Found a pair of webspokes locally for cheap that were curb-rashed pretty good. Took them apart, spent a ton of time cleaning the barrels and faces, and then sanded, finished (brushed finish), and re-sprayed the lips with clear. Faces were torqued to 24 ft/lbs with blue loctite.

Wrapped in Falken ZE-950 205/45R17 tires. Looks and drives way better than the stock 15's (which are now wrapped in studded tires for the coming winter).

 

Nice work! Those have always been my favorite wheels for the MINI. Glad they worked out as well as they did.

 

Thanks. Here's how they looked before refinishing. Prior owner used them as curb feelers...

 

Wow very nice, you must have seen the separation thread for webspokes and R90's

 

I believe so. I spent a while searching for appropriate torque figures and procedure.

 

They look great! How did you repair the lips?

 

1. Sanded through the clear coat and sanded out the scrapes with a 220 grit pad on an orbital palm sander. Probably took 25+ pads, as the aluminum eats through them quick.

2. Finish sanded wet with 220 grit sandpaper in hand brushing with the shape of the barrel (to remove swirl marks left by the orbital sander)

3. Final brush finished wet with an abrasive pad (green scotch pad) to leave a smooth brushed finish.

There are some very small scrapes that were too deep to sand out, but they are hard to spot if not looking for them.

 

Thanks for the inspiration - I picked up a project R53 that has the R98s that looks about the same as yours did. I'm going to tackle this project now that the weather is warmer!

 

One of the posts mentions a thread the describes how to separate the webspoke and R90 wheels. Can't seem to find it, would appreciate if someone would post, thanks.