Disassembling 2 piece Wheels - help

[civeng]

I have a set of style 5, 2 piece BBS wheels that I attempting to restore myself. My problem: I have taken the thirty or so nuts off the rim screws, but I am leary of hitting the inner piece of wheel too hard with a mallet to free it from the outer piece so as not to damage either. Anyone with any suggestions how to pull apart the two pieces. Furthermore, what is the easiest way to remove the bolts/rim screws from the outer part of the wheel and where can replacement rim screws be purchased for a reasonable price?

[BeastPower]

Originally Posted by civeng

I have a set of style 5, 2 piece BBS wheels that I attempting to restore myself. My problem: I have taken the thirty or so nuts off the rim screws, but I am leary of hitting the inner piece of wheel too hard with a mallet to free it from the outer piece so as not to damage either. Anyone with any suggestions how to pull apart the two pieces. Furthermore, what is the easiest way to remove the bolts/rim screws from the outer part of the wheel and where can replacement rim screws be purchased for a reasonable price?

Welcome to 5driver! I would not recommend working on these wheels yourself. There are many pros that will do this for not much money. In the end you may damage the wheels, which is cost a lot more to fix than the initial repair done by a pro.

Cheers, Daniel.

[civeng]

Daniel: Thanks for the advice. I have been successful with separating the the inner casting from the outer wheel with the application an even distribition of low heat and some patience. Apparently, the there was some corrosion between the contact points of the two metals. I have managed two remove the clear coat with soft strip remover and have started polishing the the lip of the wheels by wet sanding with progressively finer cabide sand paper grits 220, 400, 600 and 1500 and finally polishing. The wheel lips look as though they were chromed. The wheel fasteners have been carefully removed, stripped of clear coat and lock-tite. I have managed to salvage all the fasteners. The fasteners where carefully placed in drill chuck the exposed faces have been polished utilizing extra fine steel wool.

Recently, I attended the Toronto Auto Show and came across one of more reputable companies that had a video demonstration of the wheel refinishing process and sample wheels demonstrating before and after. The cost for wheel refinishing is approximately $125 each (Canadian) and not unreasonable considering the work is tedious and time consuming. However, I was somewhat disappointed that the backside and inner lip of the wheels had been sand blasted, but had not been painted to match the rest of the finish or as a minimum clear powder coated. Cleaning brake dust would be near impossible after installation and the wheel would be exposed to corrosion. Another disappointment is that the clear powder coat appears to significantly reduce the shine of the wheel after application and has a slight yellow appearance similar to that of an oil based polyureathane.

I will likely utilize a water clear ureathane with a hardener additive that can be purchased from an automotive paint supplier. I am still debating whether I should paint the middle casting black to match the car or stay with the original bbs silver.

[BeastPower]

Originally Posted by civeng

Daniel: Thanks for the advice. I have been successful with separating the the inner casting from the outer wheel with the application an even distribition of low heat and some patience. Apparently, the there was some corrosion between the contact points of the two metals. I have managed two remove the clear coat with soft strip remover and have started polishing the the lip of the wheels by wet sanding with progressively finer cabide sand paper grits 220, 400, 600 and 1500 and finally polishing. The wheel lips look as though they were chromed. The wheel fasteners have been carefully removed, stripped of clear coat and lock-tite. I have managed to salvage all the fasteners. The fasteners where carefully placed in drill chuck the exposed faces have been polished utilizing extra fine steel wool.

Recently, I attended the Toronto Auto Show and came across one of more reputable companies that had a video demonstration of the wheel refinishing process and sample wheels demonstrating before and after. The cost for wheel refinishing is approximately $125 each (Canadian) and not unreasonable considering the work is tedious and time consuming. However, I was somewhat disappointed that the backside and inner lip of the wheels had been sand blasted, but had not been painted to match the rest of the finish or as a minimum clear powder coated. Cleaning brake dust would be near impossible after installation and the wheel would be exposed to corrosion. Another disappointment is that the clear powder coat appears to significantly reduce the shine of the wheel after application and has a slight yellow appearance similar to that of an oil based polyureathane.

I will likely utilize a water clear ureathane with a hardener additive that can be purchased from an automotive paint supplier. I am still debating whether I should paint the middle casting black to match the car or stay with the original bbs silver.

Thank you for posting back the process you went through; I am sure it will be helpful to others.

Cheers, Daniel.