Like most people who have 97-99 SE, my plastic center caps had lost all the silver paint, turning them an ugly yellowish brown color.

I popped them off. I heard that nail polish remover could do a good job getting the few remaining specks of paint off, but I didn't have it on hand, so I just used a wire brush to get it off. Then I washed them with soapy water, and then rubbed them with paint thinner and let them dry.

I used this Rustoleum outdoor textured paint... mainly because I had it laying around. I used it on my GPS a year and a half ago, and the finish has held up well, so I used the leftovers on the center caps. I did two coats, let them dry, then popped them back in. I think the black is a nice contrast - silver would have been hard to match exactly.





It was a pretty simple task, so I figure if this paint doesn't hold up, or I get tired of the color, it will be easy to strip them down and repaint them.

 

should have kept the nissan chrome. looks k. thought of the rest of the rim black?

 

I looked into powdercoating, but it was expensive, and I don't have a spare set of wheels to use (or a second car to drive) while they are out being painted.

I only had black and red spraypaint on hand when I did these... I think silver would look better

Maybe one afternoon this week, I'll buy a can of silver spraypaint. But I think I'll use a knife and some masking tape and mask off the nissan emblem, so that it stays black.

 

Did you try to get replacement caps at a Nissan dealership?

 

Nope, I just popped them off and sprayed them. It's only a cosmetic thing. My experience is that dealership = $$$$$

I think I'll go for something like this

 

not crazy about the color but it looks better than the faded i guess. silver ftw!

 

The black sticks out too much, but then again, it's better than the faded worn look. I painted mine silver with SEM Color Coat Silver and it matches well. If you decide to go back to silver...

 

always love new ideas

 

i actually kinda like the black

 

Since when is painting center caps a new idea?

 

i dont like it. Just my 2cent

 

why not just paint the rims if you are going to paint the center caps?

 

Just a FYI, you couldn't have gotten brand new ones (all 4) for only $22 from courtesy Nissan.

 

can of clear gloss and matching paint for under $10. But i doubt it would look as nice as new inserts. Since mine were worn from the beginning... where they silver w/black lettering? or all silver?

 

Looks rice to me.

 

i did this on mine, it looks fuxing great!

 

neat but i would have gone with new ones as the wizard said.
*cough* raistlin *cough*

 

Just curious how did you mask off and spray that so just the outline was black?

 

I did this a little while ago on my third gen that has these wheels. At first it was too bright, but with fading, it began to look great

 

^^^^I'm pretty sure that is photoshopped...But he'll have to tell you for sure.

 

The black is a photoshop... I'm going to go to the hardware store this week and pick up some silver paint. I used to make model planes, so I expect I'll have no problem carefully cutting masking tape to cover only the nissan emblem.

 

If your going to get some silver paint, Get a 5 oz. can of Dupli-Color Import Auto Spray-Arctic Silver. It's a near perfect match.

 

MUCH better than faded. I might try doing mine white.

 

i like this look. you must be a patient man, gl.

 

you could just get some silver paint and do the nissan name in silver just paint it with a lil brush IMO

 

they look nice with a dark color car

 

I think i'll buy new ones for my SE wheels I just got,

 

must of been pretty bored if u wanted to paint those

 

^^^ naw mane, just tired of yellowish gray centercaps on a shiny silver wheel lolz

 

I think I'm going to keep 'em black. It looks better from a distance.