Pointless RS Build

[Ben from RI]

Background
Well I guess Ill start off with a little background. I'm Ben, I'm one of those mkv kids everyone seems to hate haha. I drive a candy white 09 GTI on air and on prima donna themed BBS Rs's. I'm building a set of 5x114.3 BBS RS's 16 x 7/8 ET 45 all around.

Now lets get a few things straight, 16 inch wheels are too small for a mkv, I am aware of this. I already have a finished set of wheels on my car I am very happy with. I purchased this set strategically. I have been known to be a bit of a wheel whore in the past. I do not want to build a set I would want to run. The 45 offset is perfect because I intend on selling them. the 45 allows for some play for spacers / adapters, being sure that the wheels are not limited due to restricted offset. I am also not building this set to make any money, however, I do hope to sell them and I will be happy if I break even. In the past I have disassembled and reassembled a RS that was giving me issues with leaking. I got it fixed but it was not pretty haha. I plan on building this set being detailed, both in the build process and in my work. One other reason I'm doing this is I have the next month off from school for winter intersession, and I need something to keep my hands busy. Like I said I'm familiar with the process and have read more then enough on the topic. I know most of the questions people ask and will try to cover most of the topics and tactics in this build

Plan
I would like the end result to be a set of pristine wheels with a minimal amount of flaws. currently 16 x 7/8, hoping to end with 16 x 8/9 (something to keep in mind if you think you would be interested) I plan on disasembeling these wheels paying attention to detail and taking my time (like I said i have over a month) Once taken apart I plan on cleaning each piece to it's best condition and removing all sealant, thread-lock, rubber yata yata..I will be stripping the barrels and painting them. I plan on stripping, sanding and polishing all the lips to a mirror shine. The bolts will be cleaned thoroughly, then tumbled to a shine. Once clean I will re-polish the heads to ensure perfection. a similar plan awaits the Hex's. They will be stripped of all clear coat, sanded and polished. I will be ordering brand new center caps. These will be chosen when the time comes based on how the center of the wheel is finished. I then plan on making the 8's the front wheel and ordering new lips for the 7's to make them 9's outback. As for the reassembly and sealing. I plan on being sure they hold air over time. I don't plan on spending all the time and hard work to hand to project off incomplete to someone else..

PLEASE READ.
Keep in mind this set is not for my car and will be up for sale upon completion, contact me if interested (especialy if your interested in the color / finish on the centers). Tell your friends, WHATEVER.

Well here they are...

Here is the visible damage on the majority of the wheels:
-Pealing clear-coat / minor rash on one wheel (not pictured)

-Pealing clear coat / scratches on the Hex's

The wheels have most of the damage you would expect to see on a set they're age. Good news is the barrels are straight as an arrow

-Some of the materials


-Centers disassembled. Two of the center caps have small cracks, I will probably end up getting another set. (something to consider if you are interested in these wheels as the build goes on)


Before I picked up the set I had a set of polished RS bolts sitting around the house. The plan was to put those in the wheels when it came time for reassembly. Upon inspection of the current bolts, they are already pretty shiny. In the end I will be using the set that is most lusterous, not mixing and matching the cleanest ones.

Bolt Cleaning
some materials..

Let them sit in a Coke / vinegar combo to get the majority of gunk off... worked much better then I thought it would.

Had to use this brush to remove the majority of the old sealant and thread lock.

The next step was to get them as polished as possible. Starting with a bath in my media tumbler.

I then went and hand polished all the tips.

Poor photography skills and flash mask the true shine, but for the most part flawless.

Couple hours, 5 sprites, a few hours of primetime cable and some lunch.. I finished them all. Tedious but rewarding.

Wheel Disassembly

This picture shows what one of the seals looks like. This wheel was reassembled by the previous owner. Must have been the first one in his process as he was testing the waters because to say there was excessive sealant and thread-lock is an understatement (not to discredit him in anyway, my first set one was probably worse then this.


Today is Dec. 11 and I plan on doing the rest of the posts from here on in response form, so read on

tomorrow is another day..

