# BBS RM restoration



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

My idea with this thread is for it to be a current diy with uploaded pictures and what not, but it will take me time to finish this project. I will definitely have then finished for the first local(detroit area) show of the year though. Working off a 10$ an hour job while finishing school doesn't leave a ton of money leftover lol.

I will say, I'm a perfectionist, these wheels will be perfect when finished, and I would love to show you the route I choose to accomplish this. These wheels are my first attempt at restoring wheels, but I restore forget l different items regularly as a hobby (boats and guitars more specifically) so I think I can pull this off pretty well.

I am applying many of hours of research to the ideas I already have, one thing I have learned already is that you can't get the lips off with the tires still on lol, this is where day 2 ends.

Day 1:








Pick up 4 of these on Craigslist, he was also on Michigan vw or mive, but I found them via cl. Normally I don't buy anything on cl unless it's a steal, these were bought at fair market value IMO at $575. I would rather do the work myself then pay $1500. No rings or center caps included and only 2 of 4 tires appear to be useable. On top of that 3/4 of the wheels have factory .5 lips and one has a 1.5 lip. This actually makes it easier on me as I just have to find one 1.5 lip now, since I want to run wider in the rear but I still want the easy offset in the front.

Day 2: 
Went to home depot and bought an 8mm 12 point socket. Only had it in a small $20 husky brand kit, so I went with that as I've been trying to expand my tool base lately. I also bought stripper for the clear coat and a fine sanding block to start. I don't have much rash so I hope to start with fine grit.









I started by breaking all 30 bolts loose
Then I backed each bolt out until it would come out by hand, because the 12 point socket really grips onto the bolts, it was much easier to remove the socket while it was still on the wrench and remove each bolt by hand.

After aimlessly trying several methods to remove the lip I gave up and decided I need to get the tires removed. That ends day 2 for me. I was hoping to have the lips stripped and first level of sand today but I was defeated. Any suggestions for splitting the wheels with the tires on would be great but Google had nothing for me. (I was hoping I could slip the wheels off after the lip popped off)

Day 3:
Got the tires pulled off today, and got 2 of the lips pulled, I decided I'm going to do 2 at a time because to lips have more rash then the other two, and as this is my first time I want to have these two lips be the learning curve just in case I mess it up. (The amount of work to seperate them with a small 1/4" socket wrench has nothing to do with it.....  )

Also, no pics but I put them in the oven for 5 mins at 300* to remove the lips. Came off pretty easily with a pry bar.

Next I took the lips to my work space, and sprayed on some stripper chemical from home depot. I don't reccomend the aerosol, as its much more work(it barely sprays out of the end) then just painting it on with a crappy brush. The first round got a ton off, and I pulled out a trusty scraper to remove it. I found this to be more work then just getting the air compressor out and blasting it away.

















After 3 coats I have it down to this









Hard to tell from the pic but its probably down to 20% at most left, with barely any elbow grease put in. They look great under the clear coat, finishing these should go really well.

The remaining clear coat is barely hanging on, I am guessing a power washer could pull it off. I'm going head to the hardware store and look at what my options are for a wire brush, as this would also probably have me finished by now. The hard part is getting deep into that well running through the middle.

Overall I must say the stripping down is going much easier then I expected. I wish I could say the same for the finding of the rm's center hex cap.

Day 4:
Finished the stripping with some more stripper and a fine 3m sponge. The YouTube video I watched said he used two pads per lip, but he used harbor freight ones. My pad lasted these two lips easy, and it didn't take much time, maybe ten minutes per lip, there was almost no oxidation and I this tool to even out some curb rash, not sure what it's called even but it's 120g 3m sanding wheel pretty much.









Here's the lips ready for the wheel, I will do a minor touch up before I start but I'm pooped for tonight









Day 5:
Spent about 40 minutes on just one lip, started with a denim wheel and it's matching compound. Complete disaster. Denim is completely covering my work shop now. Not only that, I didn't find it very effective. The cotton pad went much better. But the mother's polish really shocked me.
















It's not perfect, most likely from the poor denim wheel stage, but I'm going to redo it with trusty old sand paper. Probably start at 1000 grit up to 2000 grit.

Also, after the job is done I will try to reorganize this into a more diy.


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

So basically what I've done to the last three lips are as follows:


















this lip didn't have a clear coat on it since its not a BBS lip. Its a 1.5in that I saved for last since I figured it it would be the easiest and make for a clean and easy tutorial lol. Anyways, apply the strip and spread it around every ten minutes or so and add some more if you feel it needs it but there is no need to clean the wheel off until all of the stripping is complete. You would just be making more work for yourself and the other phases are hard enough work as it is










Remove the stripper and get some water, a medium and a fine sanding sponge.
Keep the sponge wet or you will have bigger swirls then you want and may have to break out 1000-2000 grit paper.
Also if your lips are rough you may want to go this route anyways.










