WHEEL METRE GAIN

Here’s a brake-neck (sic) history of Fuchs wheels. Designed by Porsche stylist Heinrich Klie and produced by Otto Fuchs in forged aluminium, their key attributes include strength, lightness and their open five-spoke design assists brake cooling. Fuchs wheels debuted on the 911S for the 1967 model year, and became standard fitment across the range in most markets in 1970. In original skinny 4.5in rim width they weighed 2.3kg (5.1lb) less than the standard steel wheels. Lightness allowed greater rim width at less cost to unsprung weight, and 5.5in rims were introduced for the ’68 model year. Special 6-inch wide ‘deep dish’ style 15-inch Fuchs were made for the 1967 911R racecar, and this ‘6R’ rim is extremely rare. By the time of the introduction of the 2.2-litre cars in 1970, Fuchs wheels were pretty much de rigueur. They tended to be 6in x 15in, though the 911T still used 5.5in x 15, while up to 1971, Sportomatics and hydropneumatic Es could be optioned with 14in and taller tyres for an easier ride. The 6in flat-dish Fuchs rims were introduced in March 1971. While the T reverted to chromed steel wheels for ’70 and ’71, the 6 x 15 Fuchs topped the bill for the 2.4-litre E and S in ’72 and ’73, and the less

us an RSR wheel that’s been mangled in a race accident. It’s potentially so valuable that they’ll cut off the rim and weld on a fresh one.

The black finish is paint, not powdercoating; only the bare aluminium parts are

individual basis we can make them better than they were in the past.’

The finished wheels look absolutely gorgeous, like confectionery in a sweet shop. The earliest Fuchs wheels, fitted from 1967 to 1970, are more sensitive to deformation than the version produced from ’71; the flatter dished model is stronger, and Patrick also finds he has fewer balancing problems with the later wheel. ‘The design of the wheel has changed, and because it is stronger we have less problems with balancing and geometry. Besides, you cannot work on the aesthetics if the wheel is not spinning true.’ The offset between hub spokes and rim is slightly greater on the post-’71 wheels compared with the earlier versions, though probably the earlier wheel is prettier. Nothing gets the brush-off: I spot some ATS Cookie Cutters on a rack. ‘Yes, we also handle Cookie Cutter wheels. Five years ago, nobody wanted to know about them, but today there is lots of interest. For example, in 1974 the 2.4E and S came out the factory with those, and now German owners want to have their car looking original, so Cookie Cutters are back in circulation.’ They also refurbish 3.6 Turbo Speedlines and BBS split-rims, which have to be dismantled and treated in three sections.

‘I can show you the process of Fuchs restoration. The first job is the stripping of the wheel; we use a sand-blasting system to remove the paint on the wheel, so now we can check it to see if there are any cracks, and we put it on the balancing machine to check if there is a problem of it twisting.’ In which case, the wheel is rotated on a hub and the encircling clamp exerts force on the buckled areas of the rim, effectively straightening it out. ‘I have to check the wheel in all dimensions, side-toside, back and front, and when I have assessed the deformation I can apply pressure in the appropriate direction. It’s not easy, but we can do it. This is a very special machine tool, sturdy too, and it’s a good machine to start with, but actually it is not powerful enough for what I want to do. So, I have to buy a bigger one because that Fuchs aluminium is very strong. We heat the aluminium with this system, we heat it locally where the problem is, where we want to push on the rim. Sometimes it’s due to the geometry of the wheel, so I have to modify the geometry, but sometimes you can have as much as 2mm distortion and that has a big influence on the balancing, so sometimes we take out some metal – you can see on this one we took out some metal here.’

Patrick is keen to stress that his team works in clean air: ‘the German guy was working in such bad conditions, with no protection, no fresh air, so when I started up the business I wanted to do it in the right conditions with extractors installed. After stripping we take out all the major damage and corrosion with the grinding machine, removing metal, and if we need any welding we have to deepen the damaged area by 1- or 2mm to be sure there is no corrosion.’ This is the first part of the actual restoration, and the operators use different types of grinding materials to apply to the metal and remove all the faults and blemishes. ‘The polisher has a very aggressive surface and we start with a very aggressive material and when there is no more defect we apply thinner and thinner material to achieve a mirror shine, and after that we make the anodisation. When we weld the metal, we increase the structure of the aluminium, and afterwards when it’s all polished to a mirror finish – like chrome –

Today we can make them better than they were in the past