Refinishing BBS RC090 Wheels - Pictorial and Video

[Slownrusty]

I refinished a set of RC090s not too long ago and pleased with the end result

It is a lot of work (easily 8/hrs per wheel) and very dusty/ dirty too, but worth it.

These wheels are held together with splined bolts so splitting them apart is fair bit of work with the years of brake dust and grime that cause the bolt to bind. I bought brand new splined polished bolts from the UK and did not re-use the OEM bolts.

I powder coated the centers on my wheels in a metallic silver.

For the lips, I stripped the factory clear coat and then used three types of clay polishing compound (coarse, medium and fine) to get the mirror finish.

Please use a mask and protective clothing if you attempt this.

these are the wheels before, when I first bought them, you can see they have curb damage as well:

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[Slownrusty]

In the pictures below, I have split them apart:

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Faces ready t be powder coated along with some other engine parts:

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Paint Stripper, bubbling up the old clear coat:

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[Slownrusty]

To remove the curb damage I use a 90-degree die grinder on my air compressor and fibrous wheels of varying roughness (from coarse to fine) depending how severe the damage is. This takes some experience as you will need to work the aluminum back and forth and shape it to retain the original curvature and of course not remove too much material in the process. If the curb damage is severe, it will require filling the damage with a TIG weld and then shaping it, which will add at least 1-2 more hours.

After two passes of polishing, here is a side by side:

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Then completely polished with new hardware (torqued to 22ft.lbs)

BBS RC090 After.JPG (982.26 KiB) Viewed 4689 times

And a side by side comparison:

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I hope this video helps as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUg12Mk-JE&t=1s

And mounted on the car:

BBS Mounted 4.JPG (1.16 MiB) Viewed 4689 times

[hornhospital]

WOW!

[MrE]

Very impressive work mate, well done.

[Slownrusty]

Thank-you!

[anchored]

Question.

Is the stripper you used the old style with methylene chloride.

The new stuff is absolutely useless

[Slownrusty]

Question.

Is the stripper you used the old style with methylene chloride.

The new stuff is absolutely useless

That is 100% correct, I had an old can laying around and it works like magic....the new stuff is crap.

[anchored]

Yeah. I need to figure out where I can get the deadly stuff.

I tried and failed and now my wheel is orange using the new stuff.

I think I am just going to keep hitting up yard sales until I find some.

[hornhospital]

I've been restoring and rebuilding locomotive air horns for 20+ years (thus the hornhospital screen name). I had to quit a few years ago due to health issues. While active I had to remove some truly tough paint, Dupont Imron. Properly applied it is nearly impervious to all conventional paint removers, and is tough enough to resist all but the most aggressive media blasting techniques. The railroads used Imron extensively, including on their air horns.

To remove the stuff I resorted to mixing Dad's Easy Strip with Citristrip. That worked until Dad's took the methylene chloride out of their stripper. I then started adding methylene chloride to the weakened (and near useless) Dad's "safer" formula. You can buy methylene chloride from many industrial paint suppliers.

DISCLAIMER: Methylene chloride is NASTY, DANGEROUS STUFF to deal with. Wear protective clothing, chemical resistant gloves (NOT PLAIN RUBBER GLOVES) and eye protection. Get this stuff in an eye and it's not only incredibly painful, you will most likely lose your sight in that eye. It is also carcinogenic, so limit your exposure. Why use it? Because it works better than any other paint stripper. IF you decide to use it, you're on your own.

[Slownrusty]

@hornhospital - Thanks for chiming in and providing the suggestion on the Methylene Chloride (I'm definitely keeping this tip for the future).

BTW neat hobby restoring locomotive air horns!

[M718ax]

Great work. Looking good

[DennisLJacob]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm looking for new hardware for my RC090/RC091 wheels and would like to find a source.

[anchored]

I bought my hardware from https://ewheelworks.us/pages/shop

Good guy. The conversion kit, while a bit expensive looks great on these wheels!

[bpoliakoff]

Those bolts are not splined as original. After speaking with several wheel restorers in town, I determined new hardware was not necessary and I had my originals chromed at a cost of about $1.50 for each pair of nut and bolt. Those bolts are torque specific but I am not sure what it was. What I did was to take a torque reading on several when I broke them loose and determined what the values were, I think around 20' #s But you can google it and get an exact answer. I used a "beam" torque wrench when braking them as I could get a better reading

[Slownrusty]

Dennis - These are the bolts I bought out of the UK.

Shipping was fast (about 1 week). As you can see they have the OEM spline.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185982069737?h ... R5zss_XGYg

[anchored]

I opted to skip the splines, they are an absolute pain to install.

[Slownrusty]

I opted to skip the splines, they are an absolute pain to install.

Very true.
When I bought the new stainless spline bolts, the trick I used was a dab of grease on the spline and once I got them to grab in the grooves, the nut on the back side pulled them tight and I was able to torque them to 22-ft.lbs. Lots of work for sure.

[DennisLJacob]

What size tire are you going to install on the restored wheels? If 235/45, will you rub on the inside spring perch? Mine do slightly. What size spacer/hub centric ring would you use?

[bpoliakoff]

I opted to skip the splines, they are an absolute pain to install.

Very true.
When I bought the new stainless spline bolts, the trick I used was a dab of grease on the spline and once I got them to grab in the grooves, the nut on the back side pulled them tight and I was able to torque them to 22-ft.lbs. Lots of work for sure.

I gave a light "pop" to mine wiih a rubber mallet to start them. Tightening the nuts drew them right in. Not difficult at all. 22'#s is the correct # IIRC. As to spacers I am running 235X45's. They clear the struts by about 1/4". If that seems to be a problem, I will get some spacers ,5mm, and if too much I will have them machined down to a lessor thickness

[Tommys 89 635]

wow, super job

[Slownrusty]

What size tire are you going to install on the restored wheels? If 235/45, will you rub on the inside spring perch? Mine do slightly. What size spacer/hub centric ring would you use?

Hi Dennis - On this car I ran 1" spacers front and rear. to fill out the wheel wells, no rubbing whatsoever. Got your note on YouTube as well.

Tire sizes:
Front: 215/45/17
Rear: 235/45/17

Here are some better pictures of the car with the "tucked" bumpers installed and the car 100% completed (incidentally, I sold this car on BaT a few years ago):

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My best,
Yasin

[DennisLJacob]

Did you use longer wheel bolts or did you convert to studs? If so did the studs interfere with the center cap? What length studs did you use?

[Slownrusty]

Did you use longer wheel bolts or did you convert to studs? If so did the studs interfere with the center cap? What length studs did you use?

I used longer bolts.

Interestingly my Dinan Turbo M635 has been studded in the front to accommodate the larger Wilwood brakes.

[bpoliakoff]

Here is one of mine. Professionally polished at $40 per wheel plus all hardware newly chromed Center caps are from a '90's Lincoln town car and fit perfectly. Rondel came from a BMW dealer and also fit exactly right If you are so inlined the BBS logos will fit as well

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