1969 Rally Wheel Center Cap Restoration

[Michael C.]

Has anyone had a rally wheel center cap restored? That is repainting the black stripes between the "ribs" and removing fine scratches from the chrome surface inside the inner-most circle. I had Brightworks refinish the trim rings and the "dish" part of the center cap, but he doesn't do anything with the cap itself. While removing years of dried wax and other "corrosion" around the ribs I scuffed up some of the black paint. I've tried some model-builder masking supplies (thin, narrow tape and liquid masking), but can't eliminate much excess paint or uneven lines where the ribs meet the black surface. I've used an exacto knife to carefully (aka - tediously) remove the excess paint, but I wonder if there is a better way or resource.

I'd also like some feedback on the length of the black stripes. My caps are original and the black stripes aren't the same length from one cap to another. On one cap the black stripe extends slightly beyond the ribs, but on another cap the stripe comes up slightly short of the end of the rib. Just wondering if this is typical - as it seems many things are atypical on these cars.

Thanks,
Mike

[Alan S.]

Re: 1969 Rally Wheel Center Cap Restoration

Hi Michael,
The center caps on my 71 are the original to the car and un-restored.
I have 1 cap that exhibits a stripe that extends beyond the rib and 3 that end at or near the end of the rib. So I'd say either would be acceptable.
It appears that some sort of screen or 'mask' was used when the detail was painted since there's no sign of a paint 'edge' and the end of the stripe is actually a bit indistinct. Also, the paint appears to be an EXTREMELY thin layer, so it will be hard to duplicate.
I'm sorry I can't offer any re-paint suggestions. Perhaps someone knows a method used to restore earlier Corvette hubcaps with black paint detailing.
Regards,
Alan

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 Rally Wheel Center Cap Restoration

It appears that some sort of screen or 'mask' was used when the detail was painted since there's no sign of a paint 'edge' and the end of the stripe is actually a bit indistinct.

Alan-------


You can be absolutely CERTAIN of this. There's no way in the world that the manufacturer of these would tediously tape off in order to paint the black areas. They probably had some sort of fairly "form-fitting" mask with slots for the painted areas. If we could obtain one of these masks, these caps would be easy to restore. Unfortunately, we can't. My guess is that it was some sort of "papier-mache" type of thing.

By the way, these caps are still available from GM (for 280 bucks each, GM list).

[Alan S.]

Re: 1969 Rally Wheel Center Cap Restoration

Hi Joe,
The dark gray finish applied to 70-72 front grills seems to have these 'soft' edges too where the paint ends at the parts of the grill that had the chrome plating exposed.
Might they also have been painted using a mask of some type?
Regards,
Alan

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 Rally Wheel Center Cap Restoration

Hi Joe,
The dark gray finish applied to 70-72 front grills seems to have these 'soft' edges too where the paint ends at the parts of the grill that had the chrome plating exposed.
Might they also have been painted using a mask of some type?
Regards,
Alan

Alan------


I'd say almost certainly.