If you're looking for center caps for your Kosei K1 Racing wheels but don't like the standard Koseis' silver color, paint them! But note, you will have to make some modifications to them for a proper fit.

Purchasing the Caps

Call Alex at The Tire Rack and he can set you up. The cost will be under $50 for all four. The Koseis' very large center hole makes it difficult to fabricate a suitable center cap, nor do the array of aftermarket solutions seem to look or fit properly.

Fitting the Caps

The problem is that the flange that holds the caps on the wheels is too thick; it doesn't let the metal hub-centric rings fully seat in the wheel's hub. To correct the problem, mount a sanding disk on an electric drill and press the flange flat againt the disk to uniformly remove enough flange material to allow the ring to seat properly. I needed to remove about 3/16ths of the material and plenty of material remained on the cap's flange for proper mounting.

Painting the Caps

Here's where Alex went "above and beyond" in suggesting the process to follow for painting the caps. I will relay his instructions and add additional detail.

1. Make sure the caps fit your wheels properly. Mount them on your car and check to make sure the wheel is flush against the rotor PRIOR to torquing-down the bolts. Also make sure that the center cap is snug and cannot be turned by hand. If you can move it, a layer of making tape on the rotor-side of the flange should make it tighter without stressing the flange.

2. Match (number) the caps to the wheels. I'm not sure this is absolutely necessary, but I will be kicked out of the ****-Retentive Club if I don't.

3. Scuff the silver surface of the caps with some very fine sandpaper to give a better surface for adhesion of the primer.

4. Using Rustoleum Primer (an excellent recommendation by Alex), spray 3 or 4 coats on the caps. I VERY lightly sanded the primer after the second coat was given 24 hours to dry. The final coats of primer were applied and allowed to dry for a couple of days.

NOTE: the trick to this it to use multiple LIGHT coats instead of 1 or 2 heavier coats!

5. Using Rustoleum Flat Black (or the color of your choice), spray 2 or 3 coats on the caps. I did not sand the paint and let them dry for several days before the next step.

6. Finally, coat the caps with several layers of low-gloss polyurethane for protection. Again, no sanding and several days to dry.

Finishing Up

Put the caps back on the wheels (remembering which wheel gets which cap!) and double check the fit. If anything, the caps will fit a little tighter than before due to the layers of paint, but don't worry.


Thanks to Alex at The Tire Rack for the suggestions for painting the standard Kosei K1 hubs flat black. I even found some vintage "Cooper" emblems!







Cheers,

Theo

 

Great Job Koopahman!

Looks like I've got a project to do with my Kosei caps too. Think I'll go for body color (my car's not mine. ).

 

nice job!

 

Theo - Those look AWESOME! Nice job.

Alex

 

I'll post my experience painting the center caps of my kosei's.



I started off painting the caps w/ a gloss black krylon fusion, but it didn't hold to the surface at all. I took off the paint and sanded the surface and primered it



I applied 3 light coats of primer and then sanded with 400 grit sandpaper. Repeated 3 light coats of primer and sanded with 600 grit sandpaper. I then applied 3 light coats of gloss black paint.

I wanted a very shiny appearence so I wet sanded the black with 400 again. I then applied 3 more coats of black, then wet sanded with 1000, then applied 3 more coats. A final coating of gloss sealent and they were done. The krylon fusion dries in about 20 minutes but the gloss takes much much longer, so let that sit for 4-6 hours.






I then applied MINI stickers I got from dragonflyer measuring 37mm or 1 7/16". They fit perfectly and look nearly OEM.





I superglued them on just in case the sticker wouldn't hold onto the gloss surface





They're going on the wheels and car tomorrow, I'll post final pics of them

 

here they are on the wheels

 

that's a shiny coat of black.