Wheel centre caps refurbishment

steve@cromford

A2OC Donor
My centre caps were starting to look tatty to say the least, and not wanting to shell out £40-50 for second hand replacements, or twice that for new ones, I decided to have a go at a DIY refurbishment.
I originally intended to just re-spray the entire cap, but I decided to try dismantling them. They have to be assembled in the first place, so surely they can be dis-assembled?
The chrome outer rings separated from the main cap quite easily by pressing around the perimeter at each lug point.
Removing the 4 Audi rings was the trickiest part as they are quite fragile and I did snap a few lugs – easily fixed with super-glue. I gently widened the slot on the back with a small screwdriver and then prised them out.
I used wire wool to remove the loose flaking black paint – not original! Then used primer, wheel paint and clear lacquer. I chose the “steel” wheel colour rather than the “aluminium” colour, and I think it is a closer match to the original.
I used Hycote for no other reason than my local motor parts store stock it; (K-tee Tyres in Wigston – also very good for tyres!) There may be better brands but at £17 for all three cans it wasn’t bad, and I’ve only used about ¼ of each.
I am very pleased with the result; much better than I expected. I wish I had stripped the old paint back a bit more as you can see some ridges if you look close up, but fitted on the car, they look fine.
My wheels are the 15 inch TDi90 set – I also have some 16 inch SEs and the caps are very similar in construction, so I’m sure they could be refurbished in a similar way.
I hope my experience may be of use to some of you.
Steve
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Nice refurb.
Not so easy for the 16" caps, they have a crimped alluminium outer ring which would destort terribly if removed, it has to be stripped, polished and laqueredi Insitu, but can be done to good effect.
 
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