Getting Wheel Caps Fabricated Out Of Billet/alloy Or Plastic Inj Moulding

[DaveO74]

Hey peeps,

I've recently lost two wheel caps at Wakie from my Rays/Nismo LMGT 1 or 2 (not sure which type I have) rims and have exhausted all avenues trying to replace them as they do not make them any more.

This has really really annoyed me so I was thinking if I was to take one of the leftover caps to a fabricator or Injection moulding place would they be able to replicate the caps?

Would the cost make it a viable option or is it a waste of time.

I know a lot of you are going to say just don't worry about it but IMO the caps are part of what makes the wheels look so special and I don't like haveing that little void in the middle of the wheel.

I can't post pics from my phone so have a look at my garage for photos of the rims.

Opinions and options please

Dave

[Deano45]

Hey peeps,

I've recently lost two wheel caps at Wakie from my Rays/Nismo LMGT 1 or 2 (not sure which type I have) rims and have exhausted all avenues trying to replace them as they do not make them any more.

This has really really annoyed me so I was thinking if I was to take one of the leftover caps to a fabricator or Injection moulding place would they be able to replicate the caps?

Would the cost make it a viable option or is it a waste of time.

I know a lot of you are going to say just don't worry about it but IMO the caps are part of what makes the wheels look so special and I don't like haveing that little void in the middle of the wheel.

I can't post pics from my phone so have a look at my garage for photos of the rims.

Opinions and options please

Dave

Hi Dave,

Shame about loosing the caps. Is it the hexagonal nut and gold bit in the middle?

For one offs, injection molding would be expensive. They have to draw it up, then get the molds made. Then you do the injection, measure everything up and modify the tooling if it is not quite right.

Machining would be possible. It would be the time and effort to draw them up and then machine them by hand or automated on a mill

The other option would be to look at casting them and finalise with machining.

Do they just sit in there?

If you do get these made, you could also look at modifying them so they can't just fall out.

good luck,

Nathan

[DaveO74]

Hey Nathan,

yeh mate they're the ones, if I new the little buggers were so rare I wouldve been a lot more carefull with them.

They do sort of just sit in with little clips on the edge.

How is the best way to make a mould up, I've never done it before

[samstain]

Injection moulding would be a $20,000 exersize...

Casting may be possible but still a lot of work to get a good finish.

Best bet would be to CNC machine a few out of billet delrin or alloy, would still probably be $1000 or so to make a the first couple, if you can find enough people that want them you might be able to make a batch of 20+ for around $150 ea.

[X-Modcarz]

Try this lot in Japan. Look for a guy called Matty there, quite helpful. They might be able to get you these. Good luck.

www.neweraparts.com

www.neweraimports.com

www.neweramedia.com

Japan Office Tel -

Mobile ( Japan ): +81- (0) 90-4133-3825

Fax ( Japan ): +81-(0) 47-307-4678

[DaveO74]

Holy jeebuz, I wasn't expecting that price!!!!

[scotty nm35]

Turned up caps on a manual lathe without the nut would be easy and cheap, just get a matching set of 4 made up and silicone them in. That way you can keep the original ones safe until you can find some replacements.

[DaveO74]

Try this lot in Japan. Look for a guy called Matty there, quite helpful. They might be able to get you these. Good luck.

www.neweraparts.com

www.neweraimports.com

www.neweramedia.com

Japan Office Tel -

Mobile ( Japan ): +81- (0) 90-4133-3825

Fax ( Japan ): +81-(0) 47-307-4678

Thanks mate I'll look them up

[THENIG]

Can you some pics of what they look like front & back? Also dimensions?

Get someone who is handy in CAD to draw them up and send the 3D computer file to someone like Rapidpro (i think they are down on mornington coast in victoria) in a few days you will get a parcel with your centre caps. They can even be fine bead blast and painted so they look like a real production part . Then all you need to do is match the paint colour of your wheels & give them one last coat & maybe some clear. Quote for FDM thermoplastics in blend of PC/ABS (polycarbonate/ABS) plastic, black cos its more UV tolerant (shouldn't matter because you will be coating it in paint) if the paint chips off you will only see black underneath. I have no idea what your wheels or centre caps look like but I would imagine that they would be reasonably small & probably fit in the palm of your hand, if so they could probably be done for around $150-200 each. Depends on the weight. Prices for rapid prototyping has really fallen in the last couple of years, we use these guys all the time, they even have an online automated quoting system that lets you upload your design and adjust materials so you can see which material & finish suits your budget without pestering them for labor intensive quotes.

Shoot me a PM if you need any help with it. If you have any decent pictures with a couple of dimensions on them I may be able to give you a rough idea of what it would cost.

http://rapidpro.com.au/

http://eu.redeyeondemand.com/

[DaveO74]

Awesome news thanks a bunch mate, do you reckon if I sent them a wheel cap theycould do the cadd work as well.