Finished sanding it will look like this.










First polishing step is a denim wheel and brown Tripoli compound.

























The tripoli will be smudged across the wheel but you will be able to see it shining already. Clean with thinner or mineral spirits and repeat this process with a cloth wheel and white rouge


















Get out the mothers polish and elbow grease.








Done!


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

Reserved again*


----------



## red16vdub (Aug 21, 2009)

This is definitely the dumbest idea I've seen. Get the freaking tires dismounted :screwy:


----------



## BT12 (May 25, 2012)

Is the center sandwiched or reverse mounted? If its reversed you could try and just pound out the centers with 2 rubber mallets and just sand and polish the lips especially if you didnt break the seal. Ive read you have to air out the tires first


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

BT12 said:


> Is the center sandwiched or reverse mounted? If its reversed you could try and just pound out the centers with 2 rubber mallets and just sand and polish the lips especially if you didnt break the seal. Ive read you have to air out the tires first


They are 2 piece wheels, not 3 piece like the rs, so they are just mounted regularly. The center is attached to the barrel.





red16vdub said:


> This is definitely the dumbest idea I've seen. Get the freaking tires dismounted :screwy:


I don't see why it wasn't worth a shot. It probably would of worked if they weren't still sealed from BBS. The 20+ year old sealant is probably keeping it stuck pretty good.


----------



## BT12 (May 25, 2012)

Since its a 2 piece you dont need to dismount the tires. You can finish the lips with the tire still on.


----------



## BT12 (May 25, 2012)

As for the sealant... Try using
1 rubber mallet, hold it on the edges.
Use 2nd rubber mallet and hit it all around. 


If this doesnt work. Bring it to a shop with a drill press.


----------



## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

BT12 said:


> Since its a 2 piece you dont need to dismount the tires. You can finish the lips with the tire still on.


You do. It's not lip/barrel like the style 5's. It's barrel/center with replaceable lips in order to widen them.


----------



## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

If you're looking for info to help with the build, here are two that were documented of RM rebuilds:

- First BBS Build
- BBS RM Build, Once Again!!

If you need more information on a wheel configuration like this, Check out Dr.AK's build here on his RH's:

- Building Two Sets of RH ZW1

Also, I recommend looking through The Official Wheel Build Almanac & Reference Thread if you haven't already. I put a lot of information in there that could help you out.


----------



## 87vr6 (Jan 17, 2002)

hockeyizlife94 said:


> They are 2 piece wheels, not 3 piece like the rs, so they are just mounted regularly. The center is attached to the barrel.


Not all two piece wheels are like that. LMs and Super RS' are an example. Lip/barrel is one piece.


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

87vr6 said:


> Not all two piece wheels are like that. LMs and Super RS' are an example. Lip/barrel is one piece.


Rxii's are that way as well I believe.


----------



## BT12 (May 25, 2012)

My mistake. Thx dutch for clarifying, Thought the centers come out. Since the centers are attached to barrel i guess u going to have to dismount.

If u dont want to take it to take it outside you could always deflate and break the tire bead yourself i guess and then separate the lip...but its probably eaiser to just pay $5 to dismount


----------



## PSU (May 15, 2004)

RMs are barrel + center as a whole.

Only the lip comes off.


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

Bump for a little update


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

Got them ready for polishing tonight. Probably run to the store and do that tomorrow.


----------



## german2sn (Oct 10, 2009)

I am all about diy but these wheels can be bought new for less I do believe, I just recently trashed a wheel on a curb and had to replace one wheel and found this place online. it was a different style bbs that I ordered than the one in the thread, but I was quite pleased when I received the new one. check this site out guys http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/p-19519-aluminum-wheel-rim-15x65-69679.aspx


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

german2sn said:


> I am all about diy but these wheels can be bought new for less I do believe, I just recently trashed a wheel on a curb and had to replace one wheel and found this place online. it was a different style bbs that I ordered than the one in the thread, but I was quite pleased when I received the new one. check this site out guys http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/p-19519-aluminum-wheel-rim-15x65-69679.aspx


All's I have to say about that is I guarantee you will not find a new BBS RM for 117$ lol. If you do, buy it and sell it on here. NOS rm's would fetch a pretty penny. Reconditioned sets sell on here for $1500-2000. Like I said in my original post, I think I payed fair market value for these, if not maybe a little under.


----------



## german2sn (Oct 10, 2009)

Trust me I know what they go for on here. and the site I listed says there out of stock, which could mean their always out of stock because they don't stock that wheel, but it could also mean they do stock it and the couple sets they get in every so often sell the same day and a couple people walk away with a smile on their faces, doesn't hurt to check the site every so often or give them a call and ask. I do know that it was a bbs wheel I ordered and I received a brand new bbs wheel at my door three days later, after shipping it was $136


----------



## hockeyizlife94 (Mar 1, 2007)

Bump for an update


----------

