Reburbished Wheel Center Caps

[Andy P]

As I really wanted to stay with the original Jaguar center caps I decided to go ahead and reburbish my own.

Grey

They were grey originally but since my car is emerald green I thought I would spray them in that colour to match.
Took them carefully apart with the help of some heat from a hair dryer, then cleaned off the remains of the double sided tape and old paint(they are painted from behind) with careful use of paint thinners.

Painted the back of the growler first with silver paint and let that dry to stop any green seeping through and then gave them 4 to 5 good coats of spray paint,letting each coat dry a bit each time,cleaned up the chrome rings,stuck them back in with double sided tape and all done.

Green

Finished Job

Hope this is of use to other members who would like to change the colour or just refurbish their center caps.
Have Fun and Take Care
Andy

[Tintin]

I'm very impressed, Andy. I tried something similar with the bonnet badge of my Daimler Sovereign - but with only limited success. Silver (or even chromium) paint consists of flecks of silver colour in a lacquer carrier and I found it nigh impossible to get a good even and solid silver coverage. Did you use special paint? In the end I used aluminium foil (glossy side showing) instead of paint and pressed it well into the embossed pattern.

Robbie

[BrianG]

That's a really useful tip. The silver 4 litre X308 that I used to own had Celtic alloys with red wheel centres, but they had faded to a sort of pink colour. At the time I refused to pay the Jaguar price for a new set (and of course there are lots of cheap sets on eBay now), but if I had known that they were just painted and not coloured molded plastic I would have had a go.

[Andy P]

Silver (or even chromium) paint consists of flecks of silver colour in a lacquer carrier and I found it nigh impossible to get a good even and solid silver coverage. Did you use special paint?
Robbie

Hi Robbie and Brian,I think I was quite lucky in that the chrome on the growlers was in good shape and didn't need to do anything to them,the reason I painted on the back of them was purly to stop any green finding its way through.
The paint was just a rattle can from local car shop,If the chrome had been damaged it might have been a different outcome but I've read you can get good results useing(don't laugh now) nail polish .

Here is a link for it.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chrome-Nail-P ... Ciid%253A1
Might be worth a try for your bonnet badge.
I used to have a Series 2 Daimler Soveriegn back in 86/87,I wish I'd kept it now but you can't turn back time and you can't keep everything .
Take Care.
Andy

[Tintin]

Thanks Andy - I'll give the nail polish a go! Wonder if she'll pop over and apply it for me?!

Robbie

[J44EAG]

Double sided number plate tape indeed has a very useful function. My old S-type was held together with the stuff! Most trade motor factors sell it in a variety of widths up to about 2". My local supplier punts a multi-pack of several widths for about £6. It is great stuff for use around the car, home, caravans, boats etc and solves many mounting problems in seconds.

Another of my favourites is chrome spray paint. People often bring me components which are frequently in quite a dreadful visual condition. Cleaned up, corrosion treated and then chrome spray painted, one can transform the biggest load of old junk into something which looks a million dollars in minutes. There is tons of the product on ebay and also sold at Halfords. About eight quid for a spray can. It really can be quite convincing given a bit of careful prep.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... BkdKBPgzHQ

Mike K

[Andy P]

Will keep that in mind,
I used some a long time ago from a different source,it wasnt very good but I should think the product would be better now.
Will definitely give it a go,
Thanks Mike,
Take Care
Andy