Managed to pick up a set of used lightweight forged 17x8 Rays Volk TE37's the other week from a guy on one of the FB groups. It was a round trip of 350 miles but I dovetailed it with one of my visits to work on the track car project so it didn't add too many miles to my 'commute'. The size isn't directly compatible with the ST205 as the offset on the Rays is ET50 (ST205 is ET45) and centre bore 65mm (ST205 is 54.1mm). The reason I was keen to get these is my track car project has hubs and centre bores designed around a set of TE37's I'd bought earlier in the project. Although they fit directly on the rear hubs I may have to run hub centric spacers to get spoke clearance on the AP Racing front calipers and the same track as the other wheels give. Despite this I decided it was worthwhile getting them. With only one set of wheels and slick tyres I couldn't run the car in the wet. At least with the second set of wheels I can keep a set of treaded or wet tyres so I have the option of fitting them if it rains.
One of the wheels had a bent and fractured rim which required a section to be cut out, welded and machined to finish. I'd used Lepsons (http://www.lepsons.com/) in Gillingham, Kent previously to fix some kerb damage as part of a refurb of my 18x8 Revolution wheels. They'd done a good job on those so it was logical to use them again. A lot of alloy wheel repair outfits use filler rather than welding to make good damage prior to powder coating. I wasn't sure if the wheel could be repaired as its forged not cast. After close examination by their welding guru the verdict was that it could be fixed. Result
As everybody knows, these wheels cost a small fortune so there's no way I'd be buying them new.Rays TE37 Bent Rim
Before Refurbish
After Refurbish
