Studebaker Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I was hoping to tackle refurbishing of the Hub Cap Centers on my 89 Reatta, and was wondering how others did this. Here are some pics of the Hub Cap Centers, and two have pretty good clearcoat still remaining, while the other two have cracked, faded, peeling clearcoat. I thought I had read someplace where one guy used old brake fluid to remove the old clearcoat (and probably the paint too), and then repainted/clear-coated. Has anyone in this forum tackled this job before? Any suggestions? Two on the left are still pretty good, but the other two need some TLC: Is it possible to remove the "R" centers without damaging anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 The center caps are aluminum with a clear coat finish. No paint as far as I know. The emblems can be removed. They are held in place with what looks like yellow 3M Weather stripe glue. It will let go if you give it time to release as you pry out the center. I put a small socket in the hole in the middle of the cap and press down on the cap with my hand so it puts pressure on the emblem while I carefully pry it out with a small screwdriver. It just takes some time and patience. If you look in the How-to section of ROJ you will find instructions for refinishing aluminum wheels and center caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Studebaker Posted January 14, 2020 Topic Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 Ronnie......Excellent reply to my questions! A+++++ for sure. Thats a big help knowing I can remove the center "R" before trying to restore. Good to know that no paint is needed. I just need to remove the clear, then polish the alum, then apply the clear coats......but I will go review the "How To" section to get all the details. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 5 minutes ago, Studebaker said: but I will go review the "How To" section to get all the details. Let me know if you have any questions. I refinished the Mustang wheels in that tutorial but the procedure should be the same for Reatta wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I polished those wheels to a chrome like finish but that extra work won't be needed to match the finish on the Reatta center caps. I wouldn't remove the finish on one of your good Reatta caps and use it as a reference while doing the others so you can keep your caps as close as possible to matching the factory finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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