Ps leave feadback and as I've stated about five times now if you are interested in these wheels at any point along the build process contact me. You can follow the progression and have a say in the build and if we make arangments you can have a say in the color/finish/outcome. As I stated I'm not planning on selling these to many any cash and all expenditures will be documented and evident in the end outcome of these wheels. I would love to take my time building a set of sweet Rs's and then see them rolling around Ocean City this summer

[jeremyz]

of course im watching!

[Golfatron3]

Nice work so far!

Just a few things you should be aware of. As you know, refinishing RS's gets expensive fast. You will be very lucky to break even (ask me how I know) so it is a good idea to set up a budget beforehand. Obviously, I'm not trying to discourage you but I've built a couple of sets and lost money every time.

Another thing, keep your ET's in mind - if you have 16x7/8 ET 45 all around, your ET is going to decrease if you add wider lips. So for instance if you take the 16x7 wheel and add 2" of lip your ET is going to be roughly somewhere around ET 19, making it less adapter friendly - so you may want to consider wider barrels as another option.

Good luck with the build!

[Ben from RI]

Thanks for the input man, it's much appreciated. As for the budget only thing I purchased so far was some of the sandpaper, and I'm not sure how much longer the list will go. Before I started the project I made sure I had most of what I need.. As of now the list is: New centers caps, sealant and lips. I agree that this is not a profitable process but it's something I wanted to see how well I could do.

As for the change in offset, I might have been a bit unclear at the top of the build the 45 also allotted me some change in the lip size. I have a friend with some barrels sitting around and might end up making a swap so who knows. Like I said allot of this can be decided if someone contents me about the rebuild and wants to have some say in the process. It would be a different type of purchase, seeing your wheels built and seeing the expenditures along the way.

[Teebo,yo]

Hahah Nice to see you starting quickly man i will be in for the show

[Ben from RI]

haha hey man! Yeah got started real quick, today was a big day. I was not looking forward to the process or un-bolting and breaking all the seals but I got started. I figured I would spend my day wrestling with a impact gun in one hand and a wrench in the other, get a bunch of bolts loose and then take a break (give up) but my buddy stopped by making the whole process a bit easier and we got a ishload done in some good time.
Laid out in the garage

My car, in for the winter, dirty wheels

Some shots of how dirty the barrels were, sprayed them with some greeeeeease lightning !!

Simply can't beat the impact wrench method

Wrench on the other side

More progress..

took a bit but we got them boltless

Now I was expecinting a fight when taking these wheels appart... The seals seemed tough off the bat and as I showed earlier one of them was pretty much dripping with excell sylacone. We tried a ton of methods with a wood hammar and dowel to no avail. Got really frustrated and decided to blow off some steam by starting to clean them off. I know it's not a smart idea to mix chemicals but we said F-it. With a mixture or grease lightning, pb blaster, simple green and ZAP we did a lot of scrubbing


got allot more done but never snapped a shot.. Now back to the seperation.. We tried everyhting hammer here, hammer there, even put one in the oven...

Trying to break the seal by removing some silicone

Should I..?

F-it

Safety First

Chef De-peau waiting for his roasting BBS RS

Didn't do much since the seal is so far into the ridge. We went back to caveman status..

SUCCESS

Excess much?

Used this tire to help seperate the lip from face. 1 wack and it came right out each time...highly recommended

DONE

At this point we spent about 4 hours breaking them down...pretty good time if you ask me. Didn't come without frustration or a few choice words but in the end felt very accomplished. Becuase of this I felt like I'd have a tall boy and start stripping

that aircraft paint removed it crazy... eats through paint, and skin, BE SAFE

Went with the aerosol vs. the other kind...worked great



While I was stripping these I took the bolts I had in the media tumbler out.. Words can not express how perfect they came out. I thought about not putting pictures of it up because it does not do them justice.. they look like sterling silver.


