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Kobe Seiko Wheels (Works Rally Rims And More)


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58 minutes ago, rb79gt said:

I may have aqquired these wheels. Any indication as to what they might be?

20201012_184139.jpg

They are Kobe Seiko Nissan works rally wheels, made from Elektron Magnesium, most commonly known as the 'Violet' mags. They are a very similar casting to the Kobe Seiko-manufactured wheels that Nissan commissioned for the 432, but slightly different (including no raised centre for an emblem, and tapered bolt fixing rather than the parallel sleeve nut style of the OEM 432).

The 'Violet' nickname comes from the fact that they were often seen on Nissan's 4-cylinder works rally cars of the same name. 

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1 hour ago, rb79gt said:

I may have aqquired these wheels. Any indication as to what they might be?

20201012_184139.jpg

I'd be very tentative about using them on the road... 
I suggest you get them crack tested first.
 

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41 minutes ago, HS30-H said:

They are Kobe Seiko Nissan works rally wheels, made from Elektron Magnesium, most commonly known as the 'Violet' mags. They are a very similar casting to the Kobe Seiko-manufactured wheels that Nissan commissioned for the 432, but slightly different (including no raised centre for an emblem, and tapered bolt fixing rather than the parallel sleeve nut style of the OEM 432).

The 'Violet' nickname comes from the fact that they were often seen on Nissan's 4-cylinder works rally cars of the same name. 

For example... 

 

Datsun 180B SSS: Nissan’s outstanding 1970s rally ‘Carr’

This is not a Violet...

But the one below is.

Jeff

 

image.jpeg

Edited by datsunrally
Photo fixing
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3 minutes ago, datsunrally said:

This is not a Violet...

But the attached one is.

Jeff

I'm not taking responsibility for it, LOL. Nicknames are nicknames. They don't necessarily add up. Kobe Seiko's Nissan works circuit race 4-spokes with the external bead locks have long been known as 'Gotti Mags' in Japan, despite having nothing at all to do with Gotti. Once it gets into common use it might as well be set in stone.

This also is not a 'Violet':

 

4079 on 74 RAC - Foster and Skeffington-02.jpg

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On 10/12/2020 at 8:19 PM, CBR Jeff said:

They do look like violet wheels, but might also be knock offs made by Performance Wheels a few years ago. the weight of them will be the quickest way to tell. 

Jeff

Hello are you able to provide any more information of said wheels?

 

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Sure. My recollection is that in the late 90s or early 2000 Performance wheels made a run of copy Nissan works wheels for some of the Rally folk. They looked similar but were quite a bit heavier than the works wheels, being made from cast aluminium. Over the years there have been a few supplies of various Nissan works wheels into Australian. In early 2000 there were some 240RS (see below) style and some other Nissan works wheels that were imported from Reg Cook in New Zealand. I believe (not verified but rumoured) that someone has also recently purchased some more wheels from Reg that would probably be old Nissan wheels. 
The simple way to determine if the wheels you have found are genuine is to check the weight. I’m sure of the figures but someone on the forum will know what the weight of the factory wheels was. 
 

Jeff

 

4AD76527-0060-4E2E-B2EE-00175F1B5800.jpeg

Edited by CBR Jeff
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3 hours ago, CBR Jeff said:

Sure. My recollection is that in the late 90s or early 2000 Performance wheels made a run of copy Nissan works wheels for some of the Rally folk. They looked similar but were quite a bit heavier than the works wheels, being made from cast aluminium. Over the years there have been a few supplies of various Nissan works wheels into Australian. In early 2000 there were some 240RS (see below) style and some other Nissan works wheels that were imported from Reg Cook in New Zealand. I believe (not verified but rumoured) that someone has also recently purchased some more wheels from Reg that would probably be old Nissan wheels. 
The simple way to determine if the wheels you have found are genuine is to check the weight. I’m sure of the figures but someone on the forum will know what the weight of the factory wheels was. 
 

Jeff

 

4AD76527-0060-4E2E-B2EE-00175F1B5800.jpeg

Very interesting. I am in New Zealand. I didnt purchase these from someone named Reg. I will check weight when they arrive and also look into the best way to remove paint.

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5 hours ago, datsunrally said:

You're not thinking of these when you say "... a copy of Nissan works wheels"?

Performance Alloy Wheels - Tx1 - Adelaide Trailer Shop

More commonly known as trailer wheels but they did turn up on various rally cars (often painted gold) until it was discovered they weren't very strong.

