How to Refinish Plastic Hubcaps
Many automobile owners like to accent their vehicle's appearance by adding color to their hubcaps. You can do the same by refinishing your hubcaps with the appropriate enamel. Before you get started, consider the following. If your hubcaps are plastic, they will resist paint adhesion unless they are properly conditioned. You must abrade each hubcap, using friction-based techniques or they will reject their new finishes. In addition, you must select a durable enamel for the final finish coat or shedding will ultimately ensue.
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Things You'll Need
- Trisodium phosphate cleanser
- Coarse sponge
- Water hose
- Rags
- Towels
- 180-grit sandpaper
- Heavy-duty fabric drop cloth
- Acrylic spray primer
- High-gloss acrylic spray enamel
Instructions
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Remove the hubcaps from the automobile.
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Wash the plastic hubcaps with a trisodium phosphate cleanser, using a coarse sponge. Rinse the hubcaps, using a water hose and dry them with towels.
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3
Promote adhesion by sanding the plastic hubcaps with a 180-grit sandpaper. Stop when the hubcaps feel slightly coarse.
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4
Place the hubcaps on a heavy-duty fabric drop cloth.
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Coat the plastic hubcaps with acrylic spray primer. Maintain an 8-inch distance between the hubcaps and the spray nozzle as you apply. Wait three hours for the hubcaps to dry.
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Coat the primed hubcaps with a high-gloss acrylic spray enamel. Keep 8 inches between the hubcaps and the spray nozzle as you apply. Let dry for three hours. Reattach the hubcaps.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't paint unprimed plastic hubcaps or the finish will flake. Don't prime if unabraded plastic hubcaps or the finish will peel. Ordinary latex paint isn't durable on hubcaps.
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
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Comments
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when you have completed the process and the hubcaps are done, do you need to apply some sort of protector to the finished hubcaps so they don't peel or flake?
