Rebarrel issues....Faces don't drop into the new step lips?

So this is my first attempt at rebarreling a set of wheels, so please provide feedback if you can steer me in the right direction.  I have a set of 19" Maya RT5's that I'm trying to convert to 20" step lip wheels.  I separated the 19" faces from the Maya barrels and have ordered a set of 20" step lip outers and new 20" inner hoops.  My problem is that the Maya faces won't drop into the outer lip?  It looks as if the lip is just like 1/8" too narrow (at that last step area where it drops straight down to the mounting flange) and the face just sits right at the edge of the step.  I tried dropping the Maya face back into the original Maya reverse lip and it goes right down to the mounting flange....no problems.  The seller I'm working with is willing to try and look into it, but he wants me to send my faces to him and he said he can mount them, but may need to cut them to fit.  Not sure if anybody has ever run into this issue before with converting a wheel to a step lip from a reverse lip?  I've heard sometimes the barrels are really tight to get the wheel faces in, but this one I would literally have to pound it to get it to fit and may likely scratch the lips while the face is going down into the lip.  Does this sound right?  I can't imagine this being the case because the face drops into the original Maya reverse lip barrel with absolutely no effort.  Also, on a side note, all 40 holes do line up, I just can't get the face down into the lip.  Any feedback?

You will probably have to machine the faces down to fit those lips if there's enough material to safely remove.

Being that I'm a noob when it comes to this stuff, I'm just curious if this happens often?  Could it be a manufacturing issue with the Lip?  Haha, and here I was more concerned about being able to seal the wheels properly after assembling them.  The last thing I was anticipating was the faces fitting.

Wheel shops usually heats up the lips so it expands then they drop the face in

^^^ Haha, the thought crossed my mind but I didn't want to Fah up and scratch the lips to all hell.

the heating method is more common on 2 piece wheels where the center is pressure fit then welded.

this just seems like uncompatable parts. not all lips are the same so sometimes you have a face that needs a certain lip.

Have the faces been repainted or powder coated? if so, sand down the finish on the edges and try again.
Whatever you do, [B]Do not [/B]take a torch to it trying to expand the lip...it will warp first.

If that fails, The easiest (and most simple) way is to find a machine shop to mill a little from the diameter of the face.  



sometimes these aftermarket lips dont fit and need a lil massaging...all a part of customizing cars :)

Ive  actually re-drilled and welded my own because a set of "aftermarket" lips didnt  line up. Not something I'd ever recommend if you aren't REALLY handy  with the TIG

You contact vr wheels in cali! I remember seeing a set of steplip 19 rt5 they were selling! What a sick ass setup!!! I wanna step my bs5 super crystals to 20 :)! Wheelflip told me months ago that the face needs to slightly machined down too!!

Sounds like you bought US-made hoops and tried to use them with a Japanese wheel.
The center openings, lip contour, and assembly PCD are almost always different.

On Nick's wheels (below), I had to turn-down the O.D. of the centers and re-drill the inners and outers (sourced from HRE) since these were Japanese 18" reverse that we turned into 19" with stepped lip. Polished & clearcoated inners and outers, custom Matte Bronze powdercoated centers. Make sure you get everything fitted BEFORE doing the final finish, and be sure to mask any areas with critical tolerances so everything fits together nicely.

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WVOp5RpCOHI/USMiQyUbKTI/AAAAAAAAY-s/czQ25_OdCvA/s609/Nick19inch.jpg[/IMG]

Take em to your local powdercoater and ask them to throw the lips in the oven for a few mins on their normal heat cycle. Whenever I do work wheels and coat the faces I almost always heat up the lips and barrel to get the face back into position.