Reshaped and refinished Volk CE28N wheels

[stevenlee]

7 years ago I bought Volk CE28N Wheels in 17x8 and 18x10.5 because they were the strongest and lightest wheels I could find in those sizes.

I didn't like the squareness and hard angles of the spokes and the matt finish that attracted dirt and were impossible to get clean. I wanted the wheels to have softer curves to better match the body of the NSX so I reshaped the spokes by hand and had them finished with a powder coated chrome Permastar finish in CA. The power coated chrome is much lighter than plated chrome and it lasts much better. It's been over 5 years and it's holding up fine.

The reshaping is subtle but it took me over 40 hours to complete by hand.

I think the reshaped wheels match the curves of the NSX much better and though I'd share the photos below.



Original front wheel.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG0922.jpg" />


Original rear wheel.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG0923.jpg" />

Font wheel reshaped.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG1429.jpg" />

Front spokes, side view.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG1430.jpg" />

Wheels ready to be shipped for powder coating.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG1433.jpg" />

Front wheel after powder coating.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG1698.jpg" />

Rear wheel after powder coating.
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG1706.jpg" />
<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/CIMG1710.jpg" />

 

[condumbwerkz]

Looks good!

 

[docjohn]

Steve you really have applied the "jewelers" touch to cars Looking forward to seeing your car on the east coast in Sept.

 

[PhAnToM]

Looks like it took a lot of work! Great job!

The end product looks amazing! Nice choice on the finish! :biggrin:

 

[stevenlee]

Thanks for the compliments.

John, after shaping metal for over 30 years I knew how I wanted the reflections to work on the wheels.
It will be so nice to have my NSX at NSXPO after all these years of showing up in a rent-a-car.

 

[docjohn]

Steve remind me to never piss you off,lock you in a cave full of metal parts and electronics.......... http://rockstartemplate.com/iron man 2/Iron_man_HQ_Posters.jpg

 

[stevenlee]

John, I don't get pissed off very easily and I work on my car for "fun".
If you think the wheels are good.... wait until you see my latest invention that I'll be showing on my car at NSXPO!!!!!

 

[ChrisK]

Steven, I thought you were nuts but was still impressed when you perforated your own interior, but this is also impressive. We need to go for a drive one day. I'd like to check out all the new stuff you added sine I last saw your car a few years ago.

 

[stevenlee]

Chris, I'd like to get together with you too.

My car is in CA getting an engine rebuild. Then I'll drive it to NSXPO and back. How about some time in October. It will be a 5,000 mile trip for the NSX!.... maybe I AM nuts.

Wait until you see what I've done to my car... it's 100 times cooler than the wheels. I think every NSX owner will want it!

 

[Mikexike]

wow, what did u use 2 reshape it???

 

[stevenlee]

wow, what did u use 2 reshape it???

I used a wide assortment of materials and techniques to reshape the wheels.
My objective was to eliminate the hard angles of the original design and to get smooth soft curves to match the NSX body. I wanted the front wheel to better match the rear wheel. And, I wanted to limit the removal of metal to the spokes (for strength reasons) to no more than 5% of the original material.

To start, I used a small, right angle air powered grinder with flapper type sanding discs that were about 3 inch diameter to perform the first 2 steps.

My first step was to break the corner of each spoke face until I had a consistent 3/32" flat edge on each of the 10 spokes on all 4 wheels. This was done in 3 phases to gradually work up to the desired break in the faces of each spoke on each wheel. This means all 80 edges of the spoke faces were sanded to a consistent and matching angle.

I then sanded the 2 edges of each flat break created by the first step. This was done in multiple steps until all spokes had 3 flat angles where there used to be one corner on the edge of each spoke. (think: 3 angle valve job.) This left the original sanded cut (80 each) plus 160 additional flat cuts on either side of the original flat cuts.

I then use various sizes of sanding discs and drums to blend the faces of the spokes into the transition where they meet the rim of the wheel. A Dremel was used for some of this work with a 1/2 in. diameter sanding drum.

I used larger i.e. 1" diameter sanding drums on an expanding rubber arbor to cut the angled hub area and create a smooth curved concave shape. I achieved this with the use of a power hand drill and a 16" shaft made from a threaded rod to hold the sanding drum. In order to control the cutting action of the sanding drum, I placed a section of metal tubing over the shaft. I held the power drill with my right hand and firmly held the metal tubing with my left hand near the sanding drum and used the left hand to exert pressure onto the sanding drum and control it's cutting action.

I used sanding sticks covered with various grits of sand paper to finalize the shapes I wanted on the spokes and other areas.

Various other methods were used to blend the finish and finalize it.

To get a consistent final surface finish, I used 3M sanding sponges of various grits to produce finish you see in the photo of the wheels that were ready to ship for powder coating.

I estimated that the reshaping would take 20 hours but I actually spent over 40 hours to complete the task. Little did I know that the powder coating includes a base coat that is roughly 2mm thick and eliminates the need for fine finish that I achieved.

Hope this helps you to understand how I did the reshaping. It was a lot of work but I ended up with One-of-a-Kind wheels and people seem to like them.

