Help Needed w/ Billet Specialties Wheels

[mangusta1969]

A few months ago I purchased the car in the picture. It's a pretender Callaway as it does not have a twin turbo setup underneath. But it is still a pretty nice 91 convertible that has been given a high dollar Callaway Aerobody and a few other nice mods by a previous owner.

The car came with Billet Specialties aluminum wheels, which are shown in the picture. I think these are from the older Premier 1 line, but I cannot find the name or any picture that are exactly like it. Does anyone know what the Billet Specialties wheel model name is?

I had an on the road blowout today which shredded the right rear tire. I got the car home on a flat bed (thank you AAA), but I cannot get the 3 inch hex head center caps off. These hex head/lug nut center caps just turn (sort of hard, even when lubed up) in either direction with the Billet Specialties mini-hub wrench. The center caps do not appear to unscrew or to tighten in either direction. I would hate to try this out on the road someplace. I can't even get the wheels off in my own garage.

I can't see any other type of retainer mechanism on the wheel or cap; there is no torx or any other type of fastener through the caps. Everything is perfectly smooth on the face of the wheel. Does anyone know how to remove these caps, short of drilling them out? I am sure there must be some sort of magic trick, as all four of the rims have the same problem -- I can't get access to the lug nuts. This is definitely sort of a problem when you have a totally shredded rear tire.

Thanks for any help out there on the forum!!

 

[c4cruiser]

Can't help with your problem, but you can e-mail them at
info@billetspecialties.com and ask what the procedure for removal is.

Their website doesn't show that wheel on the Premier page, but as you mentioned, it's probably an older model. The do have some replacement center covers, so if you have to destroy the cover to get the wheel off, you might be able to get a replacement from them. Their website is wwwbilletspecialties.com

Hope this helps some!!

 

[mangusta1969]

Thanks for the suggestion

Hi,

I had already hit the Billet Specialties and a number of other web sites last night and was going to call them at 708-588-0505 when they were open. I need to get a few business calls out of the way this AM first though.

Hopefully they will have the magic. I certainly could not figure out in the garage last nite, so my car is still just sitting on the rim right now.

Thanks

 

[mangusta1969]

Billet Specialties Mysteries Solved

Just spoke to the guys at Billet Specialties and have solved a couple of mysteries:

1. The large hex cap is held on by an o-ring and the BS supplied wrench is supposed to be used with a "pop-off" type motion. I had tried this last night but the wrench kept slipping off. I had to modify the wrench by bending it so that it would be a very tight fit (hammer on) on the hex nut. It was still pretty hard to remove the cap.

2. From my description on the phone (I had not sent them the photo), they think these are older Mirage wheels. They are pretty nice looking, beautifully made, and somewhat similar to the original high dollar Dymags that Callaway used on the TT cars.

3. Don't try this removal process alongside the highway unless you have a vise and a hammer with you to modify the Billet Specialties cap wrench.