Cheap-o Smooth Wheel Covers

[McTimson]

Something like this would work perfectly. It's a little expensive though, especially if you're just going to use it once. Maybe you could find a place that would let you rent it for a day?

[bennelson]

My Dad owns a cabinet shop, which is where I did some of the work when I built my camper.

They work pretty early over there, so nobody was in by the time I stopped in at the end of the day.

I was hoping a friend there could set me up designing a "hub cap jig"

Unfortunately, since nobody was there, I just had to help myself.

I decided just to keep it simple.

I traced out the shape of the ring on the aluminum, and cut it out with a jigsaw. (A VERY NICE and POWERFUL jigsaw!) I then screwed the aluminum to the ring, and then sanded the edge so the it wasn't rough, and also to actually get pretty darn round.

It's hard to tell in the photo (it was in the shade at the end of the day) but this is the shiny aluminum side. Actually looks pretty cartoony in the photo! Looks much cooler in real life!

[cfg83]

bennelson -

Wow, it looks like you just photo-shopped it. Very clean.

CarloSW2

[my first gmc]

Now polish to that bling-bling shine.

[MetroMPG]

Looks great, Ben.

I wonder if ecomodders could think of a way to press the aluminum to get that ideal domed shape from it...

Something I've been noodling for a while, but nothing has come to mind.

[bennelson]

I was actually thinking about doming as I drove home with my new hub cap installed.

The sun was real low in the sky, and since I was driving north, (hub cap is on front-left wheel) I could see a pretty cool looking reflection on the ground.

The hub is very slightly concave, and the sunlight bounced off of it focused into a tighter area, but not perfectly, so it was an odd shape. This makes a "star" of daylight projected on the ground, rotating forward at the speed of my wheel (which is never too fast). It was very cool looking.

They guy who I had make the adapter plate for the Electro-Metro has some metal bending tools. I think he has something that can bend domes. (An English Wheel?)

Maybe I can talk him into letting me stop by and learn how to use it.

Domed hubs would look REALLY COOL and would be a very strong shape as well.

[MetroMPG]

An English wheel - of course.

What about people who don't have access to one...

Take pictures!

[bennelson]

Wow, it looks like you just photo-shopped it.

You are right! It should be photo-shopped!



Come to think of it, flat hub caps would be a great place for advertising! (For when the vehicle is stopped, of course!)

[my first gmc]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Looks great, Ben.

I wonder if ecomodders could think of a way to press the aluminum to get that ideal domed shape from it...

Something I've been noodling for a while, but nothing has come to mind.

I was thinking if you had a lathe, you could make a wooden form, then metal spin the aluminum to shape. I've also seen where you can hammer aluminum to take shape of a wooden form.

[Frank Lee]

Sounds like a lot of work for something that practically already exists?