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The Alfa SZ's Speedline split-rims get the full treatment, as Mary Lee explains
Sparkling Speedlines
An overhaul of the wheels on the SZ was always on the to-do list, but after a general spruce up of the car just before the Alfa club nationals, it was even more obvious that they needed attention. They were all in poor shape and nagging for a makeover, but it was going to be a big job.
All four rims were in poor shape and dull
The rims are a two-piece, 16-inch Speedline design, seven inches wide on the front and eight on the rear. Showing signs of harsh cleaning and neglect from a previous owner, all four wheels were very dull and scratched, and the protective clear coat on the polished outer rims was worn and cloudy to the point that no amount of polish would brighten them. There was also some nasty gutter rash that needed to be fixed.
Cleaning multi-piece rims is easy, just split ‘em
Enter Matt Coleman and the team from Wheel Solutions Australia in Richmond, known as the go-to place for wheel refurbishment with many high-end Euro marques. They are also familiar with the Italian-made Speedlines.
Before and after. Stylised Speedline logo on each bolt looked more like scratches to begin with
Matt took the rims apart and cleaned each of the outer bolts inside a water bead cabinet which revealed a barely visible Speedline logo on the top. All 120 of them! He also did the wheel nuts at the same time.
Subtle engravings on the outer rims were barely visible before
The outer rims were polished and Matt took care to retain the subtle engravings of ‘Alfa Romeo’, ‘Speedline’ and the wheel size, buried under years of tarnish.
Good as new. Even the Alfa Romeo roundel centre cap was vertically aligned with the tyre valve on each rim as a nice touch
The wheel weights were moved to the inside to finish the clean look and with a final coat of clear applied, no more manual polishing!
Photography: Mary Lee, Matt Coleman