Nebula BBS split rim project

**Redbrick** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 19:23

Made a start stripping down my Nebulas ready for a refurb later this week.

Came apart very easily, thought the individual bolts holding the two pieces together would be delicate, no chance. Surprised there was no thread lock on them. The two pieces came apart with a well placed foot and a pull.

Main body will again be an anthracite colour.

Should I do the rim in the same colour or a contrasting silver?

Wife thinks it might look a little chav!

What do you think?

**pangster** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 19:27

i thought BBS rims were sweat fitted? i.e. you had to heat the outer rim to remove the insert??.,. obviously not though!!

i would recommend getting new bolts to put them back together again though.. just to be on the safe side..

as for colour - what colour is the car they are going on?.. if they are black the black centres with a polished lip would look the nuts in my opinion!

**kyebosh** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 19:27

I reckon the contrasting silver would look good.

**Redbrick** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 19:38

Originally Posted by pangster

i thought BBS rims were sweat fitted? i.e. you had to heat the outer rim to remove the insert??.,. obviously not though!!

i would recommend getting new bolts to put them back together again though.. just to be on the safe side..

as for colour - what colour is the car they are going on?.. if they are black the black centres with a polished lip would look the nuts in my opinion!

Yeah I heard the same! I've also heard that BBS have gone bust??? Might be tricky getting new bolts. To be fair the bolts are mint, with a little polish of the threads they should look like new. Need to find out what torque they should be done up to.

Hope it will look a bit like this but not so dark (Daves wheel):

**pangster** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 19:46

Originally Posted by Redbrick

Yeah I heard the same! I've also heard that BBS have gone bust??? Might be tricky getting new bolts. To be fair the bolts are mint, with a little polish of the threads they should look like new. Need to find out what torque they should be done up to.

Hope it will look a bit like this but not so dark (Daves wheel):

there's a thread on Volvospeed about suppliers of new bolts and what the torque should be.. i'm pretty sure you can find it with a quick search.. i think i might ahve it in my favourites though.. give me a sec..

**Redbrick** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 20:43

Seconds out.... lol

Well I've searched and found nothing.

You had any luck?

**pangster** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 21:11

Originally Posted by Redbrick

Seconds out.... lol

Well I've searched and found nothing.

You had any luck?

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...opic=98373&hl=

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...opic=98448&hl=

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...opic=97473&hl=

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...opic=95974&hl=

and can't seem to find the one i was looking for though as it did detail the torque... hmmm

**pangster** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 21:12

spoke to soon! - here you go:

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...32&hl=pangster

**PNuT** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 21:18

so..... why do red bricks have no thread lock???????

we need scooby to investigate

**pangster** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 21:27

Originally Posted by PNuT

so..... why do red bricks have no thread lock???????

we need scooby to investigate

pass??..

all i know is i'll be sending mine away to get refurbished instead of DIY'ing.. i've read too many horror stories about bolts snapping etc..

**siamblue** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 22:20

That's why i did split mine, heard too many bolts breaking, and with 4 alloys that is one hell of a lot of bolts to drill and retap,

**The Flying Banana** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 22:42

Its only a sweat fit if the middle goes in from the rear and the bolts which go in the front face draw the centre in. I took apart my BMW BBS the same way and they went together easily. Not one bolt issue either.

Tip for you RB...put the bolt on the head of a drill ( not too tight as to damage the thread) , push it into a cloth with autosol on it, 1 its easier on your finger and 2 its much quicker. The stainless bolts come up like chrome !!

**Redbrick** · Monday 11th August 2008, 00:43

Thanks for the links and tips

They were 'refurbed', read tarted up, by a company in Swindon. A cosmetic job that lasted about six months before the paint started to peel as they had not stripped them... to$$ers. They did split them though. This is probably why the bolts come out so easily.

Looking at the general condition of the bolts and the low torque needed there is no way I am going to spend more money on new ones. None of the refurb companies said they would replace the bolts- only if they broke them on removal. Fingers crossed I don't screw any up torquing them back up.

I'll post some photos of the process.

**mike k** · Tuesday 12th August 2008, 22:19

i have the same wheels, and mine need a refurb. i will just nip them back up with a spot of loctite on each. i like the two colour think, whats would go with a silver car well?
________
SAMANTHAXOXX

**Redbrick** · Thursday 14th August 2008, 00:11

Spent three hours trying to paint strip one centre, what a PITA! Took them down to my Father in Law who produced a compressor and sand blasting kit from Aldi!!

Made a box up and all rims and centres are now blasted clean, ready for some paint.

**woz** · Thursday 14th August 2008, 12:34

[QUOTE=Redbrick;175451]Spent three hours trying to paint strip one centre, what a PITA! Took them down to my Father in Law who produced a compressor and sand blasting kit from Aldi!!

Nice one RB - thanks for that. I bought one myself for my Bday present from lovely wife.
May I ask as I have not used the blast kit yet -
What grade of abrasive did you use?
And how long did it take per wheel??
Cheers
Woz

**Redbrick** · Friday 15th August 2008, 22:43

Hi Woz, used this stuff: <LINK>
Took about 45 mins per wheel, took longer building the blasting box. Using the box we probably only lost about 1kg of grit overall.

**Alan M** · Saturday 16th August 2008, 09:45

I'm looking at getting some of those Nebula rims which will be in need of a refurb so I may be bugging you in the near future about any problems I have when I stip them RB.

**Redbrick** · Sunday 17th August 2008, 19:53

This is turning into a bit of a 'mare'!
Sometimes you should just say 'that is good enough' and learn where to stop.
Its been a steep learning curve- thanks to Craig (Tomcat) for his help so far.
I have enjoyed it and I would be quicker next time. Some learns:
Use a water trap in the air line
Grit blast the paint off- don't use paint stripper
If the prep isn't spot on the end result will be poor.
You can't cover up blemishes with paint.
BBS bolts come up like new with a bench polisher.

Some photos:

A minor blemish that we thought we could perfect by putting a spot of paint over the sanded back bit. I thought I could sand it back and blend it in:

Ended up like this, needless to say I've given up for today- maybe the alloy wheel mice will come in the night and make it better.....

**Tomcat** · Sunday 17th August 2008, 21:02

Looking good so far (all bar the last photo....Eeeep!).

A water trap in the airline is a must, especialy on a warm day. If you don't have one then you'll just have to drain the compressor periodicaly through the day.

Paint stripper is a nightmare to remove before painting, even a tiny trace can wreek havoc on a paint job.

Good luck sorting it out, although it's been a pain in the rear you've done it all yourself and you'll be able to use the knowledge you've gained to paint other stuff(maybe even the car)..