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I'm still waiting for the aftermarket center caps I ordered. I made the plywood punch and die and it works like a charm. To make them I made a compass out of my router with a block of wood and 2 pieces of 1/4" all thread rod, the compass center point is a 1/8" drill bit. The die is a piece of 3/4" plywood with a 15 1/2" diameter area routed to a depth of 5/16" (the 3/16" rolled edge of the pan sits on un-routed plywood). The punch is a 6" diameter piece of 3/4" plywood also made with the router-compass. After locating the center of the first pan I drilled a 1/8" hole in it and used the drill bit to align the punch, pan and die, set the die on flat concrete and gave the punch a few hammer blows. Presto it works!
I'm pretty well convinced that drilling and tapping 5 of the 10 spokes on a 6 1/2" radius circle with 6-32 screws located in the middle of the spokes will not compromise the wheels and give a really secure mounting. I'll still use a bolt through the center cap but it is essentially cosmetic but useful to speed re- installation. Now has anyone got an easy way of getting 5 equally spaced holes on a 6 1/2" diameter circle?
I plan on using rubber washers between the pan and spoke at each screw and using silicone RTV on the screws as a low torque thread locker and may add a very thin bead of silicone RTV around the perimeter of the pans.
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