Supraudi Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 A long shot.... But anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaky Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Any chance we can do a group buy on some diamond cut blanks caps to fit the tte alloys? i have a link off a lad that had a set made up and they are better than lexus caps. must be a fair few that need some?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Any chance we can do a group buy on some diamond cut blanks caps to fit the tte alloys? i have a link off a lad that had a set made up and they are better than lexus caps. must be a fair few that need some?? Good idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaky Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I have seen them on his car and they look sweet,i will email the company monday and see what price they will do them for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobapple Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Hey mate, sent you a pm with that guys email let me know if he still gets them as I want a spare set my self, you may not hear back from him till Monday, if he doesn't and some one can make these I have a spare Lexus one that could be used as a guide. Thanks Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supraudi Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Any chance we can do a group buy on some diamond cut blanks caps to fit the tte alloys? i have a link off a lad that had a set made up and they are better than lexus caps. must be a fair few that need some?? Great idea... Can you send me the link so that I can have a look. Try and get prices as soon as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaky Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I have a spare lexus cap i can send off,the link of the company has no pics,i just sent a lad on here a pm and he gave me the link,he paid about £150 for a set but on a group buy we should get the price down,a full diamond cut alloy and cap looks better than a tte cap to me. I'll dig the pic of his alloys sunday because i'm off out in a min,cheers!! if anyone can do a better price on here i'm in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supraudi Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 I have a spare lexus cap i can send off,the link of the company has no pics,i just sent a lad on here a pm and he gave me the link,he paid about £150 for a set but on a group buy we should get the price down,a full diamond cut alloy and cap looks better than a tte cap to me. I'll dig the pic of his alloys sunday because i'm off out in a min,cheers!! if anyone can do a better price on here i'm in. Let's see if we can get the price down.... Send us the link when you are free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Also interested in the diamond cut blanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreaseMonkey Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Hi all, It would be me/ my Supra "TTE Grandstands/ Lexus GS300 Sport" wheels that "shakey" is talking about. Just to clarify a few things first, please read the following, lol!. The Company I used, I used 4 approx years ago, so I cannot guarantee/ vouch for the quality of the work, if it is to be done again. When I had them made, I was in no hurry to get them made, so I left it with them (as they can be very busy), which they completed within 2-3 weeks approx from memory. The total cost of the 4 Center Caps all in was £160.00. I did not have them Diamond cut unfortunately, I just requested a machine lathe like finish/ similar to a Diamond cut, which is all I requested them to do. I did this so if the finish was not a good enough match, I could then have the option of having them Diamond Cut by a local Alloy wheel refurbishing firm. But as it stands I was happy with the "straight off the Lathe" finish they did (which will require/ required finishing as slightly rough/ some burrs/ imperfections to remove, so please do not expect a 100% "off the shelf" finish). After I recieved/ collected them, I Finished them, removed mentioned imperfections from the machining process myself by wetsanding/ metal polishing & clearcoating them to a finish as close to the original/ I was happy with. I Just thought I mention this so no misunderstanding:think:/ unecessary dissapointment :(/ bad feeling becomes of this, so I don't get blamed if it goes wrong lol!. I can enquire the plausibility/ idea (as I can take the one they made along with the original) of these being made by the company that made my custom blank center caps, as I'm having some other parts machined by them, of which I'll be picking up on this Thursday if ok. If not, feel free to contact them, or any other suitably equipped Engineering/ Machining fabrication Company to see what they can/could offer. I have taken some pictures (taken on my Camera Phone) of the Center Caps , comparisons with the original ones (Custom made on the Left, Original OEM on the Right, Both of which, Custom made & Original OEM, I am keeping/ not selling) as they stand now, which IMO have held up well, over the time they have been on the car. Apologies for such a long read, but felt I should explain it / let you guys know first hand, Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supraudi Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 Thanks for the info. Do you know if the original Lexus caps are made of metal? If so a cheaper option would be to find some used Lexus caps and have them machined/lathed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreaseMonkey Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Thanks for the info. Do you know if the original Lexus caps are made of metal? If so a cheaper option would be to find some used Lexus caps and have them machined/lathed.... Hi Supraudi, no problem. The Original OEM Center caps are Metal, from what I can tell looking at them they look to be Cast/ Pressed and then machined & Diamond cut finished, Rather than fully machined like my Custom center caps. The "L" OR "TTE" logos are pressed/ cast into the face of the cap so wouldn't be possible to machine these logos out unfortunately unless they were filled with the likes of a TIG welder and then lathed/ machined, but I'd be skeptical if TIG welding/ filling could be done, as I would suspect it would warp or crack the center cap because of the heat generated if this were to be carried out/ and that it maybe more time consuming than making it from scratch