Refurbing my split rim 17" cross-spoke alloys

[UKDaveJ]

On my LONG job list I have this job to do.

I want to ensure that I get ordered any bits I'm likely to need.
In particular I'm thinking of the nuts/bolts, any seals etc.

Should I be talking to my BMW dealer (or someone like Motormech) to get hold of these parts, or can anyone suggest a potential cheaper source?

I believe that the wheels were made by BBS.

I have a company who will powdercoat the centre part & then polish up the outer rims.
My tyres still have some life in them so I want to get this done once my tyres are worn down to the legal limit ideally!
I've never been a fan of having tyres removed & refitted too often - it can't do them any good I'd have thought!

The company who'll do the refurb work have asked whether I want them lacqurered, which I'm not too sure about. Once lacquer becomes cracked or chafed, then I'm back to a strip down again. Lacquer on the centres makes sense, but am not sure about the rims themselves!
What else can be used instead of lacquer to preserve what will be highly polished rims? Lots of elbow grease & autosol I'm thinking?!

Any tips appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[ron]

Hi Dave, You have got the same wheels as me and technically they are not split-rim.On a split-rim wheel the actual rim splits apart (as in most airplane wheels) but on these BBS wheels the hub is bolted to the rim.The bolts are special to BBS and are tapered/splined with a fancy special nut. I suggest that you either chrome plate or zinc plate these.Powder coating will be no good as it will come off when you re-insert them.
There is no seal as the rim is not split.Suggest that you run a bead off silicone around the inside off the hub/rim joint to stop the corrosive brake dust getting in.When I originally split mine I had to use a fly-press to get the rim away from the hub due to heavy corrosion from brake dust.
As for using laquer on the rim,as you say,if it cracks you have to strip it all off.Polishing is a pain but it looks good.Best I've found is Autoglym and I've tried lots of them.
Hope this helps.
Regds. Ron.

[Brucey]

I don't think you'll ever keep up with the polishing unless you only ever drive in dry weather. In the UK there is some salt on the roads for 6 months of the year and this will eat into a polished finish like crazy.

So I'd go for lacquer, even though it will need re-doing from time to time. Lacquers vary a lot.

With care on disassembly you may be able to re-use the original seals. If the wheels were leaking a little this will be corrosion beneath the seals.

Incidentally I'm not sure powder-coating is such a good idea unless the parts are correctly primed first. Aluminium needs to be etch-primed and this need to be done very well. Some powder coaters will not bother with this, and the result is that the finish will be fine until the first chip, and then corrosion will eat under the powder coated finish as quick as you like.

Incidentally I would favour using a company that specialises in re-finishing wheels if this is possible; they should have the type of coating well sorted out.

cheers

[UKDaveJ]

Thank you Ron, Brucey for your replies.

I might be being a bit thick here, but I'm still not clear what you are saying about the assembly of 'our' wheels.

I thought that there was an inner & outer rim, one part of which is attached to the hub - I guess the inner? So broken down I'd expect to see two parts only? What exactly are the bolts holding together?
What did you use to undo the nuts & bolts Ron?

My wheels don't seem to leak, in fact I've hardly had to put any air into the tyres since I bought the car from Sharkfan (Kevin).

Thanks,
Dave

[ron]

There are only two parts to the wheel.The rim and the hub and they are bolted together with about 36 bolts (from memory).You need 12 point sockets to remove and a hammer and thin copper drift.I've got some spare nuts and bolts so will check socket sizes tomorrow.
Regds.

[Brucey]

ah, for some reason I expected them to be like other split rims i.e. in three pieces with a rubber seal to hold the air in. I guess these are different then.

cheers

[UKDaveJ]

There are only two parts to the wheel.The rim and the hub and they are bolted together with about 36 bolts (from memory).You need 12 point sockets to remove and a hammer and thin copper drift.I've got some spare nuts and bolts so will check socket sizes tomorrow.
Regds.

Thanks Ron. I think I've a few 12 point sockets, but no copper drift - any idea where I'd pick one of those up from?
Ta
Dave :)

[ron]

Most good engineering supply shops should sell copper drifts.An alloy one would do.It's only to stop the thread getting damaged.
Regds.

[UKDaveJ]

Most good engineering supply shops should sell copper drifts.An alloy one would do.It's only to stop the thread getting damaged.
Regds.

Cheers mate! Did you have chance to see what the 12 point socket size is that I need to undo the bolts?
Dave :)

[steve]

Hi Dave, im thinking about getting style 5s refurbed soon and was just wondering what kind of prices you have been quoted and where you are getting them done (bromsgrove/birmingham)?

[UKDaveJ]

Hi Dave, im thinking about getting style 5s refurbed soon and was just wondering what kind of prices you have been quoted and where you are getting them done (bromsgrove/birmingham)?

Hi Steve,

I'll almost certainly be using Redditch Shotblasting.
I have a day off tomorrow & hope to drive over & show them my wheels & get some prices. I have used them for quite a few things, cam covers, air filter box, heater-blower motor shield - all done in crackle-black powdercoat.
I'll post on how I get on.

