Styling Punto wheels

[Ralf S.]

A fella down the road from me is selling some 17" Punto GP Sporting alloys... and assuming they're not bent or twisted (and I can steal them off him for just a few quid) I'm tempted to stick them onto Gerrard.

Now, I know the Punto is a 4x100 . but "tuner" (aka "wobble") bolts will solve that bit.

Next up, the GP has a suspiciously Vauxhall-like 56.x mm centre bore which means they won't fit onto the Stilo hub. I'm wondering how difficult it would be to open out the bore slightly.

Alloys (when you hit the kerb at least) seem to be a soft as sh*t.. and I only need to encourage the bore out to 58.1mm (so just about 1mm on the radius). If I got hold of one of those sanding flap wheels and gave the bore a bit of a reaming, would that do it, or is the "alloy" actually made from face-hardened, homogenous armour plate that only a professional with diamond-tipped cutting tools is able to machine?

Any thoughts?



Ralf S.

 

[Mytheroo]

interesting mod:

my main thought is how can you maintain the centre of the 58.1 hole being the centre of the wheel as a whole. A drill press with the flap wheel would help, as pressure would reduce as a place got wider, allowing the less wide bit to be given more pressure.

Though Amazon lists a 58mm hss hole saw, it's discontinued. Can't see one anywhere else.

I reckon the wheel material is soft enough for flap wheels as they use that on repaired scuffs for respray, and the wheels are cast. I don't think they then get any extra treatment in certain places, just paint.

 

[Ralf S.]

For the moment, I've decided to park this idea (since time and money are against me) .. but yes, my idea is that a flap wheel would automatically "centre" in the wheel centre hole, so it would remain "round" and in the true centre.

The flap wheel would more easily remove paint than metal, so the prospects of creating an oval or an off-centre bore are limited. We only need to grind 1mm off the radius... which would probably come from just sanding the paint off. Hmm... One for later maybe.

Meanwhile I has obtained a set of remarkably straight but quite nasty 17" 10-spoke wheels from a later model Stilo via the Bay of Fleas. The bolt cover/centre caps are all present etc. too... but the Neanderthal who owned them before me decided to "paint" the wheels using an aerosol.

He may not have been a Neanderthal.. just a 5 year old Sapiens... but you get the idea.

The centre caps have a lot of overspray on them and all over the Fiat badges. The first part I can rectify... but the Fiat badges are chipped and faded too so they could do with being replaced rather than T-Cut'd to buggeration.

So the quick question following a long explanation; Has anyone replaced the badges in the plastic centre caps? Do the old ones (which seem to be bonded in?) come out easily (i.e. via a brute force attack)... or would new centre caps altogether (if Fiat has any left) be the best way? I presume that if the old Fiat badges come out, I can find something similar to replace them, so I'm less worried that Fiat doesn't sell the badges separately.



Ralf S.