Limeymk1 Posted 6 February 2013 Report Posted 6 February 2013 (edited) Ok since my wheels have no centre covers and I cant find anything that will fit I've decided to make my own, they're a stupid size (145mm disk). So I need to find some clips similar to those on centre caps, anyone know what these are called? If that fails I'm open to ideas. I have considered using polyurethane adhesive but it would probably pull the paint off the whell when they're removed. Lol Edited 7 February 2013 by Limeymk1
MYK Posted 6 February 2013 Report Posted 6 February 2013 Silicone adhesive? Not as strong but wouldn't pull the paint off
Limeymk1 Posted 6 February 2013 Author Report Posted 6 February 2013 (edited) If it'll hold em on that'd be a good idea. I have found some VW Beetle hubcap retaining clips that might work but I'll need to coat the metal with some rubber or similar. Edited 6 February 2013 by Limeymk1
Adex Posted 6 February 2013 Report Posted 6 February 2013 (edited) I could give you a hand making either some clips or the caps & clips if you like buddy? Edited 6 February 2013 by Adex
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 Cheers Ade, I may well take you up on that one. At the moment I've ordered some VW clips and am just about to order eight 1mm x 145mm Ali Disks to be Laser cut (extras for prototypes ). Hopefully the VW clips will be the right size and I can figure out a way to attach them to the back of the disk without it looking rubbish (they rivet on). The clips:
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 Unfortunately I think they're steel clips, and you can't weld steel to ali.
Adex Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 (edited) You could do small mushroom tack's through to the ally, but the problem then is is one gets loose it's a mission to sort out. If the discs were thick enough for a smallish bolt? Say 5mm thread depth? Keep it nice & simple mate, the more complicated you make something like this the more you paint yourself into a corner if something breaks. If one gets loose, it's simple to sort. Rivets (or any other method that requires a hole all the way through) will look gash, agreed. Also, if they're 1mm ally, you might as well make more than 8, as you'll find it hard not to accidentally annihilate them the first time you need to get to your wheel bolts.... Edited 7 February 2013 by Adex
dragon queen Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 Have you considered making the disc out of fibreglass and bonding the clips to it,
Adex Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 The problem with bonding a sprung clip is that it's likely to be either strong enough, but likely to crack/separate, or flexible enough, but not strong enough to hold in place securely.
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 Cheers all. Unfortunately if it's thicker than 1mm Ade the disk will sit proud of the wheel , if I wanted to use a thicker disk then I'd need to get a lip machined into it and the price would go up a fair bit I reckon. I've looked at ultra low profile screws but the heads still going to stick out by 2mm. The other alternative is 2 PU, a fairly hard setting 2 part polyurethane adhesive but I don't know how well it will adhere to the aluminium. I suppose if I went for a steel disk then I could tack weld the clips onto the back but I don't want to add too much extra weight to the wheel and if a 1mm steel disk came off the car at speed it would be likely to take someones head off. Aaaaaargh! I need something to go in there as I don't want the ends of the drive shafts exposed to the elements as they are at the moment. Clingfilm?
Adex Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 Hopes & dreams? Spit & string? How about small caps just to cover the d/shafts, plenty of them about. I know I've got quite a few spares knocking about in the garage from previous alloys.
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 (edited) Lol The centre hole ID is 65 mm, I found some lovely carbon centre caps off a Bimmer that would fit but my joy was short lived as they need to be pretty deep due to the end of the drive shaft poking through. Doh! Hmmmm http://www.mouldlife.net/ekmps/shops/mouldlife/resources/Other/araldite-2028-1-eur-e-1-.pdf Edited 7 February 2013 by Limeymk1
Adex Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 The thing with araldite, is that it's frequently stronger than it's own bond, if you get me. As soon as some force (especially spring type force) is applied, the bond cracks & you'll end up with the two parts you were trying to join and an additional piece of araldite. Also I'm not confident that araldite will cope with the vibration/shock/heat that wheels have to put up with. Think you might end up playing discus on the motorway after all.... Some form of positive fixing method is definitely the way forward. So you don't have to keep making replacements for ones you've lost, if not for safety reasons.
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 Sometimes I regret buying these damn wheels. lol
Adex Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 Nah, we'll sort you out somehow bud. They're cool wheels so it'll be worth it. So (based on how much your driveshafts stick out, compared to the center hole in the wheel), will you need sticky-outy [sic] caps of flat(ish) ones?
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 Lol Aye where there's a will and all that. The caps will need to be cylindrical, I'll get a measurement and some piccies at lunch time. They will need to be a bit like the HiLux Surf centre caps if you know what they look like.
rpsmith79 Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 Stick up a photo of the wheels, someone might be able to think up another solution
Limeymk1 Posted 7 February 2013 Author Report Posted 7 February 2013 These are the evil items in question: The driveshaft pokes out about 15mm: Close up of the lip that I think the original cover clipped to: These would be spot on if it wasn't for the driveshaft: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261162182264
rpsmith79 Posted 7 February 2013 Report Posted 7 February 2013 I was about to say, they look fine without a centre cap, until you showed your drive shaft sticking out the end I can't help but think that a big disc covering the lot would look a bit naff, might be best looking at something like the standard Gen 7 centre caps or Hilux ones and making some sort of adapter to make them fit over the driveshaft I just did a similar thing with my ST170 wheels, they had a horrible centre cap, so i got rid and managed to find a bung that filled the centre hole perfectly, luckily the drive shaft wasn't sitting proud though
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