Restoring original pizzacutter center caps

[banpei]

Edit: Originally I was looking for new center caps, but I decided to fix up some old ones that I deemed beyond repair. So I moved this thread to the technical section.

After 12 years I really need to replace the tires on the Carina. I do have a set of four pizzacutter rims in the garage, so I'm planning to use those. However I'm still missing two two center caps for them.

The rims look similar to these:

And the center caps looks like this:

The toyota article code is 42603-14160, but it has been discontinued a looooong time ago...
Anyone got two spare ones lying around?

[Ivan141]

amayama.com/en/part/toyota/4260314160

You wont like the price though.

[Power_uP]

You have some originals to copy, so 3D printer time maybe? You might get lucky, but I can't imagine anyone having the centre caps unless they have the wheels too. And its unlikely they'll sell the caps without the wheels.

[banpei]

Yeah the person who sold me the wheels lost them many moons ago... I was kind of hoping some people did the same...
I did buy a set from Yahoo Auctions a few years ago, but I remember those were in bronze and in a very bad state. If I can't find them I might need to rectify those bronze ones to the correct silver/grey and black...

The price of Amayama isn't that bad given how scarce these have become and I've seen worse. Yet still it's very expensive for a set of "fodder" wheels.
I like the idea of copying them and have them 3D printed. But I wouldn't know who would be able to scan mine reliably. I tried scanning objects using my phone a few months ago, but all apps I tried had terrible results. I bet there is a company out there that is doing this professionally, but my google searches end up mostly with 3d printing ads.

[Power_uP]

If you decide on having them scanned and can't find anyone, let me know. There's a lot of places in the UK offering the service and there's even one company that's local to me. It would be cool to see caps on those wheels, but as you mentioned, they aren't exactly everyone's favourite wheel so it might be too expensive to scan right now.

[Ivan141]

If they were my own wheels I would just try to eyeball the design from scratch.
Photogrammetry can work great for larger objects, but as you say there is lots of problems with it.
I havent used it myself because the better ones need a powerful nvidia graphics card and I have an ATi.
If you want I can ask around at work if someone has a 3d scanner in their box of toys?
They keep a few eggheads employed to try and maintain the idea that we are innovative (the eggheads are, the company in general...not so much).
They have 3d printers and I've seen 3d models from them that might have been scanned.

[Bean]

Unfortunately I'm in the middle of moving and my PC is already boxed up and won't see the light of day for the next 3 months or so.
If you don't have a solution by then let me know. I reckon I could design it from scratch in CAD if you send me some quality pictures and necessary measurements.

[banpei]

Today I fetched the "wrong ones" from the garage:

They do need work, but they are in better condition than I thought and probably using some 600 or 1200 grit can make them shine again. I also found they actually consist out of an aluminum cross shape on top of a plastic cover. So once I can pry the aluminum cross off I should be able to black the plastic much easier than I thought.

[banpei]

It's relatively simple to detach the aluminum from the plastic with a chisel. I tried it on the one that was the worst and was missing a good section of the aluminum:

I also tried 600 grit sandpaper and that solved the lesser pitting. As you can see this one has some very deep scratches, grooves and dents so it's impossible to fix this completely. On the positive side: the aluminum is "brushed" so as long as I follow the pattern it shouldn't be noticeable.

I have high hopes for the two best ones, but I'll first try to fix up the worst of the remaining three. I also brought one of the center caps of my wheels home for comparison and share them here.

[Ivan141]

Dont forget to use some adhesion promoter before painting the plastic.