Where have you looked so far Steve & what sort of prices have you got for comparison?
Dave :)

[steve]

Hi Dave,
Had a quote on refubing my style 5s today
its a place in bilston called a1 wheels,
?125 per rim and ive got five to do
im lucky ive got style 8s on at the moment
but need to get the 5s on, ive got two more places
to get quotes,have you had any joy?
maybe i will just get the outer part of the rims
polished at them kind of prices.

steve

[joe]

hi steve hows it going, see you got your style 5s, go on then,
that price you were quoted for refurb seems very expensive mate, im on the market very soon myself after hol's and i was looking at paying about ?300 for 4 , im not paying any more than that, there is a fellow in cov that soughted my mates rims out and charged him ?250 im expecting ?300 because mine are 18s. will keep you posted but not for a couple of weeks

later joe

[steve]

Hi Joe,
got them in the end, im being told its because they are
splitt rims that its so expensive, im just gonna shop
around for a bit till i get a good price, maybe if a few of us all
had our rims done in one place at the same time we might get
some discount,hope all is well and have a nice holiday mate.

steve

[UKDaveJ]

Hi Dave,
Had a quote on refubing my style 5s today
its a place in bilston called a1 wheels,
?125 per rim and ive got five to do
im lucky ive got style 8s on at the moment
but need to get the 5s on, ive got two more places
to get quotes,have you had any joy?
maybe i will just get the outer part of the rims
polished at them kind of prices.

steve

Hi Steve,
blimey, that does sound expensive! Was that for them to strip the tyre off the wheel, split the rim, refurb, bolt back together & replace tyre?

I showed my car (!) & wheels to my contact at Redditch shotblasting yesterday.
Paul told me that the centres (hubs) were in good condition & didn't really need doing.
He felt that really the rims should be polished as they would have been originally, but that any lacquer would easily be damaged when changing tyres, stone chips, kerbs etc. Then salt would start to corrode the alloy underneath.

Therefore, he suggested two options;
1) get the rims properly polished via a metal polisher,
2) get the rims powdercoated in a high gloss finish silver

He has offered to powdercoat a spare wheel for me to have a look.

He felt that if I was planning to regularly polish the rims to keep them clean & protected then having them polished would be the best option.
Dave :)

[joe]

right just got back and have been quoted ?45 per rim i have taken him up on it , next week end.

later joe

[UKDaveJ]

right just got back and have been quoted ?45 per rim i have taken him up on it , next week end.

later joe

Joe, can you post some more details pls mate?

What firm, where, what exactly are they doing for ?45 per rim out of interest?

I've just been quoted by MIJ Performance up in Walsall today for my split rims (style 5's). To remove the tyres, remove the bolts, chrome the bolts, polish up the rims & remove any scrapes/scuffs, assemble back together, re-mount the original tyres (or new ones by separate arrangement), balance & re-mount - ?125 all in.
They advised against lacquering. The wheel centres/hubs are agreed as being in excellent condition original condition already.
Note - no painting/powder-coating or bead/shot-blasting required.

Cheers,
Dave :)

[joe]

hi dave, mine involve setting up on a lathe and turning down the bead take of old paint polishing, respray and final laquer, 2 days total

im sure the place is called coventry vehicles indian chap his name is nanoo, he had a set of 911 wheels in half done, his finished product is good, the 911 wheels were a mess. quiet cheap if you ask me,

promised me a really deep shine compared to mine,
and that dave will do me

i will see if the name is correct

later joe

[horsetan]

...his name is nanoo...

This sounds like a greeting from "Mork and Mindy"..... or was it "Star Trek"

[UKDaveJ]

hi dave, mine involve setting up on a lathe and turning down the bead take of old paint polishing, respray and final laquer, 2 days total

im sure the place is called coventry vehicles indian chap his name is nanoo, he had a set of 911 wheels in half done, his finished product is good, the 911 wheels were a mess. quiet cheap if you ask me,

promised me a really deep shine compared to mine,
and that dave will do me

i will see if the name is correct

later joe

All sounds very promising Joe - be sure to post before & after pics! :)
Dave

[joe]

hi all, pics will be posted dave, ivan was it that program staring robert williams, went round in a silver suit and said ( mork calling orson, mork calling orson,come in orson ................................... no i never watched it

later joe

[horsetan]

was it that program staring robert williams, went round in a silver suit and said ( mork calling orson, mork calling orson,come in orson ................................... no i never watched it

That's the one

[jrcalvin]

I have had several sets of polished rims, polished & then clearcoated rims and of course painted and powdercoated rims. I do agree that polishing maintenence is labor intensive but rewarding when done. Polished rims which have been clearcoated look nice when in good condition. But the clearcoat can be easily damaged and then looks very ratty with no easy fixes except a complete redo. Therefore, I am totally against polished & clearcoated rims! I recommend maintaining polished rims & no clearcoating or go with either wet paint or powdercoating which can have nicks and scratches easily "touched up" and still look very presentable.

john

[bfons]

I recommend maintaining polished rims & no clearcoating or go with either wet paint or powdercoating which can have nicks and scratches easily "touched up" and still look very presentable.

john

John,

My Blazer has polished wheels that are impossible to keep a good shine on. What products do you use?

TIA

[jrcalvin]

In the past I have used Mother's and Simichrome which I usually buy at the Motorcycle shop for the chrome and polished aluminum on my custom Harley Davidson. I also have used Meguiars Metal Polish which you can buy at Autozone or Checker. They all work well with a little..er...a lot of elbow grease!

john