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Old 08-23-2010, 12:39 AM   This thread is in the EcoModder Project Library | #1 (permalink)
NachtRitter
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Helga - '00 Volkswagen Jetta TDI
TEAM VW AUDI Group
Diesel
90 day: 51.85 mpg (US)

Mathilde - '99 Volkswagen Eurovan Camper
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Simple Honda VX Alloy Wheel Covers (drilled acorn wheel nuts as attachment points)

I'd posted this inside another thread, but realized the information probably deserves its own thread.

Got these done a few weeks ago, and they have worked out quite well.

Used a melamine serving tray from KMart (fairly light weight compared to pizza pans) ($4.99 ea):


Drilled out the acorn nuts and epoxied in some washers plus smaller nuts inside:


They're actually all centered... just looks off:


Epoxy is setting now... using bolts & nuts to hold the nuts inside straight:


Lug nuts ready to go back on the car:


And now back on the car:


Drilled 4 matching holes into the serving tray:


The design of the bottom of the tray made it exceptionally easy to mark 4 evenly spaced lines and the center point. Measuring 50mm (5cm) out from the center to get to the same spacing as the 4x100 lug nuts was a snap. All the holes have lined up with all the lug nuts perfectly twice so far (left and right covers).

Hot-glued washers and spacers to the wheel side of the tray so they don't keep falling off during the mounting (it ain't purty, but it works):


Initially, the tray was a little big and rested on the edge of the rim:


I didn't like that, so I sanded the edges of the tray down until it fit exactly inside the edge of the rim:


Final look is pretty decent; plan to also sand down the ridges so the whole 'bottom' / outside of the tray is smooth, and then will likely paint them. Also plan to smooth the edges of the washers so they don't present such a sharp edge:


For these covers, I prefer to remove the clip-on weights on the outside of the wheel and have the tire shop re-balance with the stick-ons (or clip-ons on the inside only) so that I don't need to cut notches into the covers just for the weights. Since it's a relatively quick 4 phillips screw on / off process, and since the tires are holding air really well, I'm not too worried about having an opening for the air valve.


Last edited by NachtRitter; 09-07-2010 at 03:56 AM.. Reason: Added some more detail to the steps
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