Forrest

I now have four wheels totally split up. Here is my best method to tackle it with some associated pics, obviously there are a few shortcuts to what I did, but I was trying to minimize extra costs. 1. Spray with penetrate spray before hand on all bolts and nuts both side. Take a 8mm 12pt ring spanner on the front bolt, a 10mm 12pt socket with ratchet attached, undo and push the bolts out (you may need a hammer and nail punch), repeat 30 times per wheel. 2. Take the tyre valve out. A 14mm spanner on the front of the valve, a big flat head screwdriver on the rear to hold it in place, undo and push out, a couple of mine were so loose, no wonder the tyres were leaking air Be careful you don't damage the seal, they are about $40 each to replace. 3. Mark the three bits of the wheel so you can put it back in essentially the same place so it is easier to re-balance. Also label the wheel so you don't get them all mixed up. 4. Next, tackle taking the front lip off. You will see a small bead of silicone on the wheel, cut this off and cut a little into the wheel with a stanley knife/razor blade. Then get a heat gun (mine is heat adjustable, so I found 350deg worked great, run it around the siliconed area you just cut into. Get your chosen BFH and wack the sh*t behind the lip and it should crack off after a few hits on opposing sides of the wheel. 4. For the center piece removal, repeat the above steps but don't hit it with a hammer put a blanket/towel on the ground then a old tyre, put the wheel face down then wack it with a big block of wood right in the middle near the wheel bolt holes and eventually it will crack loose, watch out for splinters. 5. You will now have your wheels in 3 bits, repeat this four times and then get ready for prep and paint. That's all for now

^ Haha comedian. I have split all four wheels, I am just busy writing a spiel on the way I found easiest to split them up.

Race compound brake pads, high temp brake fluid, R888's, assortment of urethane bushes. Thats my guess

^ Ha The bimmersport gods have spoken. Guess I am stuck with it now

f**k off Brett

^ The only thing that is holding me back ha is how long it takes to take these apart, and you should see my knuckles...lol and if they look silly I will have to redo em...haha.

^ Shoulda just left em silver...lol

Guess who is thinking gold centers will look far better in the long run. They are chillin on the floor in my bedroom staring at me. Maybe technoviolet wing mirrors will suffice? It is this car that makes me have second thoughts, I wish I had never found it. Thought I would put some other E30 stuff in this thread too. Painting up the insert on my Alpina wing today a' la' Tech1 style and hopefully get all four wheels apart and stripped ready to start sanding.

I told you, try and find 4 new mini cooper spare wheels + 25mm spacers and you'll have 15 x 7 steelies in 4 x 100. There are a couple on trademe atm

^ Haha tomorrow I haz camera. Oh the car they are going on? This ugly thing:

3 wheels split in 3, 1 to go. Tyre trick works amazing, got the whole separating stage down to a fine art. Just have to get some brake cleaner and gasket stripper tomorrow and I will be all ready to prep for paint and polish. Pics to come. PS: For all those following this, and are thinking about giving it a go and are worrying about missing a step etc, don't worry, upon completion I will get a separate thread stickied with more pics and detailed instructions etc of how I did it.

Well it was all going so well, got the lip off one, but the center won't budge at all. I have cut around the sealant with a craft knife, used the heatgun at varying degrees of temp from 350 - 650 deg and then smacked it with a mallet and or large pieces of wood. Not sure what to do now, will try putting it in a tyre and wacking it will a piece of wood as per VeeDub's advice, if that doesn't work I will be throwing them in the oven (175 deg for 10min)

Looks winner as Si

^ God it looks sick, so dark too haha. I pulled the touch up pottle out that came with the spray paint and its so dark but then you just get the glints of purple through it. Winner in my book. Thanks for the pics Si.

^ Cheers James. For the valves, is that just a screwdriver on the back end and a spanner on the nut on the front beside the lip? Yeah I have a ton of DIY's saved

90/120 bolts and nuts removed from the wheels. Found it far easier to undo the back nut, whilst cracking the bolt free from the urethane that sticks to them within the seal, then punch out the bolts with a flat ended nail punch and a hammer. Getting there. Does anyone know if you can DIY the removal of the metal valves on these wheels?

^ Awesome thanks mate. Considering how much effort it is to take these apart etc, I don't want to have to redo it haha. What a PITA. Cheers!

^ So what is the solution John? Take them to a paint shop to get cleared with 2k clear after doing the base coat etc? I'd rather do this right first time then have to redo it.

Cheers guys had a awesome day, thanks for all the birthday messages. Did the family thing yesterday but hit the beers pretty hard on Friday night I got spoilt rotten but sadly had no time to do a burnout in the driveway haha or continue my own tradition of running my age in km each birthday due to a untimley shin tendon strain. Simon, must be time we ended our facebook friendship huh! Oh and Mark, it is platanengrun metallic Thanks again guys

^ I have undone 90 bolts so far. Some of the bolts are removed, some are stuck in there and will need some persuasion Heatgun will come out Sunday

^ Cheers for that Tony. I am slightly apprehensive about sanding like that. I might try autosol with a scotch brite pad (used it on my Borb's previously with good results) and if that doesn't work it could be a option. Gee now I know why people pay to get this done, nearly 1 hour later I have 60 bolts off, 60 to go

^ Techno is a lot darker than that though, almost black with a metallic purple flake. Looks nearly black in poor light then bright purple when light is pointed it at it. Example A: http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=23651

Oh and before the storm of hate, I will just leave this here.

According to a few build threads, the carbonation in the diet coke cleans the sh*t off the bolts. Amazing to think what it does to your teeth. Will leave them to soak for 24 hours in the coke. Yeah they are a crazy color since my race tyres are going on these/who else in NZ has technoviolet RS's? I saw a white M3 in a UK BMW mag with Technoviolet RS's on it and it looked gorgeous. Should look good with my light green metallic car. Lol I knew you would be happy Simon

^ Cheers James. Lol Ashkan, it's just a one hour round trip there and back. I has the paint. Firstly, here are a few things I have collected for the rebuild. I think I have everything apart from the urethane sealant. (massive thanks to Mark247 for letting me borrow this, hopefully they are done before you get back to NZ ) and... Might start undoing 120 bolts now Progress to follow