Today I was think about how to make the xA's stock hubcaps look better because my dreams of getting new ones (pics of those in some of my other posts) were crushed after I saw a purple 96' Dodge Caravan with them *shivers*. Anyway this probably isn't a new idea but I thought of painting them charcoalish black with a blue center or bronze with a blue center....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/iyzmi/newidea.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/iyzmi/newidea2.jpg
Which one do you guys like more? Anyone willing to try this on their xA (I don't have mine yet :( ) The only qestion in my mind is how would I keep the Scion logo in the center withought painting blue all over it. :doh:

i don't like that idea...mmm....

Just take the hubcaps off! :D

Nah....I personaly don't like the hub capless look.

go for some other type of cap. i have trim rings with clear coated steelies. look in the "moon discs on my xA" post and there are two examples. a white xa and a black one. both have trim rings.

don't do it...i'm just saying it cause it seems to be in poor taste to paint hub caps. they look fine the way they are. a suggestion is to buy some economical wheels that have good function and looks like konigs, rota, buddy club wheels. They're cheap and are of good quality.

that white one is mine! How is your clear coat holding up? Any flaking or peeling?

me no likey!

hubcap must go! or buy black rims dj sez so :wink:

Ugggh!

I'm just going to take my hubcaps off, like the look of black rims and that is the way I'm going to go when I get the money saved up, until then, going with the black steelies.

i did it to my xB and peiople think i bought it like them. id paint them all one color. if i can do it all over again. id have them colormatched and clearcoated. but i settled for duplicolor gun metal spray can paint. it wasnt that bad i guess. i dont know if tyhis is a good shot but this is my final result.

oh and i tried gold spray can on the hubcaps before and it looked horrible. how do you plan on painting them? if you dont mind on spending cash, id get them painted a gloss black or a flat black. thats just me. i dont link things shiny and chrome :-P

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/dadoo/621892db.jpg

hmmm....If i really had to choose between your 2 choices, I would say black. I also think going with the black steelie look is much better looking though.

I actually have those xA caps on my xB (long story) and I ran them this winter. Painted them to match the car:

http://scinergyia.com/modules/gallery/albums/album10/DSC00214small.jpg

http://scinergyia.com/modules/gallery/albums/album10/DSC00207small.jpg

-Alex

moved...

i'd saw no also. i imagine it would chip

please don't paint your hub caps.

that white one is mine! How is your clear coat holding up? Any flaking or peeling?

no peeling yet. its extra shiny after a bath.

I actually have those xA caps on my xB (long story) and I ran them this winter. Painted them to match the car:

http://scinergyia.com/modules/gallery/albums/album10/DSC00214small.jpg

http://scinergyia.com/modules/gallery/albums/album10/DSC00207small.jpg

-Alex

subtle. you did a good job on the paint.

This is what i mentoned before. these were stock wheels painted flat black.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/firesquare/My%20focus/scan0004.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/firesquare/My%20focus/scan0003.jpg
this is what they looked like before
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/firesquare/My%20focus/scan0002.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/firesquare/My%20focus/scan0001.jpg

just to get an idea

don't paint the hubcaps.just roll on the black steelies or buy some rotas if you dont want to spend to much money on wheels.

I like that flat black look on the black car. It's sort of lean and means all-business and no flash. It sure is different.

I like that flat black look on the black car. It's sort of lean and means all-business and no flash. It sure is different. i agree i not in to the flashy bling bling stuff :clap:

:nails: don`t do it

Got this spare set of spoked xB covers which I -do not like-

So! Why not make a trial and paint one to key to the RS2?

I wondered and figured it would look clownish


Am surprized! I like the look and now, think... maybe do my set of phone dial caps in this way.

