405 replies to this topic

[gilber33]

Black Betty, on 17 October 2011 - 12:18 AM, said:

whore.....

jealousy is off the charts right now

Self proclaimed wheel whore.

And thanks. RSs will be finished this winter sometime. I'll probably post them for sale at a price that resembles the work/money that went into refinishing them and see if I get that sort of price for them, but probably not. They need new hardware, centers repainted, new valves, and new inner barrels for two of them so they'll fit. We'll see how that goes.

[gilber33]

My low profile jacks.



Tethys coming off and hopefully going out this week.



And going back to batman status.



Polished the BBS center caps. Polished on the right, not on the left. might be hard to tell but they came out really nice.

[gilber33]

Little update. Got a first polish on the lips tonight


Going to harbor freight to get additional polish and buffer wheels for my drill so I can do some multi-stage polishing. And also getting a rock tumbler to refinish the bolts.

[550]

bergmjs, on 15 October 2011 - 04:57 AM, said:

Do not like lug covers. Otherwise, pretty wheels.

I know how you feel. I am sorta torn with these on the 242... I like the look with out, but I feel like something is missing then. (Like I need a center cap to hide the axle caps)

[gilber33]

Was planning on buying new bolts for these, but after learning how shitty all of the new bolts for BBS' are (unless they're oem BBS bolts) and that they are known for snapping, I decided to refinish my bolts too. Which includes stripping the clear coat off of all of them:



And then with a series of abrasive powders, polish them



After buying all this stuff for the bolts, I'm still about $200 under the cost of new bolts.

Also picked up a table mounted buffer from Harbor Freight that was an open box and just needs washers and bolts to hold the buffer wheels on for $30, normally $75. Will use this stuff to refinish any other wheels I pick up.

[scumcity14]

good call on re-finishing OE hardware..how well did the tumbler work?

[gilber33]

scumcity14, on 23 October 2011 - 12:12 PM, said:

good call on re-finishing OE hardware..how well did the tumbler work?

We'll find out hopefully tonight. The bolts spent the night in the stripper and I have to study today, so this evening I will clean them up and then give it a go. I want them to soak as long as possible so when I take them out of the stripper, I can just basically wipe the clear coat off of the bolts, not trying to sit and scrape clear coat from 136 bolts.

[gilber33]

So, it looks like the bolts are going to come out real nice. Pulled two bolts out of the bucket full of stripper and all I did was rinse them off with water and they are completely stripped. Will clean/scrub all of them tonight in some Simple Green and then toss them in the tumbler. Depending on how they look after the tumbler, may take each one to the polisher to brighten them up.

[gdizzle]

Get a buffing motor, loose muslin wheel and muslin wheel, some white rouge, and some dow corning 832 and you'll be ready to polish and seal the wheels. If you stripped the clear coat off, then you need to machine polish the lips, IMO. Looks good though, interested in seeing the end result!
http://www.grizzly.c...-Assembly/H3559

Edit: Just saw this

Quote

Also picked up a table mounted buffer from Harbor Freight that was an open box and just needs washers and bolts to hold the buffer wheels on for $30, normally $75. Will use this stuff to refinish any other wheels I pick up.

I did the above to this.

DSC_1228.jpg by KeysarPhoto, on Flickr

[gilber33]

Yup, have a buffer. Have all of the bolts cleaned, my apartment smells like the inside of a can of paint stripper, so that's awesome. Have to run to Harbor Freight to get more polishing material for the tumbler. Did not realize the thing needed to be like completely full. But going there now.

[gilber33]

Pretty good update

Bolts soaking in stripper, so gross



I was using my hands and rubber gloves to take the bolts out of the bucket and then rinse off, but the stripper started burning my hands through the gloves.



After rinsing off the stripper, dunked them in simple green, pulled them out and this is what I got, pretty good if you ask me, some of the bolts were still discolored (it's obvious that one wheel is not an original to this set, bolts have a different coating on them and the barrel/lip was not gold like the others, you can see one of the odd bolts in the middle on the left edge of the picture. Compare that bolt head o the one in the middle):




Weird to think that's over $300 in bolts right there, seeing has how cheap aftermarket bolts are $250 for a set.



Bolts in the tumbler



Used this stuff



This is one of the bolts I mentioned before after about ten minutes in there. I fucking love this tumbler.



All of them, still need to be washed again, have "sand" all over them still



It's nice to know that when I get another set of RSs or any three piece wheels for that matter, I'll have everything I need to completely refinish them.

Also stripped the center caps, going to start sanding those tonight to begin polishing




And this is what I have for polish, can anyone tell me what order to use them in???? I think white is last, but should I use the black or brow/red first?

[gdizzle]

the white bar is white rouge, it should be sufficient for the lips.

[gilber33]

gdizzle, on 24 October 2011 - 02:41 AM, said:

the white bar is white rouge, it should be sufficient for the lips.

Just by itself?

Just did a couple google searches which brought up a vwvortex how to and it recommends using the black first and then white. I think that's what I'll do. I'm trying to get a mirror finish on them.

[gilber33]

Two center caps stripped completely and sanded. These are going to take a shit load of polishing

[Oreo931]

Are you going to use adapters or have the wheels redrilled?

[gilber33]

Oreo931, on 24 October 2011 - 03:59 AM, said:

Are you going to use adapters or have the wheels redrilled?

Definitely using adapters. 31mm in the back and after I get new barrels made for the front they will get 19mm. I would redrill them, but I think that would make it 100x harder for me to sell them.

[scandalo]

Good progress Gabe! Love that you are getting into refinishing these wheels. Good work so far!

[gilber33]

scandalo, on 24 October 2011 - 04:11 AM, said:

Good progress Gabe! Love that you are getting into refinishing these wheels. Good work so far!

Thanks Stu! I didn't realize how many little pieces to these wheels there were, there's a lot of attention to detail. But, now that I have all these parts and tools for them, my intentions are to keep on purchasing split wheels and refinishing them. I had two missed opportunities this weekend on a set of BBS RC090 and a set of BBS RSs. Each time I called the seller there was someone there picking them up.

[gdizzle]

If the lips are already really smooth, and semi shiny, the white rouge will suffice. However, go w/ the black emery compound, and then the white rouge and you'll be in really good shape. Make sure you use the right pads for each type of compound for the proper cut. Also, prepare to have parts fly across the room and it also makes a huge mess.

[Double0]

Looking forward to seeing these re assembled and installed on your car. I have always loved this classic BBS mesh style of rim. I wanted a set of Style 5's on my car but never had the desire/time to refinish them.