Overall great day.. got allot done.. not bad considering I picked the wheels up yesterday haha. Tommaro I plan on stripping the lips and hex's and getting so work done cleaning them back to factory clean. I've been keeping track of every expenditure, including cleaning materials just for fun and to keep track of my budget.

TO THOSE READING THIS AS A DIY Separating a wheel can be stressful and frustrating. I tried it all...oven hammer, everything. DONT STOP keep hammering away, each swing weakens the seal and gets you that much closer.

Stay classy boys

[mayoforlife2]

im in for the finish, im looking to buy some wheels and re doing them and painting the centers.

[Teebo,yo]

Hahah damn man, Im gonna show the kid that previously owned them hes gonna cry! looks great homie keep it up

[Ben from RI]

haha thanks man, feels good to have a project and dive right in. I'm tempted to go back to the basement and continue stripping but it's been a long day

Still looking for some ideas on how to finish them.. as of right now they will be getting polished lips, bolts black barrels and a certain nissan color I can not reveal. At this rate no one will have a say in the outcome

[KyleRI]

Wait RS's are multipiece?

Cant wait to see the final outcome. Might be doing this over break as well.

[Ben from RI]

haha no rm's here bra

u know what parts I have if u wanna buy some, and if ya need some help I gotcha

[dubTography]

looking good so far bro

[steve89]

Cool story Ben.

[KyleRI]

haha no rm's here bra

u know what parts I have if u wanna buy some, and if ya need some help I gotcha

I'm on that big boy status now bra. And I might want another set of hands helping me polish me lips.

Which I have reason to believe may still have factory clear in them.

Insert headbang.

[Ben from RI]

haha thats where I'm at now, get stripping big boy. Ok time to get to work

[KyleRI]

haha thats where I'm at now, get stripping big boy. Ok time to get to work

Pictures or it didn't happen Racheal Ray.

[Ben from RI]

Ok today was interesting. I have a final exam online tomorrow at 7am so I was planning on making it a light day and calling it a day a little earlier then normal. So my original plan was to clean the barrels back to factory paint: removing all silicon, grime, break dust, balancing weights and adhesive. I would then continue my work on the hex's and try to get them sanded. I'll let the pictures tell the story

First things first, Set the mood

The problem spots


After about half hour scrubbing on each..

Used a razor to try and scrape some of the silicone off

Even with the razor allot of it wouldn't come off So I tried some sandpaper with little success

If i was going to sand down that part of the barrel might as well save some time..This is when the day became fun

Perfection


A little comparison

My inspiration was right in front of me incase of frustration

The fuel..

took the angle grinder to the inside to remove any imperfections


Saved the best for last..

Also took it to the inner lip to get rid of some of the rubber from the tires



Now here is where the day took a turn. My plan for the barrels was to see how clean I could get them and if I felt the need, paint them to neaten them up a bit. Decided I would sand them down and paint them correctly. Messy, and time consuming

Parents seemed confused when I explained why I was painting a part that was going to be under a tire anyways.. but why not do it 100% then half ass anything in life. The insides I was particularly thorough on since that will take more abuse then the outer barrel

But got distracted when this came, my other winter project, more air goodies... Upping my system to 4 compressors and hard-lines



Now back to the wheels... Grinded down the outside and inside of the barrels. Didn't get too many pictures here because there was dust from paint EVERYWHERE and didn't want to mess up my camera.
Some comparison


How I left it for the night


I know it doesn't seem like much today but the grinding took forever and I was sure I was being thorough. I know it seems a bit stupid to spend so much time cleaning the barrels and the OE paint did look pretty decent but I wanna do this right, and leave every part perfect in the end

Please keep the input coming, ideas, advice, whatever

Be easy

[mayoforlife2]

im in till there done im going to be doing a set this winter also so its a learning process

[Ben from RI]

awesome man glad to hear it. If you have any questions on things I'm doing, things you plan on doing or ideas be sure to ask / tell

[mayoforlife2]

will do i play on getting them next week there work vs-xx. But im going to be repainting the faces and clean and polish bolts and barrels. But once i get in to it im sure ill have some quesitons. But the once again your build forums are so complex who needs to ask questions

[Ben from RI]

Final exam done - Early bird gets the worm

[Ben from RI]

12-14

Ok so my plan for was to make today "barrel day" that is: finish sanding them down, prime them and paint them. Not sure if I posted this anywhere before but my goal for this project is to cut no corners, do everything right, and pay for as little as possible, work that is. Sadly today was kind of a flop, not feeling too motavated but I wanted to finish with the angle grinder... Got sick of blowing out black boogers and being covered in dust.

