sent mine out sat. for restoration. it is of the 'FAT' grip variety. will cost some coin, but how bout the $$ heavy coin the one on e-bay just pulled down http://forums.performanceyears.com/g...s/icon_eek.gif http://forums.performanceyears.com/g...s/icon_eek.gif($$ http://forums.performanceyears.com/g...s/icon_eek.gif655.00)

I've got a couple of sad looking fat wheels also. Where did you send yours off to & what kind of $$$ are they getting for them? How does the finished wheel look?
Thanks,
Steve

HI STEVE, mine was also sad, missing 2 inch by 1/4 inch deep piece of foam on top-side. been watching for long time to see if anyone has been restoring these. noticed last week a couple went up for sale on e-bay as restored & they looked damm good in the photo"s. I e-mailed seller to find out he is the restorer. cost was stated @ around $125.00 with additional costs of $30.00 + ship or so for small foam repair. he is going to try and get this one done in 5 days then return it if it is salvagable, I will then post a picture for all. if you want you can e-mail me & i will dig up his address for you. http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_cool.gif

Tom, keep me posted.

right on MIKE, http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_wink.gif ....hope to see your 455 car aug 7th?

Yeah ... I would love to get my wheel restored. Let me know the address and/or phone if you could.

If he is legit and does good work he will be inudated.

update: wheel was received, as stated earlier,there is a nice chunk of foam missing near top, and a rough finish over at least 1/2 of the wheel. but say's it is restorable and will look nice though. it will have the center bead , "but the phoney stiching will be missing". I will post pic's when it arrives. total for my sad wheel came $125.00 resto, $50.00 repair of foam, $7.00 ship $182.00 (held for ransom) hopefully,will better be able to give a good review of this wheel in early aug. 4/6

"Phoney stitching missing". Sorry, but that tells me that this really isn't a restoration, so much as a cosmetic repair. I think I'll stick with my plan to have my damaged wheels leather-wrapped (at about half the cost)...

so its all in the"PHONEY" stiching? http://forums.performanceyears.com/g...n_confused.gif think we will find that it is much more than "cosmetic". time will tell http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_cool.gif http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_cool.gif if you wanted t , you could prolly get a first hand look at the process, afterall they are being done in your back yard (royal oak)

They're doing this in Royal Oak? Yeah, I should check out their process, or at least the end result, in person.
The reason that I am anal about the stitching, is that I recall the first-generation reproduction formula wheels. The absolute worst thing about them, was the completely incorrect and cheap looking attempt to mold in the stitching. the second generation (thicker rim section) reproduction is 10 times better, and a large part of that is due to the attention paid to the stitching.

4SLASH6, I don't know if my car will still be together by then or not (but is not a contender for that show, yet). I'm trying for a frame off this year, at some point. Are you going to Car Crafts' Summer Cruise this weekend?

"T" I see your concern now, would be nice to see a complete aceptable repo. of this wheel. will post pics of entire wheel when I receive it. mike, did not plan on going to car craft. thought it was more of a "hot rod" show. next stop for me "MCC".

I havea formula wheel also and am interested in how your wheel turns out and contact info. for who does resto work. thanks.


[email protected]

Nicely restored Formula wheels are great for show, but will not hold up to driver useage to occasional driver useage... been there. Good Pontiac buddy of mine in Dallas was one of the 1st to effectively restore these wheels & restored a gob of them.

Tom (4SLASH6), are you sure you didn't go to the show last Saturday? I thought I saw your car against the fence.

my car sits quietly,(without)steering wheel in garage. hard to believe there is another silver with sandlewood int.

I didn't notice the interior, we just drove past a Silver '70 GTO (maybe clone) with a hood tach (parked against the Snelling Ave. fenceline), going to the show.

Hey 4SLASH6 - where did you get those "GTO" embroidered floormats? I've been wanting to get some (black) but most of the sites I've found say they can't legally provide the GTO logo....

hi LISA, you will find them at (http://www.1aauto.com) http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_cool.gif http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_cool.gif

Awesome!! I just ordered some. Thanks a bunch 4SLASH6.

btw, love the interior color of your car - nice! http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_cool.gif

here are some before & after pic's of my wheel,...I will receive it this week & hopefully will be able to better answer any further questions on this process. I can say this, it would be sad if this wheel could not even hold up to occasional driving.

last one...

hi all! installed wheel today,..put a nice 4 inch gash in it when I opened the box!! just kidding,...anywho, the wheel looks terrific, but feels phoney. I mean it has some give like original but outer skin seems like a hard plastic shell that will click instead of thud if you were to snap your finger nail against it. surprisingly there is a hint of some of the phoney stitching apparent. sad to say but I think this can be improved upon.

I see the Parts Place has the 'early style' wheel listed on eBay from time to time. Has anybody picked one of these up? The wheel in my '70 Trans Am could use some restoring and I was considering picking up a repo, but wanted to know what experinece others may have had with the Parts Place wheel.

Racer - I bought one of the Parts Place "thick" style wheels for my GTO last winter off of eBay. The original, while not missing any chunks, had some pretty nasty cracks in the covering. The repro is nice.

The only problem I have with it (which some may say is nit-picky) is the mold parting line that runs around the outside circumference of the wheel. I think it's very obvious, but the "casual observer" doesn't realize it's there until I point it out. Again, this may be minor, but I see that thing a mile away! I think it will hold up just fine to regular driving too. I'm keeping it on for now ...

I just installed one on my 1970 convertible, and love everything about it except for the parting line around the outside. I can feel it with my fingers, but I don't mind it enough to switch back. The wheel that was in my car was not the early style, and felt too thin and "squishy".
I also have a LeCarra leather-wrapped Formula wheel, but they messed up in how far the spokes are covered by the leather. They stopped about 1/2 inch short of where the leather edge should be, and I feel that the molded reproduction is better as a result.