How to make custom centercaps for your wheels

[Rekpoint]

Awhile back I contacted @Bassboy3313 @ Rage Drift Designs about making some custom center caps for my wheels. He said he could totally help me out with it. I kinda knew what I wanted but he made it a reality. He mocked the design up, put it in vinyl form and sent it out.

I bought these blank wheel caps from ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/4x68mm-Universal-Chrom-Wheel-Tire-Center-Blank-Replacement-Hub-Caps-Cover-Silver/182962557719?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

They were the cheapest ones from the USofA so I pulled the trigger

I gave them a light sanding and a few coats of trim paint. (For a bit of texture to blend a little better with my powder-coated wheels) because obviously I wasn't going to keep them chrome.

 

Yesterday I got the vinyl in the mail. I was excited to put them on but I had to much caffeine to be able to do it right and waited till this-morning. (You will need VERY steady hands)

 

I tried my best to center them and started pushing from the middle out to stick the vinyl down. I used a dull and a kinda sharpened stick to push down the edges into the corner. (Because I didn't put the vinyl down exactly perfect each time.)

 

With all 4 put on I wanted to seal them in. I first bought an epoxy to pour over-top. But after I bought the stuff I was going to use, I realized that the center of the cap is level with the edges. So It wasn't going to work. At that point I looked up "Thick Clear-coat" on the interwebs and thats where I found 

Rust-Oleum Triple Thick Glaze for crafts. I went to the store bought it. I also purchased a regular gloss clear-coat to go over top of the glaze because it wasn't UV resistant.

A tip when spraying the glaze. Its not like clear so it needs to go in THICK. I sprayed it like a regular clear first then I layed it on thick. I built it up until there was an even amount over the top of both layers of vinyl. I let it dry for 40 minutes then I did a couple coats of the regular clear to make it UV resistant. 

Here is after the first coat or 2

and here is after the last glaze coat waiting for the final clear coats.

As you could see I couldn't wait to see it on my car so I put them on after the last coat dried for about an hour. *excuse my very dirty brakedust filled wheels*

If I could do this again I would spray them inside. Stupid bugs... and probably do a black instead of white background (To in your face)

Overall I think they turned out GREAT. Definitely big thanks to @Bassboy3313 

 

[m42b32]

Looks great!! I like how it matches the motorsport international emblems on the door trim 

[Rekpoint]

7 minutes ago, m42b32 said:

Looks great!! I like how it matches the motorsport international emblems on the door trim 

Thats what I was shooting for! Thats why I had to fit the emblems in the pic 😛

[YoungCR]

I disagree, black background wouldn't show off the colors at all. Looks great!

[Bassboy3313]

Nicely done on the install!! They look fantastic! 👍

[patsbimmer1]

Nice job!  I did this a few years ago on my e36 with success.  Last time I saw these they were still holding up with only a slight amount of yellowing.

 

 

[Jdesign]

NICE!!!