I'm posting this in the General section because you don't have to be a rocket scientist to do this one. Besides, it might get a little more coverage here.
Last week, I volunteered to do a field test of Rodney Dickman’s wheel center cap refinishing tool.
The product arrived in just a couple days, typical of Rodney’s excellent service. The tool is a disc of the proper diameter for holding the inside of the center cap mounting tabs. The disk is welded to a shank so that it can be chucked into some kind of drill motor.
Rodney suggests clamping a hand drill into a bench vise but since I have a small drill press, I used that instead. I checked the tool with a dial indicator and there is about .020 of run-out but that’s ok, it should work just fine for it’s intended purpose.
I set the spindle speed at 620 rpm. If you are using a hand drill, I strongly recommend using the low speed setting as sanding creates a lot of friction and that sand paper can get hot in a hurry!
The tool fits into the center caps like this…. Sorry about the clutter on my workbenches but after all, it’s my garage & I can do what I want!
Center cap dimensions varied. Of the six that I tested, one was really tight and two were too loose to grip the tool on their own. No problem, a piece of double face tape on the end of the tool did the trick.
The first thing that I did was use a little stripper to remove the factory clearcoat. This isn’t really necessary but I thought that it would speed up the sanding just a little. Don’t get the stripper on the back side of the caps because it will turn the plastic to jelly.
[This message has been edited by Gordo (edited 10-22-2005).]
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12:25 PM
PFF
System Bot
Gordo Member
Posts: 2981 From: East Guilford, NY, USA Registered: Mar 2002
I tried a few different sanding methods. I used a 3/M stripping pad, 3/M sanding sponge and various grits of wet-dry sand paper. The stripping pad didn’t work very fast, the sanding sponge was by far the safest (kept the heat away from my fingers) and most fun.
The best combination is to start with 220 grit wet-dry to remove the imperfections and then switch to 400 grit for the final finish.
It takes about ½ sheet of each to do four center caps. By the way, since I’m talking about imperfections, any scratches or corrosion take a long time to sand out. If you have any dents in your caps, you had best take a trip to the salvage yard & find a few more. It’s good to have a few extra caps on-hand. This way you can pick the best to work with.
I finished up with a quick coating of Duplicolor Clear.
The clearcoat caused a very slight dulling of the surface finish. Perhaps if I followed the sanding with a polish using rubbing compound they would have been a little brighter. The difference wasn’t noticeable until I compared it with a new GM cap.
Anyway, there you have it. The Fiero Store sells new oem caps for $7.50 each. Caps with the Fiero logo sell for a whopping $25 bucks, $100 for a set of four. Rodney, you don’t happen to sell some clear stickers with the Fiero center cap logo do you?
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[This message has been edited by Gordo (edited 10-22-2005).]
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12:31 PM
Haagster Member
Posts: 1378 From: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Registered: May 2001
Originally posted by Haagster: He used to sell stickers until the GM police came knocking on his door. Nice work and thanks for sharing.
I wouldn't be opposed to be a member of the "underground" suppliers of these stickers! Let's see, first, I'll start an offshore corporation owned by five or six other offshore corps... Seriously, I don't have the morals that would preclude me from offering these things for everyone. PM's and emails- no advertising.
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02:29 PM
buddycraigg Member
Posts: 13620 From: kansas city, mo Registered: Jul 2002
i too was also choosen for this field test. i was in the middle of refinishing my wheels, so my center caps were already stripped of the clear coat. the stripper also took the logo with it. so i have no idea how well this will work on non stripped caps, longer i assume. i had also wet-sanded my caps by hand with 220, then 400, then 800 smooth. my original intentions were to refinish them this way, just leaving them smooth- until i heard about rodneys refinishing tool. this wheel mimics the original circular sanding marks- which is a big part of the look in my opinion. the "X" reflection is very important for the look. my caps didnt look right sanded and polished smooth.
i used 220 on the caps and got a nice finish. if your going to polish them before you clear them, i would be cautious against rubbing compound. as this may take some of the sanding marks out. i used some Never Dull, and it actually put some scratches in it.
i bought a set of center cap graphics off of ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=8008670888&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT they are not identical to the stock, but atleast it is something to have on there. it is simply a black fiero pegasus. when i get them in the mail i will post pics of them applied to the cap. i think the guy who makes them is on pennocks, as he was talking to me about going on the run to the keys trip.
again, i had mine sanded smooth. so the sanding marks and X reflection you see are all of Rodneys refinishing tool's work. it made perfectly centered circular marks all the way out. very nice tool to have if you own a Fiero.
