Height of Fuchs Paint

[Jay Laifman]

I noted today when I went to tape up my Fuchs to paint them. I thought it was interesting. But, admittedly, it does amount to not much more than how many angels can dance on the top of a Weber needle valve.

As an aside, I have a 73 911 that I have always regretted trading in my worn out correct Fuchs to Robert Woods about 25 years ago, for a beautiful '74 set (with the different center caps). Even though the '74 set looks beautiful to this day, I know it's not the right ones. My daughter, in looking for a set for her '67 912 that we are restoring, came across a matching '73 set that I just could not pass up. So, for now, we are going to paint the '73 set and put it on the 912. When I get some extra discretionary funds for my 911, I'm going to send them to Harvey for a proper restoration.

Ok, back to what I discovered. The '73 set paint is much higher on the petals than the line on the Robert Woods restored ones. I looked at the spare '73 that I still kept when I got the '74s from Woods. It too is much higher. Ok, by "much" I mean about 1/8" - 3/16". It doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things. But, it will create a very different look as far as how deep the petals are.

I don't know if Porsche also varied in their production. Obviously if the level of the paint was different throughout the day, or even between wheels, I can see how they change. But, thought I'd add it to the vast resource of knowledge this board provides should anyone care.

Jay

[mike curnow]

what are the petals you are talking about?

[Bullethead]

Spokes......... on a flowah.

[Bobs 67S]

The black paint on the Fuchs was originally applied by dipping the wheel into a tub of paint, back side down and face up. The high rise paint line was level to all surfaces - no masking needed. That's why the paint is the same height on the inside/outside of the rim - where the tire is mounted. The back sides of the spokes held air pockets so some areas on the rear of the rim were not covered in paint. As the paint in the tub was consumed the line of paint would lower. What you are observing is the variation to the paint level in this application. There must have been a minimum-maximum for quality control.

[Harvey Weidman]

I have measured 8mm high to low ( I belive their max standard) from wheel to wheel (same year, same size). Even from side to side can vary as many came in or out of the paint on an angle. I once measured a 11 that was 8mm side to side....
We do them on the low side of the scale for better looks.
H

[mikael]

So the variation is about 8mm but what is the mean distance to the paint from the outer edge of the rim? Different on flat 6 and deep 6? Asking because I need to remove paint from my all black rims.

[Jay Laifman]

There is something else I just noticed. On my '74 wheels restored by Robert Woods (note, by Robert Woods when he owned and ran it back in '89), the paint line along the petals stays largely parallel to the top of the petals. So, the bottom of the silver portion of the petal actually dips down as you go out along the radius of the wheel. While the line on my unrestored '73 wheels stays horizontal as it would when it was dipped (as described above), where the side of the petal gets narrower as you go out along the radius of the wheel. I won't know which one I like better until I finish painting and remove all the tape.

Mikael, I don't know the answer to your questions. I would be amazed though if you can cleanly remove just the paint from the parts you want. If you do, please let me know how! I'm never good at controlling paint clean up.

[Jay Laifman]

Just to add one point. Even though I'm pointing out these minor differences, I still think that Woods did a fantastic job. It's been 22 years and about 100,000 miles and they still look brand new. And, as Harvey pointed out, some of these differences may make the Fuchs look best.

[mikael]

Mikael, I don't know the answer to your questions. I would be amazed though if you can cleanly remove just the paint from the parts you want. If you do, please let me know how! I'm never good at controlling paint clean up.

Well I'm not sure it will work only to remove the black paint that should not be there, but if it doesn't I will remove all black paint and reapply to the correct height. In either case I would need to know the correct height though. Perhaps someone with an original wheel can measure? I guess a straight bar (ruler?) across the outer edge of the wheel and a caliper or tape measure down to the paint line would do it. Thanks and sorry for the thread kidnapping Jay!

[Harvey Weidman]

When you remove the black you should see a shadow of the original line.
In the shop now we have late 6s that measure from 16mm to 23 mm and up to 25mm on early 6s. Measured from the face.
Keep in mind the early 6s are up to 2mm thicker in the lip area than late 6s. That accounts for the deeper measurement.
The 8mm vairance that I have measured is from the back..the actual part that is in the paint.
Hope this helps.
H