Does anyone know of a shop that repairs the old Torq Thrust wheels? I have two original old style American Racing 15x8.5" and two matching 14x7" (Japan). All four wheels are straight, but need restoration. I bought these to put on my car, but have since decided to stick with the original rally wheels. Any suggestions for a repair shop? Or is anyone interested in buying or trading? I need a carb! Thanks.

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James V. Hambright
'71 Malibu (Drop-Top)

You can restore the wheels yourself with a little work. The wheels you have that say Japan on the back are Appliance Wheels and are a almost exact copy of the American Torq Thrust wheels. Don't get rid of the wheels, you will end up being sorry you did. You can't buy the original style wheels anymore and the reproduction wheels are different. The original wheels will only go up in value. To restore the wheels first have them glass beaded, once they are glass beaded take 600 wet and dry sand paper and wet sand the lip the best you can and then buff the lip using tripoli compound on a bench grinder with a buffing wheel atached. After the lip is buffed mask off the lip and paint the spokes with Plasti Coat steel wheel paint and the wheels will look like brand new.

Thanks for the info. I'm familiar with metal polishes like Wenol, but not tripoli so I'll have to research that. Also, does the whole wheel get glass beaded (full front & back) or just the spoke areas? Thanks again.

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James V. Hambright
'71 Malibu (Drop-Top)

Tripoli comes in a bar that looks like an inget, the last time I bought a bar it cost $7.00, I figure it will last me at least 5 years and lots of polishing jobs. You can glass bead the whole wheel if you want. It depends on what condition the wheel is in. If it's a clean wheel then I would just glass bead the spokes so you have a clean surface for the paint to stick to.