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88 Locking Wheel Center Caps

bosshogg

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
56
Location
Indiana
Corvette
1988 Coupe
Have an '88 with the 17" wheels that have the locking center caps. The wheels are in great shape, but it looks like a couple of the caps have been dropped a few times. The logo is also not quite up to par. I looked for new caps and they are very expensive.
Has anyone tried to strip these and re-clearcoat them. I would like to try it on the worse one and see how it turns out.
Any help would be appreciated...Happy Holidays to All

THE HOGG
 
I polished mine with no trouble. Used clearcoat remover to strip them and then used Mothers or some such polish to brighten them up. I never recoated then or the wheels. Just put some good wax on them once in a while.
 
Forgot to add if the huge rubber O-rings are getting funky just use the thin rope-like stuff used to keep window screens in place. Any hardware store has it.
 
Thanks for the info Tony...did the caps match the rest of the wheel when you were done. what about the center logo...where are you at in PA. ?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

HOGG
 
I polished the entire wheel after stripping off the clearcoat, just used Mothers and elbow grease. I also cleaned up the logos with the polish (carefully) and remounted them using "nuts" instead of the push-on fasteners.
I'm located near Pottsville, PA. Coal and beer country.
 
Thank you...I will drink to that...My company just acquired a distributor in McKeesport PA. and just wondered if you were near there. If you were I would stop by and say hey the next time I had to go over there. I live about 35 miles north of Fort Wayne...the Vette is put away for the winter, but 55 degrees the other day made me get it out.
Did you also strip the clearcoat off the wheels or just buff them.
Thanks,
JOHN
 
Yeah I stripped the wheels and the center caps (not the plasic logos on the caps - they would dissolve). I needed to use a wire bruch on the recesses in the wheels - they are a rough finish anyway. Some folks paint them black or body color. I left mine natural . McKeesport is in the West, near Pittsburgh. About a 6 hour drive, 5 in a Vette. That's a whole different culture West of the Alleghenys - more like the midwest than the East. Pottsville is in the Eastern part. We're the part that revolted against the British and pretty much anyone else. Even the Feds don't come here except in large groups. I've heard it said that PA has more private militias than the other 49 states combined. We just keep it private and don't go around yapping about it on TV.
 

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