Enkei RPF1 DIY center caps

[onehundredoctane]

For those of you with RPF1's you know by now how FUGLY the center caps are. Fake carbon fiber sticker with red writing on it, they're about as attractive as a "Type-HAR" badge if you ask me.

I've been wanting to find another center cap that was about the same size, noticed a lot of Honda guys are running 2003-2006 Accord center caps, that's all well and good but I have a 1997 S14. . .

At a friends houes the other day and noticed what he had done for center caps and it's so easy and cheap that I had to share!

First, go to Lowe's or Home Depot or any hardware store for that matter, find the electrical section and you'll find these circular metal plugs that are made for plugging electical conduit or electrical boxes. I found them for 0.77 each. First thing I did was scuff up the galvanized coating on them, then sprayed three layers of primer, then three layers of silver gray metallic (I'm sure this paint won't last forever, but this was strictly for testing a color match) I had laying around from a model car I built. The color is pretty close, the only thing I might add will be some Enkei logo's I'll have printed up at a local viynl shop, I think that'll really finish them off! I've attached a pic of them in primer, then painted and installed.

Hope you guys find this useful! If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

-Matt

[colombianbryan]

huh very useful and simple!

[CrazyIvan]

How do you secure it in place?

[vipergtsr1000hp]

cool idea man. ive been trying to figure out what other center caps i could use for my 18x8.5 and 18x10.5 rpf1 since i dont have any on them atm.
i will definitely look into this.

them enkei rpfl center caps cost an arm and leg to get.

[vipergtsr1000hp]

Originally Posted by CrazyIvan

How do you secure it in place?

yes i want to know this also

[JN1AS4]

Its called a 'Knock-out plug" and they simply have like 8 little teeth on the other side and u can bend them out just a little and they will hold securely to you wheel. I just bought 4 of them for my 17x9.5 MB Battles. And I had to use a 2" knock out plug for them. So thats probably the size that everyone needs.

[onehundredoctane]

Yes! They come in several sizes, but 2" is what I used, they have 8 prongs on the back that secure it in place, just bend them out a little bit and they pop right into place.

Originally Posted by vipergtsr1000hp

them enkei rpfl center caps cost an arm and leg to get.

and are but ugly no less.

[Pinggg]

Gonna go out and get these today! i was just about to give in and buy the damn caps!

[silviaks2nr]

xterra center caps work too.

[colombianbryan]

^^ what year?

[onehundredoctane]

Originally Posted by silviaks2nr

xterra center caps work too.

How's the color match? Also, do you have any pics of them installed?

[!Zar!]

I threw the Enkei center caps in the trash. After that, I never looked back.

[silviaks2nr]

Originally Posted by onehundredoctane

How's the color match? Also, do you have any pics of them installed?

I never had them so not 100% on which year. I do know they fit after a little grinding of the tabs- I tried one on my rpfs at one point; someone was using the xterra caps on their rotas and let me test fit. I was going to do it but since I just got the classics in it's not worth bothering with though!

[ILoveJDM]

good idea OP.
if i owned RPF1 though, id rather just not run center caps.

[homeslicej2]

Reminds me of my days at the electrical contractor I used to work for. I would definitely put a logo or something on them since the center of the wheel looks so odd. It's a nice way to cover up the hub seal. Plus, I'm sure you could secure them with a silicone sealant as well as the tabs to keep excess moisture from seeping in.

[KravingAKouki]

That color match isnt to far off, just the enkei logo on them and youll have boss status man.

[godrifttoday]

Got mine here the part number

[blueshark123]

im gonna try to use this to cover the a/c holes on the firewall.

[brndck]

useful thread is useful.
if we still had rep, i would give you some OP

[ryandriftingfat]

Originally Posted by blueshark123

im gonna try to use this to cover the a/c holes on the firewall.

Brilliant. Going to Homie Depot on the way home. <3

[Walperstyle]

If this works with my Nismo LMGT4 wheels, I will love you guys long time. Only thing is, my LM's look threaded.