The paint is Krylon's "Fusion" in yellow. The yellow is quite similar to the Solar Yellow (has less of the green undertone)

The rear wheel seen here is painted Duplicolor's "school bus yellow", which is a yellow tilted towards orange

-what do you guys think of the RS2 with wheel treatments that cost about 5$ :ttth:

maybe a few others will like this! A -lot- won't and I can dig that, too.

advantage of this "system": the covers snap off with a simple pull and can be refreshed whenever they get curb-scraped or stained.
The Fuzion (sp?) paint is supposed to stick to clean plastic very well.
We'll see. It dried very satin/dull, and lightly textured, which -i like-.
Prolly because I sprayed in very high humidity??

I will drive on this for a day or two and then make my final decision.
Of course, if I ever tire of the yellow it could be stripped off with Citristrip (Home Depot) without destroying the plastic cap.

http://img132.echo.cx/img132/6480/yellowcapfront4vy.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

addendum: after staring at this picture for a minute (it is a fresh picture) I just now see that the yellow cover has a freaky sunburst pattern in its design. I never would have seen that when the cap was silver! :clap: but now that I see that, I can't -not- see it, forevermore. :rofl:

nor can you. arrrgh! :P

just got some more Fusion for the dial caps. I found also a "buttercream" (pale yellow).

will try that on one dial cap and the bright yellow on another, and post up a picture. Is too wet to paint. The Fusion -should- dry with more gloss if I can wait for lower humidity day-

sci fly thats bad ___!

I like the yellow, I had debated on doing matching caps just for something different. After playing on the tire rack site, I ended up with 18 wheels and tires, but will be switching over to the 15's for vacations. A paint shop buddy was going to match the paint for me, but that fusion looks pretty cool and can be done instantly instead of a wait. Nice Job, thanks for the pics.

I usually don't care for body-color wheel covers (and I DON'T like that ten-spoke Scion cover at all for some reason) but in they look surprisingly good in the yellow on an RS2... And even the 'sunburst' in the center lookg good. :)

Just offhand, I think the ten-spoke in yellow might even be better than the phone-dials in any color...at least on an RS2.

I'd paint up a set of the ten-spokes, if I had an RS2, live with it for awhile and see how it felt.

(Thanks for sharing - it is nice to see different ideas rather than so many approximations of the same look that seems to happen. :) )

("...I want to be different, just like everyone else...") :D

I feel pretty much the same way.

However, unless I actually paint a phone dial cover I won't know whether it looks good in something other than silver.


the spoked cover (which I hate in silver) does please OK in color.
well, that's only carrying on a "look" that was universal for the wooden wheel and wire spoke wheeled antique cars. Those wheels were always painted some matching or complimentary color. Never silver. So, that's where I got the interest from to try this out.

-I will do a phone dial cap in the buttercream and also the bright yelllow. Suspect I -will- prefer the buttercream Fusion on a phone dial cap.

rainy rainy day.. Might as well get the caps all prepped and "bB"d' (heat gun-off the Sicon hub medallion.


that rear wheel trialed out in Duplicolor school bus yellow does not go good as a rear-layer color for the Fusion yellow. Clashes. Ah, but if the phone dial caps look good in cream I -might- trial the wheel in the Fusion bright yellow.

anywho, there's no more sure way to see what works, than to SEE what it looks like. Is easier for me to do than to Photoshop!

:bow: to Tom, the Wizard of Photoshop

also: thanks, Paul, for excitement and encouragements. onward! upward ! and Sci! watch those curbs, you scuffer! :P

(Not a Wizard, just a hack, SciFly. Some of the guys who used to work for me were the REAL Wizards. I could basically whip something up good enough to show them what I wanted, then step back and let them do it. I know my limits. :P )

I do have fun, though, sometimes, like one in my gallery here. :)

of the two, which color would be your choice?

I have my preference already. Krylon Fusion: cream on the rear and their bright yellow on the front.

reactions? like? hate?

I'll be painting all four the same color tomorrow.


http://img108.echo.cx/img108/6729/creamoryellow6on.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

I say go with semi gloss black to go with all the other trim. So I couldn't vote for my color choice.

Hmm... yes, that's a thought. *all color ideas are welcome*

I think the cream is so-so looking. Will look filthy after the first drive. This paint is not high-gloss/slick. Dust will show

so! the darker color is more practical. But ummm... I like the outrageous yellow.

