"Pie Plate" wheel restoration

[Howplum]

I recently bought a used set of these to put on my LS400, and whilst the wheels themselves need refurbishing, the covers are not too bad, considering they are around 20 years old.

The finish on the plastic covers is a very clever paint job that looks like brushed metal, and is no doubt difficult/impossible to replicate. There are one or two minor areas where the paint has come off, but are only obvious on close inspection.

Has anyone ever had these repainted to something resembling the original? The sides can be painted the same silver as the wheels, but what about the face?

Part of me wants to apply a gloss lacquer to prevent any further deterioration, whilst the other part wants to repaint them, but with what finish?

I note that they are still available from Lexus Parts Direct at £271 each, which is nearly as much as I paid for the wheels and tyres together!

[Glyn Jennings]

4 hours ago, Howplum said:

I recently bought a used set of these to put on my LS400, and whilst the wheels themselves need refurbishing, the covers are not too bad, considering they are around 20 years old.

The finish on the plastic covers is a very clever paint job that looks like brushed metal, and is no doubt difficult/impossible to replicate. There are one or two minor areas where the paint has come off, but are only obvious on close inspection.

Has anyone ever had these repainted to something resembling the original? The sides can be painted the same silver as the wheels, but what about the face?

Part of me wants to apply a gloss lacquer to prevent any further deterioration, whilst the other part wants to repaint them, but with what finish?

I note that they are still available from Lexus Parts Direct at £271 each, which is nearly as much as I paid for the wheels and tyres together!

On my pieplates the lacquer has also started to peel off as well. I did start to try and remove all of it but it was taking for ever so as not to damage the finish underneath so any recommendations as to what is the best thing to use that would be effective but not damage the plastic finish?

[Malc1]

Please shoot me down in flames if I have this wrong !

If these are solid "silver" coloured plastic covers / inserts .  as they, the centre caps, are on my original Ls400 wheels ..  cannot the paint lacquer finish be totally removed, to get back to the original solid plastic and colour, with the rest of the wheels painted / powder coated to match the finish and colour of the solid plastic inserts ?

Then you'll never need to worry about the " finish " breaking down in anyway

just a thought

Malc

[Howplum]

Glyn, what did you use to try and remove the final finish with? Presumably it has to be something not too aggressive. Personally I am not too keen on the chrome look that might be exposed - it might look a bit too "blingy". I might experiment when I come to paint the return edges, whenever that may be.

Malc, Yes, the cover plates could be stripped and painted to match, or contrast with, the rims, but I quite like the existing spun metal look. 

I couldn't find any images where the cover plates have been repainted, but here's one with what looks like a chrome finish, which to me looks a bit OTT.

http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/louishavo/aba64dd2514e.jpg

 

[Malc1]

On my Ls400 I recently, well, last year I think, just left the centre caps as original unmolested, solid all the way through, grey " silver " ish plastic, factory finish, and had the remainder of the wheels powder coated to simply match the colour of the original unmolested centre caps .  saved money and. well. took them back to original

Malc

[Glyn Jennings]

1 hour ago, Malc1 said:

Please shoot me down in flames if I have this wrong !

If these are solid "silver" coloured plastic covers / inserts .  as they, the centre caps, are on my original Ls400 wheels ..  cannot the paint lacquer finish be totally removed, to get back to the original solid plastic and colour, with the rest of the wheels painted / powder coated to match the finish and colour of the solid plastic inserts ?

Then you'll never need to worry about the " finish " breaking down in anyway

just a thought

Malc

The point is that the original finish is like machined metal in that it reflects the light at different angles. This is the finish under the lacquer and it is the lacquer that peels off so the ideal thing to do is to remove all the old lacquer and apply a new coating. 

[Malc1]

if it's solid plastic right thru then you won't need a lacquer finish ?

Malc

[Illogan]

23 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

if it's solid plastic right thru then you won't need a lacquer finish ?

Malc

I would assume the clearcoat lacquer not only protects the substrate, but also provides the optical 'depth' to create the faux spun metal appearance.

 

[Glyn Jennings]

3 hours ago, Howplum said:

Glyn, what did you use to try and remove the final finish with? Presumably it has to be something not too aggressive. Personally I am not too keen on the chrome look that might be exposed - it might look a bit too "blingy". I might experiment when I come to paint the return edges, whenever that may be.

