I picked up a set of Torque Thrusts from another Hamber this week. One wheel has a crack that needs repaired, a couple have curb rash and one is corroded. 1. What special requirements do these wheels have as far as welding? Can I just Vee out the crack and TIG weld it like any other cast aluminum? Any recommendations on rod alloy? 2. To fix the curb rash, can it be welded and remachined or should I leave it alone and just file/grind/turn off the damage? Some is deep. 3. You can see the corrosion in the photo on the left. This is inside and outside the rim, on both edges of the rim, probably from sitting on the ground. Can I remove that chemically or by some other means? I'm reluctant to glassbead it and drive the corrosion deeper into the pores of the casting. Thanks for any help. I DID search before posting, came up with nothing after 8 searches...
I am not quailfied on the crack issue, but as far as blasting the pits, I have done so with well worn sand in a blast cabinet. It worked fine. The aluminum corrosion is softer than the base metal, so it cleans up perfect. (What i mean is, On steel, the rust layers seem to be harder than the base metal) A good friend had two complete sets of Ansen slots spun on a large lathe to clean the rash, and clean the tire bead seat areas. They looked perfect. It all depends how deep the rash is, if there is enough meat to machine it out completely.
It looks like it could be tig welded. Might have to heat it with a torch first to get a little heat into it. The other wheel looks like it will clean up with just a little time on the lathe or you might be able to file it down and then work it with sand paper to get the file marks out if you do not have access to a lathe. Good luck and post pictures of the repairs.
a couple of months ago i fixed the curb rash on some torque thrusts just by running the tig around, a little filler in one spot, the rest just flowed into a nice smooth bead, that crack should weld up fine.
I've seen them repair weld them and they cut out a small section to clean material as alum is porous and gets impurities in it.
In a pinch i've stick welded them with pretty good success. Vee it out and burn it in. If you cant weld it pretty... Weld it HOT!
heres a pic of my curb rash fix, both my wheels had a pretty good scruffing all the way around, i just remelted the edge with the tig and a little light sand and polish and this is what they look like.
Resurrecting an old thread instead of starting a new one here. Torque Thrust wheels are my absolute favorites. Bringing a TT or clone back from the dead can be done at home. Unlike chrome vintage wheels, which require plating if they're rusty. Now, I'm talking about making them look good with hand tools and elbow grease. We're not welding aluminum here. Only corrosion removal and cosmetic restoration. I'm hoping pros with skills beyond mine can chime in with tips and full scale 100% perfect wheels.
Here's my starting point. 15x8.5 Chevy pattern clones. No cap screws broken off and only minor curb rash. Score!
Cleanup and a spin on my homemade "potters wheel" showed me the corrosion on the worst one was deep. Only a little hand file work took out all but the deepest scratches in the rim area.
60 grit paper and lots of spinning cut the aluminum deep enough to get past spider web corrosion. Don't forget the back, and tire seat area. 100, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000 all the way up to 2000 grit. The human lathe is tired!
An unique solution, the potters wheel. Worth remembering. Those wheels buffed up just fine. Great score, and the effort expended surely must be gratifying in that your out of pocket expenses remain small.
I haven't seen much discussion (or photos) on the HAMB about the aluminum center caps that American used on their early five spokes........almost like people never heard of them. It may be because many of our younger members came on the scene after the metal caps had already been replaced with the plastic versions, they have become quite collectible. So, show them if you got them.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Denny brought up caps. There were a few different ones. The 2 I'm using on these wheels actually aren't matched, the center area for the long gone stickers are different sizes.
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