Wheel restoration

[blaat!]

Hi All
I'm about to restore my Mach 1 wheels and I need some advice. I prefer to do as much of the work myself to save $$$ and because I like doing the work. I'm planning to polish the hubs myself, replace the spokes with new ones, and have the rims re-plated. Unfortunately, I noticed a significant wobble in the rear wheel.


These are my questions:

1. Should I have the rear wheel straightened and trued before dis-assembly and re-plating to guarantee that it is salvageable?

2. Will it be less expensive to just buy new rims? I'm not going for an all original restoration on this one.

3. Any recommendations for a polishing compound and sealer for the hubs?

4. Will I save any $$$ by lacing the wheels myself? I've read up on it quite a bit and I understand offset, lacing patterns, etc. Then I could just drop them off to be trued.

Thanks for any advice you can provide!
-Jim



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[bobnorton]

That rim is past it and will not be safe,invest in ally replacements if its a rider you want.

[gioto3]

I did myself the wheels of my 450 scrambler.
From your pictures it seems the rims are the steel chromed Radaelli ones, no worth to polish them, just discard, you can find new Radaelli rims quite cheap and to re-chrome them will be more expensive.
I laced and trusted my wheels, it's possible and quite fun too if you have a little of patience.
And you don't necessarily need professional tools except a good nipple wrench.
You can have a look at my work in an Italian forum to have an idea.
http://tinyurl.com/3ko5mur
And I suggest you to use stainless steel spokes.
Good job
Giovanni