DIY: BBS Center Caps

[A4 Effort]

One of my least favorite things about the LM Replica wheels is that it is very hard (almost impossible) to find aftermarket BBS center caps that fit. After my fruitless attempts at searching the web for caps, i said the hell with it, and decided to make my own. I decided to go with red in order to make my white b5 'pop' a little bit. My results are by no means professional, but i wanted to share in the event there are other LM Rep owner's in the same boat as me. Results will vary, but maybe this will inspire someone....

Supplies:
4 - POS LM Replica center caps
1 - can of Krylon Fusion for Plastic spray-paint (I chose Red Pepper/Safety Red) #2328
1 - can of Krylon primer
1 - can Krylon Crystal Clear Gloss - #1301
1 - set of printed BBS logos of your choosing (google FTW!)
1 - various grits of sandpaper (course, medium, smooth) *note: i found that sanding sponges work wonders due to their flexibility
1 - pair of scissors or x-acto knife
1 - pair of tweezers
1 - heat gun or hairdryer
1 - saran wrap


Step #1:
Remove center caps from vehicle (duh)


Step #2:
Beginning with your most course sandpaper and working down to smooth, sand off the existing logo (if applicable) until the logo is gone and your cap is relatively smooth. Don't worry too much about surface scratches as this will be filled in with primer. Once the center caps are prep'd, give them a nice soapy bath with liquid detergent to clean them off. Set aside to dry.


Step #3:
Once the caps are clean, give them a nice even coat of primer and set aside to dry.


Step #4:
Once the primer has dried, give your center caps a light dusting of your selected color. As with anytime you are dealing with spray-paint; work in layers. Start with a light coat and then gradually build up from there; allowing time to dry between coats.


Step #5:
While your caps are drying, take the logos that you printed out (stickers would work here too) and cut around the logo so you have acheived your desired result.


Step #6:
Now comes the fun part! Once your caps have completely dried, and working one cap at a time, lightly.....LIGHTLY, give them a dusting of the Krylon Clear gloss (the cap will look dull when properly done). The purpose of this is to give the surface of the cap just a little bit of 'tact' in order to attach the logo. Using your tweezers, center your logo onto the cap and lightly press down using your finger to ensure all edges of the logo are seated. You can also use the blunt end of the tweezers to help you out. Don't rub too hard or you'll be printing out new logos (found out the hard way)

Step#7:
Once you have the logos where you want them, and they are seated correctly, give them a nice light coat of the clear gloss. Again, work in layers here. The key here is to build it up enough to protect the newly applied logo. You MUST let each layer dry completely before moving on to the next. If you put too much gloss on during the first pass, you will soak the logo and it will look like @$$ (trust me - again, found out the hard way).

Step #8:
After my caps had dried, i noticed that they just didn't have that sheen to them that i thought the clear gloss would achieve. It was at that moment, i had an epiphany......saran wrap! I took a small piece of saran wrap (about 6"x6") and carefully laid it over the center cap and pulled the edges taunt. I then twisted the saran wrap behind the cap and cut off the excess. I then used a heat gun to gently warm the saran wrap and used my t-shirt to gently rub the cap to seat the saran wrap.


Step#9:
Re-install center caps and admire your ghetto-fab make-over.

Before:


After:


Front Close-up:


Rear Close-up:


Since i had some paint left over, i decided to spray my lug caps as well. Opinions welcomed - let me know what you think (good or bad)

[BONFIRE074]

i dont know how i feel about the red studs but the center caps came out nicely

[Siena]

Good work, looks just right.

I'd have left the wheel lugs stock though, or done them in black.

[speedydragon]

studs would look good if you had somethign red other than the caps.

[onemoremile]

The caps look great. Well done. I don't know how long that plastic wrap would last though.

[SLYCAT]

The ingenuity of humankind never ceases to amaze. Looks good.

[A4 Effort]

Thanks guys. Yeah, i'm curious as to how long the saran wrap will hold on myself - so we'll see. After seeing my initial results, i may end up having decals made instead of using paper just to ensure the longevity of my work. It's a pretty easy DIY, so i can always go back and redo my work.

I was tinkering around with the red lug caps, but the nice thing is, is that they are easily removable and i can re-spray them another color if i wanted, but for now i'm going to rock the red. ;)

[ElSnake]

I have the same rims as those except i don't have any center caps, who did you buy yours from? maybe i can get some from you seller? i got mine from hubringking off ebay, every time i call they say they are still waiting to get the center caps (been like 9months). i even orderd real bbs centercaps which dont fit. hahha poped the bbs logo yesterday because i was bord f'd it up a bit when removing it, but looks like that part will fit the center of the rim.

[A4 Effort]

^^ Funny, i have the exact same caps and they too were a tad too big. I thought about having them milled down to fit, and even thought about trying to pop off the plastic, but i was afraid i would eff them up.

Let me know if you get those to fit - that way i can pop mine off and use those.

*EDIT* - forgot to mention that the caps came with the wheels. I too ordered them from HubRingKing and they told me the same story about waiting to get the caps in. I stopped trying after 2 months.

[biketsai]

you get an A for effort! haha
Just a suggestion, maybe you can use some heat-shrinking plastic over those caps instead of saran wrap.

[A4 Effort]

^^ Thought about that too - i'm going to grab some shrinkwrap from work and have it handy when i redo them

[ElSnake]

^^ Funny, i have the exact same caps and they too were a tad too big. I thought about having them milled down to fit, and even thought about trying to pop off the plastic, but i was afraid i would eff them up.

Let me know if you get those to fit - that way i can pop mine off and use those.

yup. you cant tell from the cellphone pic but its messed up.

who did you buy your rims from? maybe i can get some centercaps from your seller?

[whoace]

^^ Thought about that too - i'm going to grab some shrinkwrap from work and have it handy when i redo them

After layers of clearcoat the paint will be dull. Apply some wax and buff it out.

[A4 Effort]

[QUOTE=A4 Effort;2665627
*EDIT* - forgot to mention that the caps came with the wheels. I too ordered them from HubRingKing and they told me the same story about waiting to get the caps in. I stopped trying after 2 months.[/QUOTE]

I edited my earlier post - sorry i didn't mention it earlier

[ElSnake]

I edited my earlier post - sorry i didn't mention it earlier

but you got some center caps now, where did you end up getting them?

[.Mad Hatter.]

you know you can buy BBS stickers off ebay right?

i think they came out really really nice...great job.

[A4 Effort]

but you got some center caps now, where did you end up getting them?

They came with the rims when i ordered them from HubRingKing

[lowandslow4now]

never mind.