My Refinishing Progress Style 5's (bbs rc090) PIC HEAVY

[SpazE36]

I know there are plenty of threads out there about refinishing Style 5's... but I figured I would add to the community and show pictures (I really like seeing others put TLC into old wheels and bring them back to life... so figured ya'll would too) I really enjoy doing this, I am certain I am borderline OCD... this type stuff really I feel is pleasurable to do especially bringing old items back and giving them a new lease on life.

Plans:
-Typical tear-down/Strip/wet-sand/polish barrels
-Gold centers
-Either black or gold hardware... I am unsure right now


I caught these on CL for super super cheap... they were bent up and then someone had spray painted the entire/whole wheels silver... -_- they need some love....












Let the progress begin

Tear down... I used 1/4" dewalt impact and WD-40 to remove all the nuts, then used blocks of wood and a 5# sledge to motivate the centers out




Cleaning before starting to strip paint...




Where I am at now... all wheels are cleaned, torn down, and then two are stripped ready for sanding and polish


The two that I have removed paint and clear, ready for the sanding to begin ... woohoo






Here is a quick video of how I removed the studs... a 16oz hammer and drift just wasn't working. I decided to go with 5# sledge and large drift, made very quick work of stud removal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dle9Vc2Mi78

[AHenry014]

Nice! Certainly satisfying refinishing a set of wheels. Getting the studs back in the barrel without marring them took some thinking. I used a nut larger than the major OD of the stud and tightened its nut, to pull it back into the barrel. Then the center got dropped in. I think the center flange may have been too thick to to use it to do the same. Make sure to line up the splines well. You'll know when they are seated. A dab a grease really helps too, especially if there is any sort of powder or paint on the spline area.

On one of the ones i did, the center was corroded/stuck to the barrel. No matter of sledge and wood would budge the think. Took nearly maxing out a 2000lb press to get that sucker to pop. Made quite the noise when it did.

[BMWM5E34]

Best wheels for any old Bimmer ever. Good job.

[SpazE36]

Best wheels for any old Bimmer ever. Good job.

I love them! They look 'proper' on an e34 I think

Nice! Certainly satisfying refinishing a set of wheels. Getting the studs back in the barrel without marring them took some thinking. I used a nut larger than the major OD of the stud and tightened its nut, to pull it back into the barrel. Then the center got dropped in. I think the center flange may have been too thick to to use it to do the same. Make sure to line up the splines well. You'll know when they are seated. A dab a grease really helps too, especially if there is any sort of powder or paint on the spline area.

On one of the ones i did, the center was corroded/stuck to the barrel. No matter of sledge and wood would budge the think. Took nearly maxing out a 2000lb press to get that sucker to pop. Made quite the noise when it did.

I can only imagine, two of mine fell out after one tap.... the other two had the typical aluminum corrosion on the back side all the way around the centers, I kept them soaked with WD-40 for 3 days (front of wheel facing down) and then removed as much corrosion from the inside of barrel that I could manage and then took many many whacks with the sledge and multiple blocks of wood. I had almost given up hope, but they finally started moving.

Great idea on pulling the splined studs back through tightening them on to a larger nut... I will have to borrow that idea! I bought a large jar of anti-seize to use on splines and then blue loc-tite for the nuts.

[SpazE36]

I got a little side tracked... I realized I didn't care to spend 10 hours on a single wheel wet sanding and polishing (I am anal/particular) lol


Sooo... I decided to make a little wheel polishing jig on the cheap (emphasis ON THE CHEAP)...


I am utilizing freebie stuff from work and laying around and an old drill.... here is the down and dirty concept:

-old hub horizontally mounted with ~13" tire/wheel combo that the barrel of wheel sets in (to rotate freely)
-80-20 Mount/arm to suspend drill to drive wheel (freebie from work)
-1" birch ply base (stuff I had laying around)



Quick little sketch up on SolidWorks to get rough dimensions....





Spent a little time on the Bridgeport, made a chucking mount for the drill out of some left over nylon and conduit u-bolt I found laying around...


Roughed up the contact surface to help hold drill, mounted to 2" al angle I found laying in the shop scrap bin at work



Found a spare composite wheel, and turned an M12 bolt down to make a spindle for wheel







This "polising/sanding jig" is definitely not going to be pretty.... but I don't really care. I just want something to rotate the wheel and give me access to the lip to sand and polish... to be continued when I have more time to spend in the shop!

Cheers

[dcardenas]

Definitely interested to see how you pull this off because I want to refinish my wheels but don't wanna do it by hand. I've been thinking belt sander which may be a little too rough.

[zubbie]

Did you us aircraft stripper to remove the clear?

[SpazE36]

Did you us aircraft stripper to remove the clear?

Yes sir...took about two good coats to work its way through the silver paint(previous owner) and then factory clear.... I don't have a picture of all 4 stripped, but the two on the left in this picture are stripped (I work on these in ~2hour segments) in between honey-do list items hahaha
IMG_0359 by Caleb Henley, on Flickr

[Onizukachan]

Looking good so far!

[SpazE36]

Some progress... I ended up using an old washing machine motor haha but I made a polishing jig. I also had to TIG some of the barrel lips they were curbed so bad... pics to follow....


IMG_6115 by


IMG_6092 by


IMG_6109 by

Hopefully I will have centers in within a couple weeks!!!!

[BleedsBlue]

Nice save on those lips! Awesome work.

[NAB]

Awesome! I want to a find a set on craigslist and do a full strip and rebuild!

[uscharalph]

When I did one set, I used a Vibratory Tumbler to polish all of the nuts and bolts. Did you send out the centers and/or inserts to be powder coated?

[SpazE36]

When I did one set, I used a Vibratory Tumbler to polish all of the nuts and bolts. Did you send out the centers and/or inserts to be powder coated?

Yes I did, to be powder coated gold oldskool