a time on opposite sides, until the whole centre was in.

[attachment=26052:restoration3.JPG]

[samc]

that look fresh as dude (y). so how much did your way roughly cost (powder coat and for etch acid)?

[superbmobile]

if you use the etch primer make sure that you don't paint the top coat with an acrylic colour because it will not stick to the etch primer as it is enamel. You have to use a enamel colour or 2pac top coat.

[Oly AE86]

Powdercoating was $40 per wheel, Polishing of lips was $60 per wheel.

[samc]

^sweet :). thanks for that fellas.

[Whip]

Bit off-topic but does anyone know how much it would cost to get a bent wheel repaired? And get gutter rash repaired and so on.

I can get some picks up of my wheels if that helps.

[samc]

um i guess it depends on the extent of the damage i guess. i had a bent rim and it was going to be about anywhere from 80-120. and gutter rash was $40 per wheel. this was at tingle tyres in wynnum though. if your in brissy i would try Wilsons wheel works. i hear they're the shit!

[Saikou]

dude that looks sick.

[ghetto ke]

hi guys sorry it may be late for some but couple of things to mention, sandblasting castings i.e. the mesh centre is not the best way to go. this can open the surface to porosity in the casting and with fatigue lead to cracks propogating :o if these microscopic flaws are painted over you may not notice until it's too late. bead blasting would be a better option to remove the old paint, but may not get into all the nooks and crannys of the mesh.
paint stripper and wirebrush is better, although more time consuming (use goggles and gloves people B) ) or dipping them in a solvent bath that doesn't effect the alloy is best, but remember to thoroughly rinse and neautralise all solvent/paint stripper after or else primer/paint will not adhear well and flake off. Coat center in etch primer as soon as possible if not immediately after they have been stripped, as the alloy will oxidise quickly in air.
as for painting 2-pac or powder-coating will give the most durable finish depending on colour you're after. for basic colours powder coating is cheaper and you can get some metallic finishes too, if you have a specific colour in mind or are mates with a spray painter I'd say go 2-pac. Also try not to get to much paint on the face that fits flush against the rim and the tabs that go inbetween the rims (you know what I mean?) it will make putting them together a lot harder!!!
oh back tracking, to get the centers out undo all bolts, should be able to use allen key and ratchet with extension, squirt WD-40 CRC or rust-eaze for stubborn nuts. place rim face down on a level surface (prefferably a rug or board so you don't damage the edge of the rim or center when it pops out) and use some gentle persuasion from a knockometer (i.e. hammer) and a block of wood 2x4 ought to do the trick. they are pressed in tightly so work your way around trying to spread the load evenly.
to get the centers back in line up bolt holes and could be a pressed in, or if you don't have access to a large press, use 4-5 bolts spread around to slowly wind them in evenly, as mentioned tightening across in a star pattern. NEW bolts and nuts are highly recommended and torquing them evenly to 2 N/m for 8mm bolts or 1.8 N/m for 6mm (I think I have the imperial equivalent written down somewhere... 1/4" bolts - 15 ft/lbs and 5/16" bolts - 20 ft/lbs. but also depends the size, grade of bolts and how many around the rim 6,8,10,20 etc) and Loctite threadlock would be a good idea, especially if you don't have a torque wrench, so long as you tighten them all evenly - believe me after tightening half the 80 bolts you will be tired so double check :P

[hachirusto]

Did this the otherday and the block of wood and hammer worked well getting the center out , got a quick question has anyone done this to a simmons wheel before , is it the same can they be sperated with the tyre still on, After doing the meshi thought id do it to the wheels on my car to give them a clean up

[slydar]

nah, theyre pretty 3pc, you ought to be carefull, if you do it with them inflated you could get seriously injured. pulling simmons apart at all those is apparently a bad idea, they need to get rebalanced or something? just something ive heard..

[hachirusto]

hmm yea been trying to read up on it but there is not much on the net, everywhere has said to take them to a simmons restorer, which I rather not as I want to just spray the centers , would have liked to have done it properly but will just spray them and tape them up

[marvis]

Sweet could you do this to a mk3? And flip it also?

[ae71]

hahah^^ no you can't!

the centre is sandwiched between the two halfs and welded. the meshies have the centre bolted to the front of the outters

id do this to my starsharks if if you could.