gholian

I wasn't going to fit hubcaps to my car as I sandblasted and podwer coated the wheels but now I am thinking they would look nice. The caps were in the trunk when I got the car over a year and a half ago. They have got some dings and scratches on them. Has anyone ever restored and repainted these?. Could someone tell me what I need to do as I don't have a clue about bodywork. Can plastic be filled and sanded?.

Thanks,

SC82TA

I'm sure you'll find that those aren't really plastic. They have a really thick coating that may or may not be a type of plastic but under them they're aluminum. You can fill and paint them...just like an other body part. I got this tube of stuff called plastic metal once I had stripped them using aircraft stripper and I filled in the small little dents and scratches. I then sanded them smooth and even then I primered and wetsanded and then painted and wetsanded and cleared and wetsanded =) I actually only did one and part of a second before they got messed up when a loose newspaper fell on top of the wet paint =/ So I took them to the body shop where my car was painted and they did all four for free since they had already painted my car =)

gholian

Are these caps actually painted black or is that just black plastic. I can't really tell. I will give them a light sanding with that really fine sandpaper this evening and see what happens.

SC82TA

Well mine looked like that but once I put aircraft stripper on them it revealed the aluminum under. If its paint its on there real thick, which leaves me to believe it has some sort of plastic coating, but not made of plastic. The frame on the bottom is, but under the black is an aluminum layer. At least that is how mine were.

gholian

Okay I see what you mean. Is it difficult the get paint to stick to Aluminum.

SC82TA

No it isn't difficult. When I restored the one good one I filled in imperfections with a little body filler and just sanded everything nice and smooth. Then I used some primer from a rattle can and sprayed it down and sanded againt to look for any missed imperfections. After I got the primer how I wanted it with a couple coats I shot it with black paint. Just today this was being talked about in the Knight Registries Forum....check this thread out its very informative.


Cap Painting Thread

gholian

Thanks SC82TA, That link has all the answers.

Thanks again

2out_The_Left

those are hard to come by... i'd keep em in safe keeping and ride with what you have. throw em on in another 10 years when your going to the shows with your bird bowlingballs are great!

gholian

Yes they are difficult to come by. The ones I have need a lot of work to bring back to pristine condition but should be worth all the hard work when finished. I will probably put them on the car when I have them ready and hold them one with tie wraps. There are only a handful of these cars here in Ireland and I use it mostly for shows.