Restoring Rally Centercaps

[Rocker'sDuster]

Hey guys,

I am getting ready to restore my 72+ center caps for a set of rally rims I am putting on very soon. They need a bit of cleaning up; particularly on the inside of the caps where there’s a bit of grime, and I was wondering what you guys recommend for cleaning them up?

Just to better clarify, the outer areas look pretty good, and will be sprayed with textured Argent. It’s the inside of each cap where brake dust and grease have built up over time.

Any cleaning product you recommend that will get the job done and isn’t too harsh?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RedFish]

just about any soap will leave a residue and most will cause corosion of potmetal. I would use brake cleaner aresol and an old tooth brush. Once they are clean and dry one of the polymer wax product will protect them and leave them easier to clean again later.

 

[cosgig]

Are they the cone style caps or the acorn?? I had two sets of the cone style caps and I thought they needed a little refab too so heres what I did... First I used some paint stripper and painted it on the argent area and waited for it to bubble up. Then I wiped all of the paint residue off and thuroughly cleaned the caps with laquer thinner. I then masked off the nose of the cone and the rim with blue painters tape and sprayed the caps with new dark argent paint. Both sets came out great!!! One set is on Nellas car and the other set I passed along to a local Duster owner. After 2 years or so they still look great. Heres a pic of one on Nellas car!! Good luck with your project, Geof

 

[Rocker'sDuster]

Thank you guys for the feedback! you went all out Geof! They are the acron style (which I actually like better). They look really good already, but could use a touch up. One of them is noticably less textured, so I am going to mask them off and spray with the textured argent to make them all match.
I figured its a good time to clean the inside as well...just didn't want to do more harm than good. I am going to try scrubbing them with a bit of water, brake cleaner, and a nylon brush. I will post results as soon as I have them!

Thanks again!