Refurbishing wheel centres
 

I have recently purchased some new wheels for my car, they are 2nd had and they do need a refurbish to remove the curb rash it has. but for now as its winter swiftly approaching i'm going to leave that till spring.

for me though the tatty wheel centres were bothering me. the curb rash i can hide easy enough for now but the fact that water had got under the laquer on the whel centres made them look like this

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/IMAG0010.jpg

So i decided to give them a refresh for now. i had a few odds and sods lying around so set about this little project.

firstly i sanded them back with 240 grit wet and dry paper to remove the rough laquer and to give a flat surface to work on.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010523.jpg

it made them look flat and dull and had removed a little of the text. some of the laquer was still on them, but this wasn't an issue as i wasn't painting them. i still had a roll of DI-NOC 3M carbon vinyl lying around in the garage so thought i would put it to good use.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010524.jpg

these were my tools

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010527.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010528.jpg

the first job was to set it into squares about half as large again as the actual centres. i heat boht the centre cap and the vinyl up before i apply it first

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010526.jpg

the next job is to use the heat to keep it soft and then work it around the item. i tend to do the top first, and then stretch and tug the rest down as i go around the edge.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010529.jpg

i then trim up the vinyl and remove the excess waste

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010530.jpg

i then go back round with the heat and several tools and my finger nail, and work the vinyl in between the 2 halves i.e the ally section and the plastic. then just very carefully i run a blade round and trim off the waste.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010531.jpg

which leaves me something that looks like this

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010525.jpg

after about 30 minutes i ended up with these

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010532.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010533.jpg

next job was to run up some new logos for the front, this took alot longer as i had to draw it from scratch, but once done the vinyl cutter made short work of it and i had cut several colour options. i did red, silver, and white. in the end i decided silver was the best option

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010541.jpg

quick application later and the finished articles

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010545.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010542.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010543.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010544.jpg

i'm unsure how long they'll last and it is a temporary measure. if it doesn't work out it will peel off and i can always paint them instead and re logo them.

Tidy job, looking forward to seeing them fitted to the wheels

Great job mate you still doing the vinyls then. I'll have a couple of ideas I will speak to you about :-)

i've not been doing it for the old forum since i sold up, but i'm happy to help out a mate here and there.

Very nice job. Post up some pics when you have them on the wheels.

Nice job.... :thumbup:

Nice job mr. Biscuit.
I love these tinkering threads.

Did the same to mine last year :).

Get a can of laquer spray from halford and coat a few layers on them. It will definately last longer.

Nice looking caps, I prob do mine when I have time.

A joy to note that in this laid back any old thing will do age there are those who can turn in a quality bit of work, with attention to detail.

I had considered this as others who use this have talked about laquering it to give a more realistic wet look carbon.

so before spraying them i decided to do a tester.

i wrapped a random item on my desk, not the best work, but it wasn't the work i was interested in but what would happen if i laquered it

here is the usb stand pre laquer
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010534.jpg

and here are several shots afterwards.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010535.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010536.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010537.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010538.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010539.jpg

as you can see most of the detail is lost once you add the laquer, it also doesn't harden the vinyl either and has a habit of lifting edges, part of that is a poor fit on my behalf, but the laquer doesn't seem to help.

wow!

they look absolutely amazing!

Where did you get the carbon rap roll from?

Ebay jobbie

Friend of mine does this but he uses cloth carbon roll and clear resin, gives a much better finish - think it's tougher too.



http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/DSC04322.jpg

He's covered allsorts of bits and bobs but i'm sure you could apply the same process to wheel centres.

Quite a lot of sanding / polishing IIRC and quite a lot of trial and error too.

i've done real carbon wrapping before, and as you say it is a lot of extra work, i jsut wanted something quick and easy. when i refurb the wheels in the spring i will buy new wheel centres. the originals are about 50 quid this cost me nothing to do.

when i get some new ones i might experiment on the old ones and do a set in real carbon.

very tepmted to make a mould from them and just make a proper carbon front instead of skinning it.

i do like a little hobby project. and making a mould and laying carbon is far easier than skinning

uncle fester, i really like what your mates done there. got any more pics of his stuff. he got a really good finish there, which is not easy with this stuff. very professional looking.

If yours are the original wheel centres, they corrode from behind - they really are just posh milk bottle caps folded over the plastic cap. For what Honda charge, they should be solid aluminium.

yeah they are original OZ racing wheel centres.

just did some calculations the cost of all the bits to carbon wrap for real would be about 40 quid, and for a tenner more i can get new ones direct from OZ.

and yes they are posh bottle tops. its a plastic body with a pressed ally cover and a laquer.

alot of money for what they are.

never know i might keep re wrapping them every 12 months then i can have different ones each time

Mine lasted about 9 months before they started to bubble, when i refurb them again next year, i'm going to rip the old metal off and build the plastic up with P38 to a nice level surface and then put the logo of choice on that then lacquer it.