The neat thing about this plan is the ease with which color can be changed or freshened by recoating.

I'll be mounting Goodyear F1 -50 series- aspect ratio tires next week! The look will change again. And the -dreaded wheel gap gets bigger- until I get my spring drop.

thanks for your thoughts, Jethro. More reactions, please

If it must be between the 2. I like your idea of the color that most resembles the factory yellow. Also another idea... could yellow flake be mixed in with clear and be sprayed ocer the silver. Just thinking out loud. LOL

Also another idea... could yellow flake be mixed in with clear and be sprayed ocer the silver. Just thinking out loud. LOL


Sure it could! Just that we can't do this with spray can art.

Ah, but I just sprayed over that creme cover with yellow
Idea! The first passes gave it a a really interesting fade-look

So, pretty clearly a person can shade these paints -freestyle- and get a look that might be interesting. Cream and Yellow fade together nicely.
Never seen painted wheel covers done in fades.

yada, but for now, am going for the bold, solid yellow to just have it done :relief:

Fusion spraying tips: In high humidity, at least, this paint lays out dry and dull satin if you handle it like regular spray can paint.

To get a decent gloss I have to lay on my light cover coats and then wet it down with
deft movements of the can, from about -four inches, no more- from the work.
Am getting the best, most even gloss by holding the cover in my free hand and
circle-sweeping all over the cover from that close distance. Make a cloud of wet
spray.

If the weather were cooler and dryer than it is here at the moment I think that the
Fusion would be much easier to gloss up. It does have a lot of light texture/orange
peel. But that's OK and even -fine- for wheel covers, I think. The texture disguises
the tiny imperfections like dust, scratches better this way.

ah, but that creme cap with first coat of yellow (concentrated around the holes) looked interesting.

I need more sets of phone dial caps ta do allll up in different spray arts. :P

I likey... I might do that to my RS 2.0

Preparation tips:

Although Fusion's directions say that prep is easy (and it is!), I think it's a good idea to do a good scrub of the covers.

The covers appear to be an ABS plastic. Do not wipe down with laquer thinner or MEK, etc. because the acrylic enamel (?) silver paint will wrinkle and lift and the plastic starts to melt.

I prepped my used covers (filthy with brake dust) this way:

-Scion disk logo is removed by hair dryer on high setting. Get the disk good and hot for fully two or three minutes, to soak the pressure sensitive glue with heat. A dental hook, like a miniature pry bar, is slipped under the edge. A steady pull takes off the disk if you got the glue soft. It can even come off without bending if you take some care.

-the remaining residue is best gotten off by pressing sticky duct tape to the glue and pulling it off. Any traces of glue may then be gotten off with GOO GONE.

-In the laundry sink, spray them down with any sort of bathroom tile cleaner (these are caustic, and melt off the greasey filth and silicone tire spray)

-Optional: with a green Scotchbrite pad, scrub the entire face. The abrasive pad gives a tooth for the new paint and removes curb scratches.

The reason I like the fusion is because it -is expected to remain flexible. Acrylic engine enamel, or really, almost any enamel would work on these disks. But will they stay on, uncracked over the long haul? See, snapping the covers on involves flexing them a lot. So, the paint should be either

a) a thin coat of paint per factory
-or-
b) a flexible, relatively soft paint of good, natural polarity for bonding to the existing paint or plastic.

I -think- Fusion should hold up OK so far as bonding goes. These covers are not a "difficult to paint" kind of plastic, such as polypropylene (garbage can plastic) No, this ABS plastic melts a bit under the new paint's solvent action. There is good reason to expect permanent bond from any paint applied to plastic disks. It just should be a flexible film paint.

IMO of all the wheel covers I ever painted, all that is required for prep is a good rub down with 91% rubbinb alcohol. and letting it dry good.. I have never had a problem with any of the covers I have done. this is using regular paint. None fo mine have ever flexed enough to crack.