Bottle cap refinish options

[The Stretch]

I have a set of fairly ratty bottlecaps that i want make look respectable for some winter tires. The clear-coat is peeling so they need refinishing. Who has ideas on how to make them look decent? I'm not a fan of the straight silver look, and was thinking about a gloss black center with a polished lip. I'm worried this would look ricey though; definitely not what i'm going for. A classy/sporty feel is what i'm after with these. I would appreciate all opinions on the matter.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

I dunno if you can polish the lip in these.

If amything, sandblast 'em and clear coat it.

[The Stretch]

that seems like a good idea. I'm sure i could get some shine out of them, but i can only imagine how long it would take. The more i think about it, the less appealing it is to put time in them.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

that seems like a good idea. I'm sure i could get some shine out of them, but i can only imagine how long it would take. The more i think about it, the less appealing it is to put time in them.

I agree.....its kinda like turd polishing.

Just hit Walmart for some metalic silver spary paint, a can of oven cleaner and go home and give it the 'ol trailer park chrome job.

[Bo525i]

Nice guide to refinish wheels: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/how-install/149801-fix-refinish-oem-bbs-wheels-extremely-detailed-10-step-guide.html

[Ross]

I'd be curious to see them with a polished lip and the standard silver paint.
I have a bottlecap snow set also; good choice because they can be had cheap, bad choice because they are such a bitch to clean.
How about just buy my complete set?

[Tiger]

I am not sure if you can get polished look out of the rim... this is very specialized work and not every wheel shop can do it. Some wheel got very low nickel content that it is not possible to get a polished anything out of it... and with these wheels, what they do is powercoat the lips and then polish the powdercoat.

All is not lost though. If you are really keen to get the polished look, you have to experiment... and it is an easy experiment... you coat the surface you want to refinish with paint stripper... follow the instruction and then use a stiff brush to wipe the old paint off... if you get a shine... you got polished look and you can do it... if it comes out grey and dull, no chance... sorry.

If you do get polished look, get all the old paint off and coat the surface again with stripper and keep using the stiff brush to get more polished look out of it. Try niormal paint brush too to see if that is the better finish. Once done, wash all stripper off just by spraying and lightly dry the wheel with towel... let the wheel dry completely and put a couple coats of clear coats.

Let us know how you make out? Getting polished looki out of your center caps? Ugh... spray it with some kind of aluminum finish.

[bubba966]

Nice guide to refinish wheels: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/how-install/149801-fix-refinish-oem-bbs-wheels-extremely-detailed-10-step-guide.html

Couple of things that shouldn't be done in that refinishing guide.

First, mix your Bondo BEFORE you apply it. Can't believe that guy applied the two parts to the wheel then kinda squished it around. You can see the "mixing" he did didn't work very well...

And secondly, don't use simple green in between sanding primer coats. That stuff leaves a residue behind that I wouldn't want in my paint coats. Just a simple water rinse to get any sanding dust off would be fine.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Couple of things that shouldn't be done in that refinishing guide.

First, mix your Bondo BEFORE you apply it. Can't believe that guy applied the two parts to the wheel then kinda squished it around. You can see the "mixing" he did didn't work very well...

And secondly, don't use simple green in between sanding primer coats. That stuff leaves a residue behind that I wouldn't want in my paint coats. Just a simple water rinse to get any sanding dust off would be fine.


I would use a good epoxy, because the bondo would get taken off too easily by the tire machine.

[The Stretch]

Thanks for the info guys. The guide was helpfull, although i am supprised the bondo adheared to the rim at all with his 'mixing'.

The Dunlop winter sports i recently picked up came with steel wheels supposedly off of an A4... did some measuring and test fitting yesterday, and what do you know, 5x120 bolt pattern. Now I think i will just run the steelies instead of having to pay for mounting and ballancing to switch them over to the bottle caps, which wouldn't look that much better.

I think a bit of wet sanding and a few coats of clear would make them look ok. Theres only one spot on one wheel that i know is down to aluminum, so i might try to git it a quick polish just to see and let you know, in case anyone else is curious. Anyone interested in a set of wheels? ;)