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06:05 PM
buddycraigg Member
Posts: 13620 From: kansas city, mo Registered: Jul 2002
The clearcoat caused a very slight dulling of the surface finish. Perhaps if I followed the sanding with a polish using rubbing compound they would have been a little brighter. The difference wasn’t noticeable until I compared it with a new GM cap.
So the question is: How can one make them shiny? I believe they make the original ones shiny by anodizing them. Any ideas?
I do have a few sets of the black on clear logos yet. Email me at rodney@rodneydickman.com.
So the question is: How can one make them shiny? I believe they make the original ones shiny by anodizing them. Any ideas?
That seems to be the $1,000,000 question Rodney. I tried polishing them with 0000 steel wool but it didn't make much difference. They looked closer to the original caps before they were clear coated. The clearcoat makes them dull. The new oem caps almost look like they are covered with a clear adhesive vinyl. Maybe clear polyurethane or an epoxy coating would work better. I have some Martin Senour clearcoat left over from painting my car. I'll give this a try later this week.
Gordo
[This message has been edited by Gordo (edited 10-22-2005).]
Center cap dimensions varied. Of the six that I tested, one was really tight and two were too loose to grip the tool on their own. No problem, a piece of double face tape on the end of the tool did the trick.
Maybe you could find a large snap ring that would hold the cap tight to the tool. Or maybe Rodney can make one to fit? Looks like a neat tool. Cool idea, Rodney.
------------------ FORMERLY KNOWN AS: sqoach (so, uh...yeah....I'm not a noob) :p
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10:07 PM
PFF
System Bot
Gordo Member
Posts: 2981 From: East Guilford, NY, USA Registered: Mar 2002
Maybe you could find a large snap ring that would hold the cap tight to the tool. Or maybe Rodney can make one to fit? Looks like a neat tool. Cool idea, Rodney.
Most of the center caps hold tightly to the tool all by themselves. I used a piece of double faced tape on the others and it held just fine.
I had to wrap the circumfrence of the tool with two layers of masking tape for my center caps to fit securly. they did not spin or budge on the tool when it was spinning on the drill after this. the reason for this is that there were 2 designs of center caps: shorts tabs and long tabs- per Rodney's information. the long tab design has a smaller inner diameter. so to make this tool universal, the tool was designed for the longer tab design. two wraps of masking tape along the outer edge takes up all the slack to fit the short tab design (larger inner diameter). mine fit perfect with this modification.
one word of advice tho: be extremely careful when removing the center caps form the tool or vice versa. the tabs that hold the center cap onto the wheel are very fragile after almost 20 years. i snapped one tab off with being careful. snap too many off and they wont hold tightly anymore.
mike
[This message has been edited by Mike OHIO (edited 10-22-2005).]
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11:35 PM
Oct 23rd, 2005
Gordo Member
Posts: 2981 From: East Guilford, NY, USA Registered: Mar 2002
A.) New OEM cap B.) Sanded 220 then 400 grit paper, Duplicolor clearcoat C.) Sanded 220 then 400 grit paper, Mothers polish, Martin Senour clearcoat
When you polish them with Mothers, they will approach a chrome like finish. If you keep polishing, though, you will remove all the swirl marks. The Martin Senour clearcoat did not cloud the finish at all (unlike the Duplicolor) I could see absolutely no difference before or after.
By the way, I now recommend using stripper to remove the clearcoat first, before sanding, in order to keep the sanding to a minimum. This is extremely thin aluminum and you can sand through the edges very easily.