[onehundredoctane]

Originally Posted by Walperstyle

If this works with my Nismo LMGT4 wheels, I will love you guys long time. Only thing is, my LM's look threaded.

They should still work, not sure what diameter the hole is, but the caps come different sizes, 1", 1.5", and 2" so you should be covered. As far as the centers looking threaded that shouldn't affect anything, it'll give the prongs something to hold on to actually, must make sure to bend them out a little so they stay snug.

[blueshark123]

If people want to cover the ac holes on the s14 firewall i was able to fit a 1.5 inch for the bigger hole and i tried using a 1in but it was to small for the other ac hole and the 1 1/4 was to big to fit, by just a bit. I am just going to glue that one on after i remove the prongs

Originally Posted by ILoveJDM

good idea OP.
if i owned RPF1 though, id rather just not run center caps.

well said, thats what i did with mine. the electrical plugs look ratty, i'de rather run nothing.

Originally Posted by blueshark123

im gonna try to use this to cover the a/c holes on the firewall.

you realize nissan sold a plug for that?

[Moore]

Does anyone have any pics of the xterra caps on rpf1's. I'm quite interested by that idea but can't find anything on google.

[blueshark123]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

you realize nissan sold a plug for that?

They do lol? crap Im gonna go buy that then, Im guessing its from a non a/c s13. I think they are the same size for s14 also

[EDT007]

Originally Posted by Walperstyle

If this works with my Nismo LMGT4 wheels, I will love you guys long time. Only thing is, my LM's look threaded.

No, they're def. not threaded. They are similar to the "pop-out" ones pictured. I know first hand from when I had my LM's.

[onehundredoctane]

anyone else done this yet? I'm anxious to see what if any Nissan logo's will fit on there. . .

[mad-ass]

Super old thread, but since it is the same subject, I'll post on here instead of making new thread about it.

I have the 18x9.5+15 and 18x10+38 with no spacers on S14.

So, I went ahead and ordered this center caps in hopes that it'll fit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301051102149...84.m1423.l2649

And they do indeed fit very well on the wheel. I was a bit worried about the front because of the spacing of front bearing nut cover and the wheel, but it fits just fine. But I have SBC finish so silver and Honda symbol wasn't fitting right with me. So I went ahead and tried to replicate the so called SBC finish.
I sanded the caps down to plastic, sprayed it with silver, than used Duplicolor Shadow effects spray kit.


And well, I have tried this on chrome plastic before I did this, and after it was cured, it turned green, not remembering that I sprayed it anyways. This is how it looked right after I got done with the clear coat.

Looked decent, more like graphite finish than the "black chrome" i was going for. anyways, it turned green when it was cured. it looked too funny on the wheel and I had chrome vinal sheet laying around, intended for model air planes(super thin, strong, and light), and tried to cover the cap with that, but had trouble wrapping it around the sides of the cap. Plan failed, so I will just paint them gloss black with clear coat and put them on the wheel for the mean time.

How ever, I am not really digging the idea of plane black, I'd rather have chrome center cap so I went digging for different center caps on ebay and found few that I know will fit the wheel given the measurements were correct off the listings.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181233037778...84.m1423.l2649

^that took a bit of digging to find with no casting lines from the ridges on the back side..

and also found this one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181331134022...S:1123&vxp=mtr

^now, I know it says BBS and all that, but I do like the over all shape and finish of the cap, so I sent the seller a msg asking if they sell exact same cap with no logo, if not how the "BBS" logo is put on the cap to see if the logo can be removed with out damaging the polished finish.


waiting to hear back from the seller on it.

Will update accordingly about the cap logo and when I put the current caps on the wheel after paint.

[mad-ass]

Well, few things happened today. Painted my current existing center caps gloss black using Rusolium.

^After 3 layers of paint layed on, super glossy! But..we all know what paint lies when it first gets sprayed on.

So, this is 3 hours later.


ok, super promising!

now, I did get a response back from the seller, super good news.

The emblem is just a simple sticker, and the round disc aluminum that's double side taped on. the seller agreed to sell the cap with out the logo applied to the cap. So I'll be ordering this very soon.

Keep you all posted.