RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

So as I am waiting on parts I decided that I could attack some of the nitty gritty detail items on the car.. I decided to work on the wheels today. Overall my wheels are in superior condition although the centercaps left much to be desired. I took one off and started to work some magic on it.

Materials:

Duplicolor Aluminum 500 degree paint
Duplicolor Wheel Clear Coat
800 Grit Sandpaper
Metal polish (for the fake lug nut things..)

I really feel that it is the little things that make all the difference.

Here is the cap before I started.



Broken down ready for paint.



Compared to one still on the car..



And now installed..

Landon303

iTrader: (25)

wow nice what a difference!!

Omar5166

My friend you really do a good job with it! Vey nice

jerd_hambone

It's crazy how something so simple can really clean up a big area like that

JerryLH3

iTrader: (11)

It looks great. I'll be doing the same thing on my car soon. I am thinking of having the wheels powder coated while I am at it, as there are some curb rash marks from a PO that are bugging me. To hide the fix, I'll have to either paint or powder coat the wheels, and I'm leaning towards powder coating.

RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

Thanks Fellas.

puhpaper

iTrader: (6)

Looks great, thanks for the write-up.

Hypertek

iTrader: (3)

These little restoration projects are easy to do, and I think alot more guys should consider doing them, like restoring the window trim etc..

Looks good!

Justen

iTrader: (12)

^Somebody needs to make a How-To for this, as well. My trim is shot.

Great job OP, you inspired me. I'll probably do this tonight.

JerryLH3

iTrader: (11)

+ infinity

The project in this thread is something we all could do by either spending $10 or using things we probably already have on the shelf. And the details like this really make things shine.

jerd_hambone

I've never been able to figure out if people just overlook the little details, or if they are REALLY just that lazy.

Like when you see a nice, clean S4, and the tails are all scratched up and faded. Or a nice rebuilt engine, all sorts of nice goodies on it, and a raunchy, greasy engine bay.

To me, the small details make or break the car.

RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

Yeah, I'm kinda a details guy. When the motor was out of this one I scrubbed the engine bay with a toothbrush (and other brushes) clay bar'd, compounded and waxed it.... I havent done the bottom of the hood yet, but in the bay it is almost eat off of clean... I have also cleaned the fenderwells, and re-coated with undercoating.. Next I will be scrubbing the suspension bits, and painting the calipers..

jerd_hambone

Super clean!

I like that. Working on the small details shows true dedication.

Bamato

iTrader: (6)

I restored my center caps when I still had the stock wheels on. My problem was that the center caps rattled really bad. No amount of tweaking seemed to fix the problem. Drove me bonkers.

GuiltySoul

iTrader: (7)

You got a step by step on this? I too have faded center caps

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

Wow congrats dude, that looks great.

I never knew that the center cap wasn't just the tiny Mazda piece on the center of s5 turbo wheels, just like s4 turbo wheels.

NCross

iTrader: (18)

Looks good. Never knew the nuts were supposed to be chromed. Might have to get some fake chrome spray for mine. I restored them last year and painted them completely silver. The chrome ads a finishing touch.

A little trick i figured out for those withouth steam cleaners is to fill a paint gun with hot or even boiling hot soapy water. Turn your compressor up to about 75psi and dial thr spray pattern down to a thin beam. Really cleans the engine bay up. I did it with the engine still in the car. Just avoid the alternator etc.

I guess you could use that trick for wheels and other hard to reach places.