How to disassemble BBS RXII wheels
Since I've recieved numerous questions about taking apart and assembling RXII wheels I though I better write a how to since getting the proper tq settings are not easily attainable. Sorry I didn't take any pictures, but the steps should be easy enough to understand
Step 1. You will need to pick up a 8mm triple square. Snap-on carries these as well as most autoparts stores. Sears/lowes/home depot does not.
Step 2. Evenly remove all the bolts. Loosen the bolts in a star pattern. Don't take a bolt out one at a time. Since the wheels need to balance, minimizing the warping is key.
Step 3. Seperate the 2 pieces. It may require a bit of force to separate the 2 sections. I had one person hold the barrel and another tug on the centers.
That is it for the disassembly. While they are apart I would suggest stripping the clear coat so it won't fail.
Now to reassemble.
Step 1. Use a tap/die to clean the threads on the barrel/bolts. The leftover thread lock can bind the bolts. Then when you try to remove the bolt, it will strip the threads.
Step 2. Place the centers back. Put thread lock on the bolts and start the bolts by hand, bringing them down evenly.
Step 3. Torque the bolts down to 18 ft/lbs. (TQ specs from BBS of America) Bring the tq up slowely. Start at 5 lbs, then 10, then 18. ALWAYS use a star pattern to make sure that the center is correctly mounted.
Stand back and enjoy the final product.
For all of you who want to know how to reground your 12V engine here you go:
Ok, time to put an end to all these pesky question about where to hook the grounding wires up to and if you should buy a kit or not.
DO NOT buy a kit. Unless you're buying it from other 'texers who have fitted it to your engine don't bother or you'll have tons of excess wire in your engine bay that will just clutter it up. It's also much cheaper to just go to your local car audio retailer and pick the stuff up.
Here's my DIY for the 12V guys (2.0l is very similar, just use a bit of inginuity if the points differ...)
Ok stuff needed: (total cost if you buy the stuff at full retail and don't get it at cost like me ~$55c dn or $41 USD. You should easily be able to get it cheaper)
1. 9-12 ft of 4awg grounding wire (I used Scosche EFX2 brown wire $3.00cdn/ft retail)
2. 10 gold 4awg ring connectors ($2.00cdn per)
3. BIG pliers for crimping
4. Knife for stripping insulation
4. Soldering iron and solder if you wish (I soldered one, but it was a pain, the solder doesn't adhere to the gold terminals very well and if you crimp right, those connecters are never coming off)
5. Ratchet with extension and various sockets (10mm, 13mm)
6. 5mm allen wrench
First off, do yourself a favor and disconnect the negative battery terminal so as not to incidentally kill yourself.
I measured the wires one by one. I would crimp one connector on the end of the length of bulk wire i had, attach it to the point I was mounting to loosely and run the wire where I wanted till I had an approximate idea of length. Then leave a couple extra inches of play and mark the wire. I would then detach the other end and cut the wire and crimp on the second connector.
As a start, here's a pic of the engine bay AFTER all the wires were installed showing the general area of all the mounting points. Note how you can't actually see ANY wires in this pic. If you do this mod right, it's next to invisible (unless you use some neon friggin wire or some ungodly color that doesn't belong in your engine bay...
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Point 1: Chassis/Unibody
I used a bolt under the drivers headlight on the unibody. You can't actually see the bolt in the picture, but if you look down there, you can't miss it. 10mm socket does the trick, although there's not much room for the ratchet down there. The other end of this wire goes up to the negative battery terminal (Point 2)
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Point 2: Negative battery terminal
This one's fairly straight forward. I would reccomend attaching to the second threaded post rather than the one I used, but I didn't have a matching bolt handy, when I pick one up I'll change it. (10mm socket)
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Point 3: Central point on head/block
I used the head as the central grounding point because the point I used on the tranny is a bolt that goes through into the block. On my car, I was lucky and had two open threaded holes on the back of the head on the drivers side of the exhaust manifold. I picked up a 20mm M6 1.00pitch 5mm allen bolt from the local hardware store to attach the 3 wires. This is where you attach one wire from the neg battery terminal, one wire from the neg. tranny ground and one wire from the throttle body.
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Point 4: Negative transmission ground
This one is dead easy to find, but a PITA to get at. Follow the stock ground wire from the battery terminal to a bolt on the tranny (13 mm socket plus extension to get at this one). It's right below the lower radiator hose and the distributor block. The other end of this wire goes to the central point on the head (Point 3)
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Point 5: Throttle body
I used one of the bolts that attaches the throttle body to the intake manifold (5mm allen key). I may try a different bolt later if this one becomes a probelm. I'm not sure it will, but as you can see in the pic, it's the bolt directly above where the throttle cable mechanism is. I tightened it enough that the wires don't interfere with the mechanism at all, and even if the bolt loosens they don't but I want to make sure. If you find a better place, use it and let me know! One wire attaches here from the central point (Point 3) and one goes to the last point on the chassis (Point 6)
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Point 6: Chassis
This point may vary from car to car, but the easiest bolt for me to get at was the one right above the A/C expansion valve (10 mm socket plus extension). The other end of this wire goes to the throttle body (Point 5)
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As far as what I've noticed. The first time I started the car afterwards it was dark and my instrument lights and dome light were considerably brighter than normal. My headlights were surprisingly brighter (significantly so) considering I have stock single chamber golf lights. I took the car out for a spin and throttle response did seem to be improved as well as power in the high rpms (5000+) but it's hard to tell without a dyno. Radio reception and noise is MUCH better and cleaner. For the $ spent, I think it's without question the most effective mod I've done to date
As usual the typical DIY disclaimer applies. These are guidelines. I am in no way responsible for any mishap or misfortune that may result from following these instructions. If you manage to blow up your car I WILL laugh and point. Please use your discretion and be safe people. DISCONNECT THE NEG. BATTERY TERMINAL WHILE MESSING WITH ELECTRONICS.