108 Refurbishment and Customisation

[easty027]

I like, they look really good, especially on your Z. i have been thinking of doing mine for some time after seeing the set on bmautosports website, the only thing that would concern me is the fact that the wheel could visually look smaller, as you are highliting the 'inner' rim, obviously being a smaller diameter than the outside, if you see what i mean.

When i was looking for my z I saw a set of black 108's on a grey z4 and it made the wheels look slightly smaller, from your pictures though it looks as if the colour is just right not to reduce the visual size, you must be well happy with them , and the fact they wont bubble!

 

[a11y]

I think this is a mod that you really have to 'tune' to the cars colour

Excellent pics CJ and I think your comment you posted earlier is very true: yours look so right on your car because of the colour match. I see what you mean about an overall theme. I'll probably play it safe and stick with silver when I get around to it (tools are ordered, FK452s are on the way too).

 

[Herminator]

If I keep my Z4 the alloys will be getting refurbed at some point this year.
I've been playing around with colours....
Bottom left is standard.

 

[cj10jeeper]

I'm not sure which I like most :| Probably top left as the very dark seem to look a bit too race or steath and I do like the contrast on your black Z

 

[Herminator]

I'll be leaving the pic as my desktop at work for a while, to see what I like over time.
Looking at it whilst at home now though, everything is much darker, a different monitor can make a huge difference. The flat black ones loose all their detail on this monitor

I'm leaning towards keeping them silver, or the top left, similar to your finish but maybe a touch blacker. Maybe by the summer I'll have a decision :tumbleweed:

 

[gannet]

I'd go for either top left or bottom left... as cj10jeeper says - existing contrast does look good

 

[cj10jeeper]

OK - hands up I made a mistake on the refurb. project

Pushing the boundaries a little I reckoned I could do something different and one aspect hasn't turned out as I hoped - the polished alloy lip on the 108's

Probably because we've laid down more salt in the last month on our roads than in the last decade and I've been too busy to remove it promptly, it has ripped through wax and poorboys like a knife through butter and started pitting the polished lip.

OK so I was hoping to do better than that, but no worries. I've done a quick test and can pull a rim off, split it, repolish and lacquer it in 30 minutes, so I'm in for a few hours work. Though I wanted to keep away from lacquer I can pull the stars out, mask the tyre and lay down a layer of lacquer which should have a 2 year life as I have no plans to remove the tyres in less than that. The sprayed inners and powder coat/wet paint stars are of course untouched by this rework and remain 'cool'.

Well the person who never made a mistake never made anything...

 

[Wondermike]

Interesting, I would have thought they would have lasted longer than that. Road salt is bad news :thumbsdown:

 

[Mr Whippy]

I'm thinking of re-doing mine, but tempted to just have the inners/outers re-done in two pack base/laquer, as right now the 'bodge' recon on my 108's doesn't looks so bad from a distance... only when up close can you really tell they are polished/diamond cut normally, so no huge loss, as they always do it (brothers Ford ST Mondeo wheels faces are diamond cut laquered and they are a common corrosion fault)

I'd prefer a great finish that lasts, rather than a fantastic finish that will corrode given time...

Though I may be tempted to just have three coats of laquer put down on a diamond cut wheel, just not sure if that is still tough enough. Clearly normal primer/base/laquer is much tougher than just laquer!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Well I split and redid 3 of mine today. Since my 'error' only let light corrosion start it was a quick job to clean each, repolish and then lacquer. Will do the last one this evening.

Mr Whippy - in doing yours there are really 3 distinct areas to work on. The stars, which really need a powder coat finish or significant paint and lacquer work for durability. The inners that can be either polished and clearcoat, or silver spray paint aqnd clearcoat and the outer plished lip, that will always look best polished up and lacquered, but may be more durable with a powder coat or paint and lacquer finish. Ir's all really a trade off of looks Vs durability

 

[Nerra]

How are your rims holding up CJ? What brand of laquer did you use?