Malc, Yes, the cover plates could be stripped and painted to match, or contrast with, the rims, but I quite like the existing spun metal look. 

I couldn't find any images where the cover plates have been repainted, but here's one with what looks like a chrome finish, which to me looks a bit OTT.

http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/louishavo/aba64dd2514e.jpg

 

It was last year when I tried to remove the lacquer when I put the existing wheels in storage and I can’t now remember what I tried but it may have been panel wipe or isopropyl alcohol. I do have thinners and stronger solvents but am reluctant to use them as to not destroy the original finish.

[Malc1]

54 minutes ago, Glyn Jennings said:

as to not destroy the original finish.

is there an original " finish " to protect do you think .....  mine after 28 years probably look like new with zero covering nor protection .  solid coloured plastic right thru might be quite impervious .......  maybe ! 
Malc

[Glyn Jennings]

2 hours ago, Malc1 said:

is there an original " finish " to protect do you think .....  mine after 28 years probably look like new with zero covering nor protection .  solid coloured plastic right thru might be quite impervious .......  maybe ! 
Malc

I guess you are fortunate if yours are still perfect. I would suspect the reflective finish is just on the surface otherwise the back of the disc would look the same.

[Malc1]

maybe mine are of a different type of plastic product from 1995 .........  mine seem to be simply solid right through with the same colour, just a lump of moulded disc shaped plastic  .  they won't take paint or lacquer finish it seems ( with any degree of consistency )  .  indeed, my wheels were refurbished by powder coating and they told me they should last another 15 years subject to me being careful and avoiding dings, dents and bashes .....  of course ..  finish longevity is simply down to me and my driving style 🤣

One of my centre caps has a couple of grooves in it from carelessness some years past by someone ( heaven's not me eh ! ) and i haven't had the grooves filled as, actually, they are of course the same colour whatever the depth of the zap 

Good luck with yours

Malc

[FreddyK13]

Signed up, just to reply to this question. (Not too often I have answers!). I just did this weekend. A 10 minute soak in 70% propyl alcohol and the clear coat was soft enough to scrap off with a credit card. Cheers from Canada!         

[Howplum]

That's a very useful tip, thanks Fred. Did you have prior experience or was it a brave experiment?

Presumably you're going to apply fresh clear coat, but will it be satin or gloss?

[FreddyK13]

No previous experience! Googled to find some options. Couldn't find anything specific to removing clear coat, but did read that acetone and isopropyl alcohol would soften clear coat. Experimented. The acetone was too aggressive. (Removed a little chrome on my test (hardly visible). Not sure exactly how long I soaked them, but maybe start with 5 minutes. I had hoped to clear coat them. Concerned about getting it to stick to the chrome. Seems that even with an adhesion promoter, could be a problem. Might be worth a gamble. Would probably go with satin. 

 

Related, does anybody know the paint code for the original wheel colour? Not real happy with the Duplicolor silver. Looks a little too silver for me. Maybe I will run them like this for the summer. Then figure out a permanent solution during the winter, when they are off the car .

 

[Howplum]

Those wheel caps look very smart.

Probably the only sure way to match the wheel paint colour is to take one to a paint supplier that has a spectrophotometer.

It looks as though putting a clear coat on chrome could be tricky. Perhaps experiment on the sides first before moving on the face.

Do let us know how you get on.

 

[Supafly]

I've seen on other caps (LS400 included) that there is a very thin piece of metal that's crimped over the plastic and that is either powder coated or machined as this appears to be.  

Check around the edges of the back to see if there are little tabs that have been bent over which hold the front metal piece onto the plastic.

If that is the case then they can be machined again if the pitting isn't too deep.

[Howplum]

The caps for the SC430 wheels are definitely all plastic.

[FreddyK13]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:00 PM, Howplum said:

Probably the only sure way to match the wheel paint colour is to take one to a paint supplier that has a spectrophotometer.

 

Scanned as Axalta 950852 Metallic Gray. At least my 2001 Celsior rims did. Looked to be the same colour. My SC430 rims are painted already, so couldn't scan them.