Dave is a braver man than me.

For the cost of the drill bit and the time....I dropped them off with a
local machinist and picked them up 5 days later and it cost me about $80.

The drill bit would have run about $10 + my time so I figure it's a wash.
Then again, for you who have traveled to 3rd world countries, its amazing
what doesn't break.  Although here in the USA, liability could hurt you more
than your own van breaking down.

My $0.02

Chris
Seattle,WA
'89 Westy

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Dave Vickery
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 8:02 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Drilling 14mm holes in alloy rims?

I did mine with a drill.  I checked with a wheel repair guy first and was
going to pay him, and he said a drill would work fine.  Because there is a
hole already, the drill tends to self-center.  Also the cone that the lug
fits in remains so that tends to center the lugs.  The Mercedes alloy is
pretty soft, so the drill caught a couple times-so you want to avoid
pushing.  Also want to keep the drill as verticle as possible.  But it
seemed easy enough.  I put two of the wheels on the front and drove around
and they seemed in balance fine. I needed rear studs for the rear so I have
never gotten around to finishing getting them on.

>From: Agent99 <email99@BELLSOUTH.NET>
>Reply-To: Agent99 <email99@BELLSOUTH.NET>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Drilling 14mm holes in alloy rims?
>Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:26:08 -0500
>
>Would anyone care to share their experiences in enlarging 12 mm holes to
>14 mm for lug bolts/studs in aluminum rims.  Is this something that can
>be done with a hand held electric drill with success or does it require
>a machine shop to do it accurately enough to have true running wheels?
>Has anyone screwed up a rim while trying to enlarge the lug holes?
>
>You can reply either to the list or pmail me directly if you like.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ed