Looking for Appliance Wheel center caps

[Arne]

The Eagle caps sold by Massey or Summit fit Appliance wheels perfectly. To me, they are a better option than painting the originals. Easy for me to say though, as I didn't have any caps at all for mine. But the Eagle caps are the correct size, and even very similar in shape to the original Appliance caps. I applied a set of the 1.5" "Z" emblems to mine, as shown in post 28.

Summit Racing sells the Eagle caps cheaper than Massey does. The link to Summit is in post 27 in this thread.

[rtaylor]

Thanks Esprist. Mine were dented and rusted so I just went with the Eagle centercaps. They look great. Just wish somebody made stickers in the right diameter to cover the world "Eagle".

Steve, they are worth the money in my opinion. And as close as you will get to the original cap, although the logo is from a different company.

Edited March 16, 2009 by rtaylor

[Arne]

You can get the larger 1.75" stickers that have the red/blue Datsun logo, but -- so far -- not the "Z" logo. I went with the 1.5" "Z" logo even though it is a bit too small, still looks pretty good unless you get really close to it.

[MidLifeCrisiz]

Thanks guys for the excellent advice and first hand experience. I just ordered a set of Eagle caps from Summit and will post some pictures when I install on my slotted mags, as it looks like you all have the mesh style rims. Thanks for saving me a little cash...will help offset the Z logos. So Arne, where did you purchase the 1.5" Z logos you used? I see a set on MotorSport but no dimensions, they are obviously designed for their center caps.

thanks again,

Steve

[Arne]

Mine are from Motorsport. Seems like the set was only about $6 or so.

[Arne]

Here's a new but related question - has anyone tried to get a set of the Appliance caps re-chromed? I now have a set of four, one has a couple of dimples to work on, and all four are a bit rusty although far less rusty than most. I don't know if any chrome shops are willing to work on cheap small parts like these.

[Arne]

For those of you who may not be familiar with the oddball valve stems we're talking about, here is a picture. I'm currently using small rubber stems in mine, which work but make it difficult to check and adjust the air pressure. So any leads on these stems -- even singles -- would be appreciated.

Quick update - I found the stems I needed, and installed them over the weekend. Finally!

[zgermans]

Congrats Arne on finding some of those stems:beer:

So where did you end up locating them? Are they new? More available?

Sorry this is a little long...Just as you suggested the tire shop was able to rehab my originals without too much difficulty. They replaced the grommets using some scavenged from a newer style bolt in stem and replacing the schraeder valve core was even easier. I used a local NTB shop for the tire purchase and stem rehab, and chose a particular one that was a good bit further from me than any other NTB for one main reason, when I described what I wanted done it was the first shop that seemed to listen and understand.

Revisiting the polishing subject from post #28...I didn't get a chance to polish them as much as I would have liked prior to installation, as I was a bit impulsive on purchasing tires...got too tired of moving around the multiple sets of factory steelies and assorted worn out rubber...needed to clear some space. So I'm back to polishing, and have mainly been using Mother's Mag & Aluminum by hand and am happy how they clean up initially. However it seems I might be noticing a bit of oxidation or spotting return not long after polishing.

I'm pretty sure that the MSDS or whatever specs I could find on Mother's Mag & Aluminum did not mention anything about 'acid'. Would you happen to know if this particular flavor of Mother's is acid based?

I don't really think I'm seeing any pitting as you described in post #28...maybe just seems like the lustre does not hold as long as it should, or the oxidation sets back in too quickly (almost better described like water spots on drip dry dishes...does not seem to go beyond surface). I'm using the last of an OLD can of polish, so wonder if the formulation has changed, but Mother's Mag & Aluminum is supposed to leave a residue behinde that preserves some of the lustre....I assumed this would be a wax type substance. I picked up a new can of the Mother's Mag & Alum, and will give it a try, but thought I'd solicit some input first.

Again, great find on the stems!

Cheers,

Robert

[Arne]

No, the stems are still NLA. I had to buy another set of wheels to get them. Then re-sold the wheels without the stems. Only way I could find to get a set.

I'm not aware of any acids in polishes, the acid-cleaners I was referring to are spray on liquid cleaners. They typically caution that using them on polished finishes is not recommended as they will etch and dull the finish. Any decent polish should be fine. I've used Mothers paste by hand, and also used Mothers Power Metal liquid with a Mothers Power-ball in my cordless drill.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Arne

[zgermans]

Thanks Arne, I really appreciate your help and advice. I'm sure I just need to invest more time and elbow grease in the hand polishing before I get too concerned about the final product.

Glad you were able to finally track down a set of stems (even though it meant dealing some rims to get them). Definitely worth it in my opinion. I was extremely pleased the tire shop guys rehabed mine successfully.

[geezer]

Arne, I know you found the stems you needed, but do you think the SpeedStar valve stems would have worked for your application?

http://www.rhdjapan.com/ssr-speed-star-sp1-valve-stem-15in-16in-wheels-55283

[Arne]

Arne, I know you found the stems you needed, but do you think the SpeedStar valve stems would have worked for your application?

http://www.rhdjapan.com/ssr-speed-star-sp1-valve-stem-15in-16in-wheels-55283

No, too sharp an angle and much too long. The correct stem is very short, the stem part is less than 3/4" (~17 mm) long. The angle is approximately 45°. This allows them to point out from between the spokes, but not really protrude out so far that they are in danger of being snagged and damaged.

I shopped around for replacements for these Appliance stems for 3 years, never saw any current production that would work decently. All of the angled stems I have found are either too long, wrong angle, or often both. I have come to the conclusion that these items were truly unique.