Wow, it's been awhile since my last post. Thankfully, summer is winding down. This year, the heat was pretty brutal. Plus work was very busy. That didn't leave much time or energy for other things.
That said, I still got a few things done. For example, those pizza pan wheel covers were becoming problematic. Bolting the pizza pan to the stock trim ring was pretty easy, and didn't make any permanent modifications to the car. The downside was that they would fly off when I hit potholes. Yeah, there are actually a few potholes in Florida.
Also, the pizza pans stick out from the wheel, which makes them prone to hitting curbs and stuff.
Every time one of the pizza pan wheel covers got damaged, I'd have to buy a Prius trim ring from ebay, plus another pizza pan from WalMart. And I'd have to install the pizza pan onto the trim ring. After doing that three times, I decided it was enough.
I decided to go ahead with the original plan, which was to bolt some pizza pans directly to the wheels. Of course, that would require drilling and tapping holes in the wheels. I also took this opportunity to buy some aluminum pizza pans. They're very lightweight, and won't rust.
I took some measurements, and drew up a template. The template will help me drill the mounting holes in the pans, and the wheels. Plus I'm going to drill some bigger holes, for ventilation and access to the valve stems. That will make it easier to monitor the tire pressure. Below is a photo of the template. Those 3 notches are to help locate it on the wheels. (the notches line up with 3 of the spokes)
In the photo below, the template is taped onto one of the pizza pans. And I'm using a punch to mark the holes. I also did the same thing with the wheels.
Speaking of the wheels, it's time to drill some holes in them. Not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about this. After I drilled the holes, I tapped some threads in them. In case anyone is wondering, the bolts I'm using are SAE #10 x 32TPI. This is practically identical to metric M5 x 0.8mm. You can actually mix-n-match them.
I had to use 1/4" spacers between the pizza pans and the wheels. I also used washers on the screws, to spread the load. Here's a photo of the new pizza pan bolted to the wheel.
This is just a quick overview. But if you guys want more details, or a parts list, let me know.