Hubcap colors

And looking back at your pictures and the tie-in to the tint, I'm starting to like the look of the black covers.

 

Did you buy the paint from homedepot or auto parts store?

 

Did you do multiple coats or primer, paint and clear?

 

That is a good question. How did he do that????

 

Has anyone come across any pics on PC for the black hubcaps done on a red Prius? I've looked but haven't seen any.

 

Did you do this with the calipers still attached and just mask off the other areas?

And same procedure as painting the hub caps (except different color)?

You said you used flat paint first, then gloss. Back in the day, I was told to use gloss first as the flat paint has some extra additive which doesn't dry as hard (or maybe that's the reason to use the flat paint first?). Or did you use the flat paint first so that the gloss paint would stick better?

Sorry for all of the questions. But I like the idea of painting the brake calipers. I saw where the guy put some colored covers on the calipers but required larger wheels. I don't think I'll put larger wheels on my car (yet).

Dumb Mike

 

And by the way, I hope you keep trying to do things to make your car look better. Where, like me, I'm sitting back waiting for others (like you) to make these attempts and then decide whether to do it.

Dumb Mike

 

interesting look, makes me wonder how they would look in blizzard white to match my car. I may have to find a wheel cover in a junk yard and paint it to see if the look is worth it. in any case, tks for posting and giving us ideas. by the way the rims underneath look great but i was told the wheel covers are there for aerodynamics (better gas millage). seems possible.

 

I like the painted hubcaps - I did mine too. I think they look pretty good in white for the Blizzard Pearl cars.

There's a few pictures of it in this thread:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...498-painted-white-hubcaps-blizzard-pearl.html

Dave

 

Hey Mac, tks for the information and the photos. it looks great. But i am a bit confused on exactly what paint you used. Could you briefly recap. I seem to remember white with a pearl overcoat, but then later in the thread, it says pactra pearl white?
but tks, looks like i have another project a head of me.

also did you paint the rims underneath too or leave them silver?

 

Thanks, I really like the look too on the Blizzard Pearl. Amazing what a simple, cheap mod like that can do to the looks.

Sorry for any confusion in that thread, I used the Rustoleum Paint for Plastic white gloss and clear:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ite-hubcaps-blizzard-pearl-2.html#post1194241

The hubcaps need to have the chrome plastic Toyota emblem removed, then I roughed up the hubcaps with some 400grit sandpaper, cleaned, painted, and let cure for about 5 days.

I left the alloy wheels underneath alone. That would have been way too much work to paint and have them look nice with all the spokes. I don't think the slight contrast between the silver alloy spokes that poke through and the white hubcaps looks too bad.

Good luck!

Dave

 

tks Mac, I sure like them better than the silver. I have an e-mail into Danny to see if the body shop that paints his body side moldings would consider this too and what the price might be.

 

just secured an extra set to play with. hope to work on them in the coming weeks.

 

I'll bet they are a nice set of hubcaps.

There are some good plastic primers that are worth using, They will reduce chipping. I've used the Rustoleum plastic primer in a rattle can and had good results.

 

Hmmm xs650 howdya know..lol. guess i got my xmas project ahead of me,.

 

I can see myself painting my hubcaps black like that. I had a 2000 Isuzu Rodeo before my Prius and I painted the alloy rims a flat black and it turned out nicely.

 

Supposedly it is to cut down wind resistance. Two of mine fell off while driving and I took it in for a problem with the computer. Toyota swears I am getting 40MPG now because my covers are gone and they won't do anything until I put them back on.