Bottlecap Centrecap mod

[bravo 35]

OK - I have finally completed my mod for my bottlecaps, so here are pics and a how-to.

A bit of history first: I hated my wheels, but i didn't know exactly what I hated particularly as I liked sinilar looking wheels.

Then it dawned on me - the f**king ugly centrecaps sticking out in all their ugly chrominess (new word I invented).

i.e. they looked like this:

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So I thought about it, and decided, flush centrecaps would totally revamp the wheels. I also got to thinking aout a colour change to white, but that is a different story altogether.

Anyway, so I devised a way to relatively cheaply make flush centre caps.

Step one - buy for jars of screws with plastic lids 55mm in diameter (a standard size of which I happened to have four jars of already for the boat, and accidentally discovered they are only 1mm bigger diameter than the dimension of the inside of a E30 wheel hub.

See pic for screw jar.

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Now you can use any plastic for your centrecaps, but you will have to buy a holesaw with a 54mm inside diameter (so prob a 56mm) and then spend ages filing etc, so f**k that - just buy some screws. I was going to do this till I discovered the jar lid idea.

Now, the lid is slightly too big, so it needs to flex a little to fit in (which is good as it makes a tight fit and bulges out smoothly in a most pleasing way). In order to make it flex evenly, you have to remove the threaded part of the lid.

You could cut it off with a stanley knife, but I just used tinsnips and then sanded smooth with a bit of 180 grit.

Before:

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After:

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Note: when sanding underside smooth, it is just for tidyness - no need to spend ages. Be careful not to mark up the top of the lid as it needs to stay shiny for the next step.

I now needed to put a BMW logo on the new centrecaps, so I went for a wander down to the local sginwriters/printers and had a wee yarn. the options were: print the logo onto vinyl, or use three layers of vinyl in white black and blue to get the desired result. I went with the second option as I was afraid the printing might wear off eventually.

They quoted me $60 for four, so I asked how much for 8? answer was $80 (both plus GST), so I offered to pay $80 all up inc. GST for 8 and they agreed.

This prices the logos at $10 per wheel, and gives me spares if they ever fall off, or if I f**ked it up putting them on. Not exactly cheap, but this is the most expensive part and you might be able to negotiate a cheaper rate with your local signwriter. and at a total cost for my set of wheels of $40, not too bad considering the difference they make, plus extra sets will be cheaper now the setup cost is done. I supplied them the logo for their computer so I knew it would be right. Anyone who wants it, it is a large scale, small file size GIF so I can email it.

I got my logos made with the black circle at 54mm and the wihite border around it 1mm thick to equal the total 55mm. But because the hubs have a small lip, only 54mm is visible, so you could go with an outside diameter of 54mm and the black circle at 53mm.

In my case, they look sweet, so no worries.

Anyway, here they are:

Edited February 23, 2005 by bravomikewhiskey

[bravo 35]

Then stick the vinyl sticker on your jar lids - not too hard. Line them up, then press from the centre outwards to exepl any air, then remove the application strip (sticky thing on the front so you don't have to touch the backs) and then apply hot air from a hairdryer whilst pressing firmly to set them properly like this:

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You then put them on your wheels.

Push them into the hub from the back of the wheel until they butt up against the lip at the front of the wheel which holds the old centrecap clips in place. This stops it falling out the front of the wheel while you are moving.

It is a tight fit, and takes a little bit to get them lined up right, but I did each one in about 60 seconds each.

Even though they fit tight, I wanted added security, so I put a ring of silicone on the inside to help hold them in place:

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And then you're done!

One thing I forgot to mention was that you need vinyl logos as paper etc will just wash off when you wash your car, but properly stuck on vinyl should last for ages.

Anyway, I suppose you want finished pics now? OK here they are:

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And another:

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Another:

[bimmer boy 21]

looks good well done

ka pai :thumb:

[bravo 35]

I took one of them on the car, but since I was just using my phone cam, and bad light at this time of night, it didn't come out. I will try to grab the digicam from work tomorrow so you cansee how phat my ride is with my new centrecaps.

I also have a couple more boring pics of me putting them in if anyone wants.

Apart from arseing about at the signwriters, and the cost of the logos, total cost was 2 or maybe 2.5 hours of my time removing wheels etc. plus some silicone and some jar lids I had already.

if anyone wants details of the screw jars so they can buy some, just PM me.

Next mod is either painting the wheels white, or getting new chrome valve caps or chroming the wheel nuts.

I'll post pics when I decide what and when I'm doing it all.

Comments welcome - I hope you all like them.

[Surge 1]

Looks good, you sir are a bloody genius.

[bimmer boy 21]

hmm white wheels like a rally car

u know shadow chrome is a paint finish she should get them done like that

would look mean

[bimmer boy 21]

its actually quite amazing how somehting so small and so subtle could make such a big difference

i would do it deffinatly

[petone 0]

Haha your tyre shop is going to love you

[Gus 5]

awesome dude

holla

[aliluya 0]

Nice stuff .... looks good !!

[bravo 35]

Haha your tyre shop is going to love you

f**k, didn't think about that.

Mod Number two - remove silicon...

Ah, doesn't matter - I'm mates with my tyre guy - we go boating and sh*t. He puts up with alot from me already - I'm sure he can deal with it. I'll just have to take the wheels and centre caps off myself in his workshop before he changes the tyres and balances everything.

Edited February 23, 2005 by bravomikewhiskey

[CaM 0]

looks cool man, something unique huh

[*sic 1]

masty.

looks good. nice thinking from a member

[Deftones 0]

looks good. Definatley good to see people experimenting with different things...

[Guest Spargo]

Well done that man.

[Toomuch 0]

looking sweet

[Carl 3]

I've done a similar mod except I used the Alpina logo since that's the styliest logo of them all and I did it to my steering wheel, looks tits, think i'll to find other parts to plaguerise...perhaps do this to my wheels too...

E: Alpina is the shizzle!

Edited February 24, 2005 by ///Carl