Frist things first, lets get the car AWAY from the mess today. she took a beating yesterday haha

Now, back to the grind

Couple hours later...



This is the part I got frustrated with.. I guess with good reason, doing the barrels was pretty tiring and I got sick of finding this in my nose.. and yes i wore a mask / bandana

I felt bad for wanting to stop to instead I decided I would finish anything that required grinding.

heres the face mounts, one dirty - one sanded




Once I was done with that I cleaned and took all the parts into my workshop where the detailing can happen (in the heat )

Faces all cleaned up and ready to be stripped

Barrel's looking just how I want them, one quick once over with 80 grit and they should be good to prime and paint asap

Centers are stripped and ready for sanding

Bolts - both sets looking perfect.. I recommend the media tumbler to anyone doing small bit polishing

Lips I did a poor job on I just wanted to get the bolt holes looking flat and remove all the extra silicon. Those are ready to get stripped and sanded


Idk.. sanded RS





I feel bad I stopped a bit early, just wanted to be done with the grinding so I could clean my car and put it back. I'm going to make a little list here just to motivate myself through the process of what is left to be done..

Barrels- Prime, paint
Faces / waffle- strip, sand, prime, paint
Lips- strip, sand, polish
Bolts- DONE
Hex- Sand polish

Assemble and seal. (11 days till xmas)

[OVRWRKD]

This is some project you got going on, they're going to come out perfect! Good job If you get bored, I got some wheel parts you could work on for me

[Ben from RI]

aha hey man! yeah im hoping it all comes out perfect.. what parts u need help with? i owe ya for those lugs haha

[OVRWRKD]

Haha, I actually just got my faces back from redrill. My stocks were stolen while I was away on travel so I'm about a month behind on my wheel project, good thing the locals owe me some favors

[Ben from RI]

thats no good man =/

[Ben from RI]

Getting some color today something, bright

[dubTography]

Getting some color today something, bright

[Ben from RI]

Yeah I guess my wording wasn't good, nothing BRIGHT or neon but the color is really eye catching and worth a second look

[mayoforlife2]

no pictures today AHHHHH cant wait

[Ben from RI]

yeah, sadly might be a few days before the pieces getting powdercoat get back until then... lips and hex's undergo heavy strip sand and polish. gotta make then deserve the faces they are going on. This color is awesome

[mayoforlife2]

cant wait. im still decicing what color im going to do my works. with that machine you use to polish your bolts work on black ones too

[Ben from RI]

That machine is not a polisher per say. Pretty much all it does is vibrate all the media (I used plastic but theres many different types) and the friction cleans them. If your dealing with a polishable metal just add a LITTLE metal polish and it should give them a nice shine. DO NOTE USE ALLOT a few drips of polish spread accross the surface should do. You dont want to lubricate the plastic and limit friction.

to answer your question if you strip the bolts of the paint it will work. I suggest using the same aircraft stripped I used on my hex's and lips have fun with that on 120+ bolts.. ahha

[mayoforlife2]

yea i might just keep them black and then hand polish them . i didnt know if what you use would clean them up some or all they would need is just to polish with a q tip

[Ben from RI]

Sorry I've been a bit behind after spending 3-4 days in a garage cleaning wheels covered in all kinds of isht only to spend more time grinding more isht to clean up I took a little break. As mentioned above the barrels and faces are getting color and I'm currently in the process or finishing the hexs and starting the lips.

8 days till xmas