These were staggered 18x8 and 18x9, ET40, 5x114.3, front-mounted, numbered LMP080 and LMP081 and built early 2001. Original condition was still pretty tip-top; some of the edges of the lips were rashed but had very little oxidation (clearcoat has been kept well; most likely hasn't been used/stored close to the sea nor used in snow conditions).
Bolts were easy to unscrew and unlike BBS RS, these are 2-piece and don't require a sealant as the barrel is one piece, so it wasn't a messy affair taking everything apart.
Only some of the bolts showed minor fading but nothing bad that the camera could capture.
The centres and barrels showed only slight imperfections here and there from exposure to brake dust. All four spun true on the balancing machine.
I sent the barrels off to Greg, the sole operator of Magman @ Punchbowl. He was already working on some BBS LMs, but their condition were much worse. Salt must've broke down and gotten past the clearcoat and even the paint of the centres, with heavy oxidation showing on the lips and particularly the centres, which were completely rotten and exhibited a shitload of tinworm under the paint. That said, Greg had trouble stripping the paint off using his industrial grade paint stripping solution, proving that BBS are a quality wheel that provides a quality finish, but even that didn't protect them from the harsh nature of being stored/used close to the sea.
All I can say about Greg is he's a good-natured bloke that is not only good at what he does, but provides a service that is rarely matched by others in the industry. I would not hesitate to recommend him to others looking at getting wheel repairs done.
I repolished the lips with a finishing polish liquid compound that I prefer using compared to other branded compounds; it's a local product that I found at Pep Boys. It's a very fine polish and takes out imperfections that even some polishes leave behind. Also bought one of those polishing cone pads by Mothers. Soft and non-abrasive, and quite easy to use as it gets in between the bolts quite easily without you having to operate the drill close to the rim. A bit expensive though.
Came out pretty nice.
Some of the deeper gutter rashes were left behind. To try and get rid of them would mean the edge of the lip would need to be machined down a lot further. Filling any resulting rash after machining can smooth the edge over nicely but polishing the area would be impossible as it would no longer be a metal surface. If the lip was to be painted then that's OK, but to keep that polished finish, no filler can be used.
Bolts were cleaned with a soft nylon brush in soapy water.
Torque was set to 28 ft lbs as the bolts and nuts were to be reused.
An hour later, it was all back together again.
It was an easy rebuild due to the original condition of the wheels. Though I'll need to get my own polishing setup soon so I can do my own polishing.
Hopefully Cam will be going to ILV in Melbourne during March so I can take photos of the car sitting pretty on these LMs. If that happens, I'll be sure to post them up here.
Rest of the photos (not much more) in my Photobucket - http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/rayray086/RAWWorks/Cam%20BBS%20LM/