Jeff

You are correct Jeff my mistake. Cannot count 4 spoke V 5. ::)  They were heavy and weak. 
Jeff

Edited by CBR Jeff
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On 10/12/2020 at 7:48 PM, HS30-H said:

They are Kobe Seiko Nissan works rally wheels, made from Elektron Magnesium, most commonly known as the 'Violet' mags. They are a very similar casting to the Kobe Seiko-manufactured wheels that Nissan commissioned for the 432, but slightly different (including no raised centre for an emblem, and tapered bolt fixing rather than the parallel sleeve nut style of the OEM 432).

The 'Violet' nickname comes from the fact that they were often seen on Nissan's 4-cylinder works rally cars of the same name. 

Hey there thanks for that. Seeing some of your previous post lead me to think this is what they are. All of the other pictures of reproduction or replica wheels not made by kobe seiko look different. How would you recommend i strip these (if they do turn out to be the elektron magnesium wheels) to find any markings they might have. Is it ok to store these raw without a tretment or coating?

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2 hours ago, rb79gt said:

Hey there thanks for that. Seeing some of your previous post lead me to think this is what they are. All of the other pictures of reproduction or replica wheels not made by kobe seiko look different. How would you recommend i strip these (if they do turn out to be the elektron magnesium wheels) to find any markings they might have. Is it ok to store these raw without a tretment or coating?

First thing to say is that this particular type of Magnesium (it is very similar to Elektron) is not really all that volatile. Some people talk about Magnesium wheels as though they are Nitro Glycerine, but the Elektron formula is not pure Mg and is quite robust. It won't spontaneously combust if you just look at it a bit funny...

However, you really don't want to abuse them and if you take them back to bare metal they will need some protective coating. The best is Alodising (distinct from Anodising), often spelled 'Alodizing', which is common in the aviation field. They can be painted over the top of that.

Stripping depends somewhat on what type of paint/coating they have on them. You don't want to be too harsh (the material is quite soft) so you could experiment with hand stripping, using a heat gun and hardwood tools. You can use a proprietary paint stripper, but do it in sections and don't leave it on too long. I've had some success with both soda blasting and with the gentler types of media blasting (I believe one place I used blasted them with walnut shells) but you really do need to be careful to use minimal pressure.

As long as they are stored in the dry they should be fine. If exposed to high humidity and/or too much acid/alkali they can become very porous and that's dangerous. Watch out for trapped moisture when they have tyres on. I've seen them rot from the inside. If in good nick they are very, very strong (that's why Nissan used them) and they are beefy castings - unlike circuit racing wheels - but they do need that little bit of extra care.

Crack testing/X-Ray is a good idea if you want to be 100% sure, and can run to the cost.    

Hope that helps.

 

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2 hours ago, rb79gt said:

...to find any markings they might have.

Just to add, of all the 'Violet Mags' I've seen, very few of them have any cast-in logos or data. You *might* find a date stamp (usually year and month) which was added to them to indicate the start of their safe life in Works use. 

Some of the other wheels made by Kobe Seiko for Nissan have markings on them, notably the Nissan 'hamburger' mark on the circuit racing wheels and some extra coding on the front face of the OEM 432 wheels, but the Violets not so much.

I might pull a Violet mag out of storage and weigh it, for comparison with yours, but yours look like The Real Thing to me.

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5 hours ago, rb79gt said:

Very interesting. I am in New Zealand. I didnt purchase these from someone named Reg. I will check weight when they arrive and also look into the best way to remove paint.

Did you find the wheels in Australia or elsewhere? I found a set of z432 Kobe Seiko wheels in NZ but they had deteriorated badly.

Photos here.

https://goo.gl/photos/aQrBgmbt9P5P9d8P9

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Also fyi, I found 1 of these out in Bendigo Victoria but it was also stuffed.

I had intended to collect it anyway, but the seller got rid of it before I could get to him. You can see it was cracked and not really repairable.(as far as I'm aware).

So completing sets of these wheels is problematic.

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Research led me to this forum and all of your helpful posts and information. Unsure what i should do with these wheels now. Theres is the 1 wheel with bad corrosion, it had a tube in the tyre, it was obviously beeing used like that! The other 3 arent as corroded and hold air. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

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Edited by gav240z
Proof read and edit for future reference
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