JRodigan's First "Real" Set of Wheels. BBS Style 5 Rebuild Thread!

[JRodigan]

Well, I finally picked up a set of nice wheels that will eventually go on my Saab.They're just standard BBS Style 5 RC090 17x8 ET20. I believe they're off an e39. I got what I think was a pretty decent deal on them. I went with a friend of mine to pick up a set of Style 42s and after he made is deal, the guy was like "I've got these Style 5s too if you know anyone that's interested in them." I was thinking about it but wasn't sure until the guy said "I just want like $300 for them." To which I replied "I'll back as soon as I can." Two weeks later I picked them up!

Now, they're not perfect by any means. The guy that had them before the guy I bought them painted them all black. Definitely not my style.

Wheel 1
things to come by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Wheel 2:
IMG_1565 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1567 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1569 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1575 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Wheel 3:
IMG_1581 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1586 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1587 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1588 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

They had these cheap stick on BBS logos. They are not coming back.
IMG_1589 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1591 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

And here's the fourth one. This is why I got them for $300...
IMG_1596 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1598 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1602 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

I did some work on wheel 1 today. I wanted to see what was under the paint on the lip. Not bad.
IMG_1547 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

IMG_1560 by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

List of what to do:
-Disassemble all four
-Decide what to do with wheel 4. New barrel or try to repair? What do you guys think?
-Strip the other lips
-Polish the bolts
-Sand blast centers
-Powder coat centers gold.
-Polish the lips
-Get polished metal hex caps with black and gold BBS centers

Won't be running these until next season, so I have plenty of time to get them perfect.

[1badg35]

honestly, that barrel is totally fixable but it might end up begin cheaper finding a new barrel if you have the right sources.

the aluminum hex caps over at spinfab.net I designed are selling out at an alarming rate, and we have the black/golds in stock too, so let me know if you want a set before this batch sells out. heres a pic someone just uploaded on IG of a set we sent out last week with some white/golds we supplied. hopefully they don't mind

[JRodigan]

GTO guy on here (Denny) is local to me and he's about to do some work on his Style 5s, so I'm probably going get one of his 8" Barrels.

Yep. Those are the hexes I was planning on getting. I'll probably wait awhile before I get them though. I'd like to get the powder coating done first and finish up the lips and bolts.

[ChanceTheNapper]

this should be good.

[JRodigan]

Stripped two more lips and disassembled three of them!

Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Bolts are dirty, but they look good. Only pic I got. They're soaking in Coke right now.
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Here's the rash uncovered:
by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

This wheel is by far the worst for rash:
by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

But so far so good!
by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

I started sand blasting one center, but it was really slow going.... Should I just go at them with stripper and power washer, then sand blast them?

by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Also, what's the best way to strip the center cap/lug cover?

[Crankey]

I've spoken with wheel shops and they can fix a bend like that BUT can do it with the wheel fully assembled. so it would be my advice to get that bend fixed first. shops local to me can fix it for about $100 and IMHO, original manufacturer lips are much preferred over something from Tunershop.

but seeing that you have taken them apart...I spose get a good used one and proceed from there.

all the curb rash will come out easy with a file, if you know how to use one properly. otherwise a DA sander will do ok too. I'd do the curb rash with maybe 280 grit. 320 will work but it'll take longer.

harsher grit will remove the rash faster but also take more time to sand out too. so there's the trade off.

anyway, not a bad deal overall. a nice refinishing project, they will look sweet on your Saab when your done.

stripper will do the job. I use Jasco Aircraft stripper. it's messy and don't wash that stuff off on the lawn. do it over a bucket and don't toss it down the drain either. let the rinse water evaporate and scrape the scum off the bucket and throw it in the trash. but that original factory BBS paint is tough stuff, so you may end up doing it twice or 3 times to get completely clean.

[JRodigan]

I actually haven't taken the bent wheel apart yet. Just got the tire removed today. I may call a couple shops and get some quotes since the rest of lip has almost no rash at all. Although I have another original BBS barrel lined up to buy if that doesn't work out.

[JRodigan]

I'm considering painting the centers so I make sure the caps match. Problem is I don't what color I need to get. I want this shade of gold, does anyone know where I can get this?

[Zic]

I used to be a lot on bimmerforums. And I remember the people who were refinishing style 5's, and painting them gold. Almost all of them used a spray can. The blsad part is I can't remember what the name was.
Tho I tink it was dulip color sungold or something like that. Some well known brand made the paint.

[Zic]

Did some digging around for you. The color was indeed sun gold that everyone used. Here is the fun part, some did the powder coat and could not powder the caps since they are plastic. The one you linked, powder coated the wheels. The one's that went with the spray paint, used dupont sun gold. Here is a great read for you.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...yle-5-question

[JRodigan]

Did some digging around for you. The color was indeed sun gold that everyone used. Here is the fun part, some did the powder coat and could not powder the caps since they are plastic. The one you linked, powder coated the wheels. The one's that went with the spray paint, used dupont sun gold. Here is a great read for you.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...yle-5-question

Great link, thanks for sharing!

My Love by Travis Cuykendall, on Flickr

This is what I'm going with. He says it's a Krylon Hammer finish gold.

[JRodigan]

Picked this up today to see what it would look like.
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Gonna say I'll probably go with it. haha
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

I still have some sand blasting on all the centers to do, I just did half of the once center to see how the color would look on the metal. I love it.

[Welfare]

That colour came up really nice.
Might have to look into something like that if i lose any more motivation in hand polishing them

[JRodigan]

So I bought a tumbler, and I've had a small batch of bolts going in corn husk for about 3 hours now, and they're not really the finish I'm wanting. What media do you guys suggest?

[JRodigan]

Got one polished. It was one with some bad rash.

Started with this:
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

After sanding:
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

After polishing:
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

I set one up. Love it.
Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

Untitled by Three Liter Turbo Photography, on Flickr

I'm working on the second lip now.