I do use cadd at work (surveyor) but not in the way you mentioned so for me it's a bit tricky.

Might be able to conn one of the road designers upstairs though

[THENIG]

Awesome news thanks a bunch mate, do you reckon if I sent them a wheel cap theycould do the cadd work as well.

I do use cadd at work (surveyor) but not in the way you mentioned so for me it's a bit tricky.

Might be able to conn one of the road designers upstairs though

Nah they don't do design work, ask if anyone in your office can draw something for you in 3D and save as a .STP (step) file. I doubt the CAD package that they use for civil engineering stuff will work.

do they look like the ones on this page??

here

If they are then they wont have the turned metal look, they would be smooth. Saying that you could get your own design as a depression or embossed on the surface.

Post a PIC up of the back of one when you get a chance, I will let you know if it is feasible using rapid prototyping.

[DaveO74]

Very similar wheels but an earlier version. I'll post of pics tonight when I get home, my caps have a hex shape and look like what the supercars have as the centre wheel nut if that makes sense.

Have a look at the pics in my garage on my sig if you want until i get the pics up

[DaveO74]

Ok here are some pics I took tonight of the caps.

Let me know if you think its possible

[PLYNX]

Ive done wheel center caps before ! All you need is some silicon moulding resin. Cast a mould off the oringinal center cap and then you can turn out as many as you like using polyester resin.

I used to do repro gear knobs the same way. Theres a thread here one it with a bit of an explanation of how it works in this Fabriction Section.

[DaveO74]

Ive done wheel center caps before ! All you need is some silicon moulding resin. Cast a mould off the oringinal center cap and then you can turn out as many as you like using polyester resin.

I used to do repro gear knobs the same way. Theres a thread here one it with a bit of an explanation of how it works in this Fabriction Section.

Interested in some work PLYNX???

Can you paint the poly resin?

[THENIG]

If you can find someone who can do the poly resin tooling off the original that you send them then that would be a better bet.

It might be a safer option to get it exactly how you want it. I use that method at work too for prototypes through redeye cept they 'print' the model first using FDM (cos the original is in the computer), then its bead blasted & painted, then silicone tooling is made, original part is removed then two part epoxy is injected into the cavity, left to cure at room temp. & removed once set. Good thing is the tooling may be used again up to 100 times (extreme cases). Parts of that size usually cost round $50-75 each (once you have paid for the silicone tool)and they can usually make two per day. Very useful for making small batch of bespoke, small quantity of parts instead of investing in tooling that may cost ten's of thousands $$$. Great thing is the plastic has very similar characteristics to normal injection molded material without any of the 'grain' of rapid proto parts, also no sink marks from plastic contracting as it cools cos the epoxy cools at room temp. This means you can design plastic parts with more 'meat' where strength is needed without worrying bout it creating 'sink' marks. Yeah real nerd stuff I know.

[DaveO74]

Thanks the info Rob, you have pm. And forgive me if I ask silly questions I have a tiny brain sometimes:)

[Pezhead]

Hey Dave,

In my opinion, you could do some out of fibreglass and make a carbon center inlay. That would be pretty hot.

I'd follow the other suggestions here to find a way to make 'em more secure or pull em on track days.

[DaveO74]

I was thinking that to begin with Eric, but I think this rapid prototyping or whatever its called is gonna work out pretty well.

Rob (THENIG) has been sooooo helpful in pointing me in the right direction so if all goes to plan Ill be able to get a couple of sets made up so Ive got spares. Then its just a matter of painting them up how i want them. (painting is something I can do

Lets hope it works!!!!!

[lidz]

I tried making a few of the rays flat caps for my lmgt4's a while back, made a 2 part silicon mould of one of my existing caps & knocked up a load of fakies. Got the painter at work to colour match them to my bronze wheels then spent about $35 on the O-rings.

Chucked them on & they looked perfect, how smart am I, these things are worth like $40 each new, I could make a load & sell them! driving round a few days later & it was nice & sunny, plastic warmed up with the heat & they fell out...

Luckily I found a set of real ones for sale & just sucked it up & bought them.

With the rapid prototype parts are you talking about using them to make a mould or are you actually getting a few made up to use as the actual centre caps? Just because rapid pro parts are actually reasonably brittle, oh & they dont like heat/sunlight as it tends to make them fall apart.

We had a machine when I worked at ford design & we pumped out heaps of parts but they're only good for static displays, you wont be able to use them on your actual car.

have you tried looking on yahoo japan? Because I just did & found two ads, same seller but selling them individually. one cap two cap

cheers, Tim