Bent wheel, fixable?

[ATTDCS!TMBWPO1!sjagernaut@dcstm1.attmail.com (Stephen Jagernauth)]

randrews@post.cis.smu.edu (Robert Paul Andrews) wrote:

>I have a slight bend in one of my alloy wheels on my 90.  Not bad, just not
>worth it to go have a $100 spent taking it somewhere to have it fixed.
>My question: Has anyone been able to beat the bends out with like a rawhide
>mallet or anything?  Is this safe and or plausible?  TIA!

No.   Better to live with it than trying to fix it yourself.   The pros heat 
the alloy up to a specific temp and then bend the wheel back into shape. 
  You  could introduce stress fractures which will make the $100 seem cheap 
by comparison when your wheel turns into a pretzel or breaks at the most 
inconvenient time, like when passing a semi.  I've used Wheel Collision 
Center in Bath, PA for fixing 3 small bends in a 17"  forged Gotti wheel. 
 It was not cheap at $120 but much cheaper than the original  $600 cost of 
the NLA wheel.

Regards,

Steve Jagernauth  --------->   sjagernauth@attmail.com
'87 5ktqw, '87 5kt, '88 5ks, '74 911/3.0