P.S. I can't do this for anyone else! It is a crazy amount of work and attention to detail. I did it as a labor of love and for personal satisfaction for my own car. I wish Volk made them this way but they didn't and this was the only way I could get the look I wanted.

 

[Zishan]

Wow, just wow. Amazing work. You should send these to Volk and tell them this is how they should have made the wheels! :smile:

 

[stevenlee]

Wow, just wow. Amazing work. You should send these to Volk and tell them this is how they should have made the wheels! :smile:

I couldn't agree more! Volk's designer should have realized that most cars have flowing curves instead of hard angles and designed the wheels to match the car's body.

When Chris from SOS saw my wheels in person, he liked them so much that he took high resolution photos of them. I think he wanted to send them to Volk to show them how the wheels could look. I don't know if he did send the photos to anyone and if so, whether or not they are doing anything in response. In the meantime, I guess my wheels will remain unique.

P.S. I'll be driving my custom twin turbo car to NSXPO for the first time in September (roughly 5,000 miles round trip!) My car has dozens of mods that I've done, many are even more impressive (and surprising) than the wheels. I'll be happy to show the mods to anyone who attends NSXPO. Hope to see you there!

Aloha,
Steve

 

[RYU]

Steven, thanks for sharing your work with us. I definitely appreciate the time (and fun) that goes into DIY. No one loves your car as much as you do which is why I like to wrench on mine as much as possible. If you have time before your cross country drive, come and see us SoCal folks.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Wonder how this effects the structural rigidity of the wheel?

 

[Dynamic-uzed-auto]

When r u installing these?

 

[stevenlee]

RYU, I will be in San Diego early September and again in late September. It would be fun to get together.

Jack S, I removed less than 5% of the cross section from the spokes to minimize any reduction in strength. I figured that the Volk wheels have a healthy margin for strength on a wide variety of cars that weigh much more than our NSX's.

Dynamic, I installed them about 5 years ago after having the original Volk finish for 2 years on my car. They still look the same as in the photos. I think think that the power coater gave me a 10 year warranty against chipping and yellowing and I believe it will live up to the warranty.... unlike metallic (heavy) chrome plating.
I see you're in NY. I'm going to be driving to see friends in Buffalo before NSXPO. You're welcome to come see them in Buffalo or at NSXPO.

I just had an idea... since I'd driving cross country twice to get to NSXPO and back to Hawaii, it would be great to stop along the way and meet other NSX owners and make new friends! Is anyone interested? I have dozens of custom mods that i did to my car that people always ask me about. It would be fun to show them off!

 

[docjohn]

Steve you should start a new thread discussing your travel plans to and from xpo,that way you will get more response from the general readership,say in the general owners forum,good luck in your journey.

 

[stevenlee]

Steve you should start a new thread discussing your travel plans to and from xpo,that way you will get more response from the general readership,say in the general owners forum,good luck in your journey.

Good idea! I'll wait until we're closer to my departure and post it in the general forum.

 

[Mac Attack]

Wow - looks neat!

I can't wait to read and see about your other mods!

Dave

 

[ChrisK]

Steven, we definitely need to get together when you get back. I'm slowly starting to build up my new current NSX but it's going to take awhile to get even close to where my old one was. Looking forward to seeing your custom mods.

 

[myw]

WOOOWWWWW

i need to see these on the car!

amazing work!

 

[stevenlee]

WOOOWWWWW

i need to see these on the car!

amazing work!

I was reluctant to post pics because I don't have any good pics of the wheels on my car due to a computer glitch. The car has already been shipped off to California to get ready for the 5,000 mile drive to NSXPO and back.

I do have some poor quality iPhone pics I'll post. The car will be attending NSXPO for the first time in September and you're welcome to see them (and the dozens of other mods of the same caliber) at NSXPO.

<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/photo_13_.JPG" /><img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/photo_17_.JPG" />

 

[nsx1]

WOW... Steven, you did an amazing job reshaping those spokes. It looks great!

I had my CE28s chromed a few years ago, but I never noticed that the polishing process softened the hard edges. (Dah... but of course it would.)

I agree that mine are an improvement over the original, but they are not as spectacular as what you've produced. Kudos to you...

(Click image for hi-res version.)

 

[stevenlee]

WOW... Steven, you did an amazing job reshaping those spokes. It looks great!

Thanks. I'm glad to hear you appreciate my work. The changes to the shape of the wheels are subtle but not quick nor easy to accomplish. I knew that the play of light and reflections on the convex and concave surfaces would look good in chrome. I was happy to see that they did!
The reason the plating rounds out the square edges is that they give the aluminum wheels a heavy copper plate that they buff out to get the polished finish. That tends to round off the square edges. I wanted to control the contour of the spokes and the centers so I shaped the the wheels by hand. I also wanted to avoid the added weight. I thought I could reshape them in less than 20 hours but it took me over 40 hours... not recommended unless you have the time and patience. Surely not something that would be affordable unless you DIY.
Your wheels look great! They are GENUINE chrome.