using a template/ OEM center cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobapple Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Going a bit off topic here but since we are all part of the diamond cut family, I am sure you guys have come across the weird white water marks the wheels pick up from stone chips etc is their anything I can do to help prevent these as my drivers side rear has a couple now from people overtaking on the motorway and I noticed one on my tte cap the other day . If their is nothing I can do and it's just a case of having them refurb every couple of years can they re do the caps as well?. Cheers Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaky Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 The water marks as you put it is the alloy corroding and the only way to get rid of it is to take off the clear coat, then polish them up and c,coat them again. If GreaseMonky is off there again i'll wait and see what they have to say,i shall phone around shrewsbury and try and find out if any place can do the job if GreaseMonky has no joy,cheers Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobapple Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 So really they would need a refurb, dang well might as well let them get a few more before getting them done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 The water marks as you put it is the alloy corroding and the only way to get rid of it is to take off the clear coat, then polish them up and c,coat them again. If GreaseMonky is off there again i'll wait and see what they have to say,i shall phone around shrewsbury and try and find out if any place can do the job if GreaseMonky has no joy,cheers Pete. How difficult is it to remove the clear coat? What with, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaky Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Paint stripper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreaseMonkey Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Hi all, just an update... I visited the company, I got to make my custom blank center caps, today and discussed the idea of making some more. We worked out an estimate of how much I could get them produced for, this was for producing 20 blank center caps (5 sets of 4 blank center caps) with a lathed finish (same as my custom blank center caps) out of the same material/ metal alloy as mine are, The approx cost for each set of 4 center caps would cost £100 approx a set to make. (£25 per centercap, bare not clearcoated and the cost of postage would have to be added on as well). I showed them the OEM center and the one they made, and have left it with them to see if they can replicate it just as well or better than originally. Now I just need to gauge interest on who would like these and figure out an easy hassle free method of payment/(as being old fashioned and not having paypal or the like lol!) logistics i.e postage costs to sort etc.... and the obvious courtesy, in keeping with Forum rules, of approval from the appropriate Moderators on the forum for doing this. I'm going to have a think about it as I don't want to become a regretable headache/ more hassle than it's worth, lol! (as I've never done this before, no intention of doing this) and if I do decide to do this this it would be a one off occasion. I'll pop by the company probably next Friday and see how they get on, depending on whether I want to do this, as I'm quite busy with other stuff at the moment requiring my attention at work and home. If not, as I have posted before, any suitably equipped machining fabrication/ engineering company could make these, just a question of time, quality & cost. Cheers, Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supraudi Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Definately a set for me. If you think you will be too busy then I can arrange it if you pass the details onto me. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreaseMonkey Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Cheers Supraudi, As mentioned in my post, if I can get interest in all 5 sets to maintain the agreed price, approval from the Forum Moderators and depending on what the extra costs and logistics involve, Then I may go ahead with them, as said I'll see what there results are like and what interest I get. The less sets made, the higher the price will become (the highest being £160 approx before postage). If not then I will let you know. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky_waR Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Apologies for bring this up again but I'm interested in four TTE or blank centre caps but black.. My alloys (Lexus gs300) are diamond cut so would want these diamond cut as well.. Any suggestions? Did y'all do a group buy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky_waR Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Or silver.. Just want to get rid of the Lexus caps.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky_waR Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Bump - anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2soops Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I am talking to a machine shop about making some centre caps at the moment which are diamond finish with the Supra logo machined into them, will post pictures when they are done. The shop do seem to be quite slow and i have no ideas on cost yet. I did have my original Lexus logo'd caps welded up and machined flat, but to be honest the finish wasn't great and they ended up being polished not diamond cut so dont match the wheels. I cant bring myself to put the wheels on the car until i can sort out the matching caps which is frustrating!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky_waR Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I am talking to a machine shop about making some centre caps at the moment which are diamond finish with the Supra logo machined into them, will post pictures when they are done. The shop do seem to be quite slow and i have no ideas on cost yet. I did have my original Lexus logo'd caps welded up and machined flat, but to be honest the finish wasn't great and they ended up being polished not diamond cut so dont match the wheels. I cant bring myself to put the wheels on the car until i can sort out the matching caps which is frustrating!!!!!! Excellent matey.. Please pm me once you have any update.. Thanks bud.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts