I fitted a set of original AMG Penta wheels to my 450SLC two years ago. At the time, they did not come with lug bolts. Luckily, I had a set from the replica Fuchs wheels that were on the car when I purchased it. The replica Fuchs wheels were the Australian made copies that were so commonly fitted on Mercedes of this era that were not sold originally with alloy wheels. My 280SE had the Italian copies.
The set of lug bolts I had were quite scruffy, so I attempted to clean them up by soaking them in a metal cleaner and then using a clear coat on the heads. At first, it seemed like it was working. However, it was apparent within a couple of weeks that my bolt restoration hadn’t worked very well. I now had ugly rusty looking bolt heads.
I’ve had this on my todo list since that time. This week I finally purchased a new set of bolts for the car. I really should have done this sooner. Not only were the heads rusty, but the coating on the actual bolts had deteriorated to the point where the threads were getting rusty too. Luckily I had used a little copper anti-seize as they came out easily. In the photo below, it is pretty apparent which is the old bolt in the box of new ones.
Such a simple job has really lifted the car. Not only do the new bolts look much better, but the rusty threads are not going to be a problem in the future. As with before, I put a tiny dab of copper anti-seize and tightened them by hand.
Instead of wasting all that time trying to restore the old bolts, I should have purchased new ones in the first place. I probably spent almost as much on metal cleaner and clear coat, plus my time.
I now finally have 450SLC lug bolts that are in keeping with the car and wheels. I’ll probably keep the old ones as spares just in case I loose one. I don’t plan to put them on a car again except as a stop gap.
Always interesting read!