cheapy cheap wheel covers!

[edenstrang]

Hello all, this is my first post on your august forum.

I just bought a 3cyl/5sp metro hatch for $1000, after being car-less for 3 years (motorcycle). My last car was another metro, but it was impounded and I was broke. I had wanted to improve the fuel economy of my last car, but now it's reborn, and I'm setting to work!

So far I've advanced the timing, cleaned the injectors, fixed a ball joint, inflated the tires-- basic maintenance items. Today I experimented with wheel covers. I cut the center out of a hubcap with a jigsaw, then ground the remaining spokes flush to the lip with a die-grinder

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/Ik014.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/Ik015.jpg

Then I scored a circle into some 1/8" melamine (sp?) with a home made compass (a dowel with two penny nails through it), and cut that out with a band saw. Bolted it through the hub cap in three places with cad-plated aircraft hardware (only thing available!) and slapped it on-

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/Ik016.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/Ik018.jpg

I think it looks awesome, but I have to revise fitment before doing the rest of the wheels. The one cover was only secured by the hub cap's standard sprung dealy. Negotiating a right turn at freeway speeds on the way home, it popped off!!

I'm going to bond nuts to the backside of the hubcaps next time, then safety wire them to the wheels, then bolt the covers to the hubcaps. I'm sticking with melamine for now, but I'll likely move to sheet aluminum in the future. Thanks for reading! I hope someone else can use this technique, it's stupid easy-
-Ian

[Erdrick]

Great post. Keep us updated on this. I would like to know what final solution works for you... as I don't like the idea of losing hubcaps on the freeway!

[Ryland]

I noticed the other day that the late 1980's honda hub caps were near disk hub caps, and wondered how they compared to things like you made here.
I wonder how heavy your home made ones are, and how light you could make them, I also noticed that your front passenger tire appears to be low.

[SD26]

I'm sticking with melamine for now, but I'll likely move to sheet aluminum in the future. Thanks for reading! I hope someone else can use this technique, it's stupid easy-
-Ian

That's actually a really cool look. Nice job! :thumbup:

Welcome to the site. I'm new myself.

[edenstrang]

They barely weigh anything, the melamine is basically masonite, if you've ever held that. The hub caps aren't the place to start for efficiency, I think, but I've been itching to do it! It's a dramatic visual in person-- they make the car look like a moon rover or sony robot or something. Initially I bought some pizza-pans from Wack-Mart, but they looked cheesy.

My tires are old and finicky- they had 8 psi when I bought the car last week!

[lunarhighway]

looks great... I was going to mention the 80's as well... it seems that back than a lot of cars had pretty smooth hubcaps... most still had some holes for ventilation but these where pretty modest and sometimes looking rather aerodynamic. not like todays horrible square spoked alloys, or these plasic hubs desperately trying to capture the look of them.

[edenstrang]

I'm sure people still associate aerodynamic wheels with those dumpy 80's cars!

You can't blame the public for it's taste, but if we can affect public perception about what a car should look like, it's a start. To someone thinking from a perspective of aerodynamic efficiency, the smooth wheels are much more attractive than thinly spoked race wheels, at least on a car without explicit sporting aspiration (most cars).

It reminds me of several hondas I've seen around here, with low profile tires in the rear, and standard steel wheels in front. (??) They are obviously thinking about their car from a different perspective than I am (...)

[JanGeo]

The hubcaps on my Metro (may it rest in peace) were pretty much a smooth dish with some vent holes at the outer edges. I have to wonder if you scooped some air into the inside of the wheel when you were turning and it blew the hubcap off? Also I hope you got the balance perfect on the caps or else you could be looking at some wobble. Great idea using a standard cap to use for mounting it!

[lunarhighway]

just a guess but maybe by rivetting two different materials together the clamping action of the original attachment was somehow compromised a bit...
maybe by bending the metal ring slightly it could be made firmer... just a guess though

[edenstrang]

I have to wonder if you scooped some air into the inside of the wheel when you were turning and it blew the hubcap off?