I always knew they'd need redoing, same as you, i'm just not prepared to spend silly money on doing it.

if you need any logos doing let me know. can do them to exact sizes etc.

Thank you for the offer :) I'll be running winter wheels this year so the 17s will be off for a tidyup which also means the centres will get done too.

Will have a think about what to do :)

Pictures of my wheels as requested, apologies for the crap quality took them very quickly as i did it, was in a rush to head off up to coventry at the time.

They are OZ Racing SuperLeggeras in 18" wheel 9" wide at the rear and 8" wide at the front, rear offset is 55 i think, and front is 45.

the ride height has settled a lot after the pics, those are when it just came off the jack.

wheels are also a bit curbed, but they were second hand and i will be sorting that soon.

Rear tyre size difference going from 225 to 255

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010546.jpg

16" to 18"

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010547.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010548.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010549.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010550.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010551.jpg

Fronts changing from 205 to 225

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010552.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010553.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010554.jpg

Running pretty flush; maybe not quiet hellaflush, if i was really bothered i might stick a 3mm spacer on the rear, but to be honest, i'm quiet happy.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/P1010555.jpg

Now the plan was to refub these in gold in the spring, but i'm actually liking the black look alot. any comments welcome

I wouldnt space that out at all it's perfect where it is - ride height looks a little high though? *edit* just seen comment re: ride height :)

Perfect as is - best thing with gloss black powdercoat is shiny for shows and matt black the rest of the time ;)

i will take some proper pics once i've cleaned the car and the wheels.

Looks good. :thumbup:

looks nice so far, waiting to see pictures of it after it settled. any plans to lower it further?

Not sure, about lowering further, am tempted, but it then involves loads more work, full damper setup, funny spacer things cost all adds up quick. still got to refurb them though.

question is do i stay black or go gold???

I'm going to say Gold / Bronze if you're going to refurb them :)

Keep em Black :thumbup:

i bought them off a bloke on ebay, but never found out if he was actually a member on here.

down in brighton. had an awesome custom bike in the garage.

if they're black makes em easier to touch up the kerbing, all you need is a sharpie.

you can go a touch lower without too many problems but if you were trying to hellaslam then you need all the other bits on the pre 04 cars.

Hi, I recently got a set of refurbed wheels from pxwheels in Blackpool. They did a great job on the wheels I was sent, so thanks to pxwheels.

My original wheels were silver, so when I got the refurbed ones in anthracite the centre caps were going to need sorting out. I decided to cover them as per the op with vinyl in as close a match as I could find at my local sign shop. The following pictures are a quick "how-to" for anyone who's interested!

Firstly lay out the vinyl and place your centre cap on it. The hair dryer pictured wasn't needed in the end, as this vinyl is so thin it easily moulds to the edge of the cap!

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1154.jpg

Next cut a square out with around 10mm more than the width of the centre cap.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1156.jpg

Make sure the centre cap is completely clean and smooth. If any small bits of grit are imbedded you can gently go over it with a very fine sand paper, like the stuff used for model aeroplanes etc. Next peel the backing from the vinyl and press the centre cap face down onto it. I used an old mouse mat to put it on as it makes it easier.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1157.jpg

Now turn the cap over and gently pull down on the vinyl at the edges working your way around the edge, using your thumb to press down the outer edge to smooth out any rippels. Keep checking that there are no air bubbles forming on the smooth side. If any small bubbles appear, you can usually get them out with a thumb nail working out towards the edge, otherwise you need to lift the vinyl back to that area and smooth it back out again.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1158.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1160.jpg

Using you thumbnail press the vinyl right against the centre of the inner ring on the back of the cap. Take a sharp craft knife and cut against that inner ring as neatly as possible, which in my case wasn't neat at all! Peel away the access vinyl.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1166.jpg

After that just smooth out those cut edges on the back with a firm press using your thumb nail all the way round. What you should be left with is something like this.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1170.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1171.jpg

Tried it with flash on!

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1173.jpg

On the car

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1176.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1180.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1182.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0/ALIM1184.jpg

HTH somebody!

Cheers.

looks good; i always use heat when apply vinyl like that as it helps the adhesive to go off and stick better.

if you want any wheel centre logo's let me know

Also consider removing the aluminium skin of the caps before you do this - corrosion comes from behind and will make the vinyl bulge.

Looks smart though! :)

^^Looks great!

Nice work there.

Never thought of using vinyl!

Where did you purchase your sheets from?