 

[Rudd]

hey CJ,

this is probably the best DIY refurb i can find so im just going to ask if you have any tips for when i do mine as i am after a similar finish?

is the key for the bolts just a standard tool that i can pick up from anywhere?
and can you get the bolts from anywhere else? im thinking maybe i would get them in a different colour

what nitromors did you use?

how have they held up to the weather?

cheers

 

[cj10jeeper]

hey CJ,

this is probably the best DIY refurb i can find so im just going to ask if you have any tips for when i do mine as i am after a similar finish?

is the key for the bolts just a standard tool that i can pick up from anywhere?
and can you get the bolts from anywhere else? im thinking maybe i would get them in a different colour

what nitromors did you use?

how have they held up to the weather?

cheers

Short reply is:

Spline tool from here
http://www.toolmix.com/browse/product.asp?pid=72240&s52cnc=KELKOO-UK&s52r=KELKOOSHOPPING#

Take them our carefully to avoid stripping them. I have never found a source of replacement bolts, other than my local wheel guy who had a jar full

I used a tin of normal Nitromors that ate the varnish well.

They have lasted well enough in the many months since I did them for a daily driver. I will redo the lips in the spring in about 2 to 3 hours the lot, end to end. I can tell you better about condition after a salty winter, but the stars and inners will still be unmarked, but expect some marks on the lips.

 

[Rudd]

cheers CJ,

i take it by normal nitromors you mean this http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9254574&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=NITROMORS&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1259241675048&isSearch=true

just there are a few different kinds and i dont want to risk damaging the wheels.

 

[cj10jeeper]

cheers CJ,

i take it by normal nitromors you mean this http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9254574&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=NITROMORS&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1259241675048&isSearch=true

just there are a few different kinds and i dont want to risk damaging the wheels.

That's what I used ansd I can't see it damaging alloy. That said I left it on long enough to peel the lacquer up then of course there was a lot of sanding and down to fine polishing.

I'm sure there are other products ont he market, but wheel refurbers use some pretty aggressive stuff.

 

[lacroupade]

I posted this for someone else but never got to see if they bought any....if you search "split rim bolts" on ebay there are a few sellers.

Not sure about sizes though - any idea what the standard 108 bolt size is?

Ebay examples are:

32x Split rim bolts M7x32mm long, 8mm double hex head, chrome plated, high quality..Suitable for BBS RS RM OZ and other wheels.

or 16x M6 x26mm bolt

are either of these the right size?

And while perusing, I found a rather strange site called wheel-whores.com where, as well as discussing wheel matters, one can purchase a rather fetching t-shirt with the alluring, if a tad uncouth logo "Fake Splits Can F*ck Off" , or a cosy hoodie with the rather more sphincter-twitching epithet "I :heart: Rims".....oh my golly gosh!

 

[Leon.]

Hi CJ,

Great job initially refurbing these, nice to see people doing a 'proper' job

Polished lip always looks great with any colour, but yes, you do have to maintain it. I had 3 piece Work VS-XX on my MR2, and these had fully polished lips and centres. Somehow, the centres were always absolutely fine, but the lips were not. Like yours, they were hit by the salt and would pit. All I did was run some 400, 800, 1200, 1500 over them for 5 minutes, and they were good as new again.

Best thing to do is wash them as often as possible, and give them a dose of autosol afterwards to keep the surface fresh. Hope you've kept the polished lip, as it's the best look going

 

[doofus4000]

Local tyre shop got rid of the old RFT’s for me and a 12 point spline set was sourced from http://www.toolmix.com

Do you remember what size the socket was for removing the bolts? 8mm? Im going for a DIY refurb and want to see if I can get the spline socket from a friend before having to buy a whole set. thanks

 

[Drshemming]

Sorry for this being a question on such an old topic but I just cannot find an answer on the net, CJ what laquer did you use on the polished rims and how has it held up, as I am thinking of doing a similar refurb.

many thanks

 

[Adamski]

I think he left them bare metal


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