I came to a similar conclusion. It's between that and mounting action of the hub cap possibly falling short because of the disc, as mentioned aboved. I am optimistic, however, about safety wire curing all ailments. I'll post results tonight-
-Ian

[VetteOwner]

I'm sure people still associate aerodynamic wheels with those dumpy 80's cars!

You can't blame the public for it's taste, but if we can affect public perception about what a car should look like, it's a start. To someone thinking from a perspective of aerodynamic efficiency, the smooth wheels are much more attractive than thinly spoked race wheels, at least on a car without explicit sporting aspiration (most cars).

It reminds me of several hondas I've seen around here, with low profile tires in the rear, and standard steel wheels in front. (??) They are obviously thinking about their car from a different perspective than I am (...)

yea those people are called ricers and they can only afford 2 rims/tires at a time and are dumb enough to accualy put them on...:p

[TomO]

yea those people are called ricers and they can only afford 2 rims/tires at a time and are dumb enough to accualy put them on...:p
Or the reasoning being that they lowered the car and did not properly align it afterwards, thus wearing down their expensive low profile tires. Then, not being able to afford new low-pro tires again, they put the stock steel wheels back up front. I've also seen people put the steelies on the front for "traction" during winter, but they still left the larger wheels in back...:thumbdown: :confused: :thumbup:

[93dagsr]

http://rayswheels.co.jp/indexe.html

go jdm with it!! lol

sorry go to products on the top and then go to rays wheels then on the left go to garcia and you'll see what im talking about!

[lunarhighway]

since my dad's opel ascona is due to head to the scrapheap (poor things rusted beyound repair....) i'm thinking about adopting his bubcaps (along with anything else i could still use)...they're both 13" and 80's style so that'll fit...

they look like this (not a picture of the actual caps thouth...less scratches on his):
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j55/thelunarhighway/kadettski/6612825-1.jpg
ok not a full moon, but surely better than 90% of what you see on todays cars.
to bad there aren't any cheap aftermarket disks...

i'm just worrdied about scratching the finish on my rims...

[VetteOwner]

Or the reasoning being that they lowered the car and did not properly align it afterwards, thus wearing down their expensive low profile tires. Then, not being able to afford new low-pro tires again, they put the stock steel wheels back up front. I've also seen people put the steelies on the front for "traction" during winter, but they still left the larger wheels in back...:thumbdown: :confused: :thumbup:

true, or they bought too wide of rims and dont fit...(cant turn without rubbing) or too big(again cant turn without mashing fender);) :D

[edenstrang]

yea those people are called ricers and they can only afford 2 rims/tires at a time and are dumb enough to accualy put them on...:p

Hah, well, trying not to be judgemental... I was emphasizing that, given only two performance wheels, I would have put them on the driving axles! This puts me, someone motivated by better performance, at odds with someone concerned about satisfying some weird culturally embedded idea of what a performance car looks like (a valid one in context since performance road cars are RWD).

So anyway, for the mounting I decided to cook some crown nuts and melt them into place on the hubcap, so that the plastic, when rigid, would hold the nut against the force of threading a bolt in or out.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/Ik024.jpg

Then I just dabbed some E6000 adhesive(good stuff) to keep the nuts there, and it only remains to clear the threads once it's all dry!

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/Ik027.jpg

mock-up:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c244/edenstrang/metroweb1.jpg

[edenstrang]

http://rayswheels.co.jp/indexe.html

go jdm with it!! lol

sorry go to products on the top and then go to rays wheels then on the left go to garcia and you'll see what im talking about!

I can see totally see those wheels on a lowered minivan with a gigantic splitter 4 feet out in front, and various Gundam miscellaeny flanking the sides and rear.
_____________

So, I did an extended wheel test yesterday, by driving over the fire roads on our nearby mountain at speed. Needless to say, my parking brake got a workout MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.The wheel cover remained staid through more oscillation than it will ever see during normal operation. I top speed tested it (read: 3cyl metro- 80 mph downhill) and everything stayed tightly bolted. So.... for now, success!

[edenstrang]

One interesting note- the melamine cover acts like the skin of a drum- so while wind noise may be reduced while cruising, suspension noise over any bump is magnified. I didn't realize I had a worn sway-bar bushing until now!