General Wheel trims

[hodgy18]

Looking for a cheap set of fiat wheel trims, buy they dont seem to exist in 13" form on ebay etc

Any recommendations for aftermarket trims - I.e decent plastic and not the hard stuff that just smashes to smithereens. [emoji23]

Oh, and look decent

 

[DaveMcT]

Paint the wheels silver and find some top hat shape centre trims.

This is the Doblo. Not very fab but better than nothing
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-DOB...446776?hash=item48edfd50b8:g:StcAAOSwYJpfa9Ir

Grind the chevrons off this and put a 50mm Fiat logo sticker in the middle.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-...215937?hash=item1ab1fbc141:g:2FcAAOSwk8pgEvQx

Here's another
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-...062109?hash=item2f54da665d:g:H6cAAOSwLlVgIcjC

These are new
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-...188466&hash=item2a6284d177:g:mSIAAOSwxp9W1wLe

Retain them with M8 studs and half nuts to retain the disc/drum. Use nyloc half nuts and washers to retain the caps. You can get back anodised stainless.

 

[09 johno]

dont know what you are searching for, there are plenty on Ebay and Amazon!

 

[Johnbee]

I searched on eBay for “Panda 169 wheeltrims 13”. Ignore the 1st four as they are 14 inchers, but there’s plenty of 13’s to choose from, from about £26 a set plus postage.

 

[hodgy18]

Thanks for the replies, but I'm ideally after original fiat wheel trims. Never been a fan of aftermarket trims as the quality is never the best.

Today's tact has been to email all the pandas being broken to see if the trims are available. [emoji6]

 

[koalar]

agreed

generally

the plastic on OEM trims is thicker, better finished, tougher and takes longer to go brittle

unfortunately 15 year Old ones will have been curbed a few times. On the plus side they have limited value

 

[klu01dbt]

They have fiat style trims on shop4parts. They are marked as aftermarket, but in the pictures look identical to the originals, no idea what the quality is like though.

 

[jrkitching]

Thanks for the replies, but I'm ideally after original fiat wheel trims. Never been a fan of aftermarket trims as the quality is never the best.

Even well-kept OEM trims deteriorate with time. After about eight years, the paint started coming off mine in chunks, despite having been kept pristine from new, never kerbed and regularly cleaned. By now, it's unlikely you'll find a used set of 13" trims with intact paint.

The aftermarket trims on Shop4Parts are probably your best bet; under £40 a set.

 

[DaveMcT]

Plain steels don't have to look like a council van.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/478907-centre-cap-trims-steel-wheels.html?478907=#post4520087

 

[hodgy18]

Hi Dave

You've put me in a right pickle haha! In my mind I wanted to do this. I have a black panda, and have just ordered matt black to paint the steels to tidy them up, even though they wouldn't be seen, but I am now thinking forget the trims, and paint the steels gun metal! Your pics on the thread provided have inspired me!

Cheers

Plain steels don't have to look like a council van.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/478907-centre-cap-trims-steel-wheels.html?478907=#post4520087

 

[DaveMcT]

White wheels are pain to keep clean but that 500 does look pretty cool.

My steels with a blast of Halfords "steel" steel finish have now done about a year and are just beginning to show signs of stone impacts. I will probably get them powder coated but that's quite a bit of work as every cut edge has to be rounded off. I learned the hard way with motorbike parts that powder really does not like plain cut edges. A rub with a file is not enough. The finish thins-out leading to peeling and corrosion.

But summer is on the way and spray cans are cheap.

You will need some good quality cleaner to get the brake dust off. Then cut some newspaper to fit around the rim. Let the tyre down and you can get the paper well under the rim and no worries of your tyre getting the teenager customised look.

 

[rmjbn1]

White wheels are pain to keep clean

I can confirm

They also look good on black Pandas...

 

[09 johno]

. Then cut some newspaper to fit around the rim. Let the tyre down and you can get the paper well under the rim and no worries of your tyre getting the teenager customised look.

A better way is to get a couple of packs of cheap playing cards (Tesco sell them on their £1 shelf)
tuck these under the rim overlapping each other, then if you need to attach the newspaper to that, a lot easier than trying to stuff newspaper in without gaps and you can reuse them for the other wheels and for touching up when on the car .

 

[DaveMcT]

Fab idea with the cards.

You need some of these - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-x-Chr...171056&hash=item1a5cbeb081:g:jWUAAOSw9elbhoNd

They are bright zinc plated (not chrome) but a waft of self etch primer and silver paint keeps them nice and being spline drive there are no flats to get messed up. Finding centre caps is more of a hassle but there are options if you watch eBay patiently.

 

[jrkitching]

waft of self etch primer

Treat yourself and buy this one. Also available in rattle cans.

Beats the pants off anything else I've ever used; I always keep a tin on the shelf.

Not cheap, but worth every penny.

 

[09 johno]

Fab idea with the cards.


You need some of these - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-x-Chr...171056&hash=item1a5cbeb081:g:jWUAAOSw9elbhoNd

thanks, used the idea when i refurbished a rare vehicle that had been used as a gun truck for hunting a few years back.
Are those bolts suitable for steel wheels?
steel wheel bolts normally have shallow taper....

 

[jrkitching]

Are those bolts suitable for steel wheels?

The 500/Panda use the same bolts for both steel wheels and OEM alloys, so they should be fine for steels.

 

[DaveMcT]

Treat yourself and buy this one. Also available in rattle cans.

Beats the pants off anything else I've ever used; I always keep a tin on the shelf.

Not cheap, but worth every penny.

It's great stuff. I used it to paint over the zinc metal sprayed axle. To be honest I should have had the metal sprayers use their fishing boat epoxy but I wanted the axle back on the car and it was already overkilled for rust protection.

Reminds me I need to get a new can. The U-Pol adhesion promoter is very useful for plastics but seems to work on anything difficult to etch for paint.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=173826133092&_sacat=0

 

[Alex 13]

Defo gonna get around to taking off and refurbing my panda trims with nasty cracked paint and They are blue badge so didn't to get new ones that aren't crazy priced may look at breakers as well

 

[Wee Smurf]

I'm sure I have at least one set (possibly 2 sets) of Panda 13inch trims in my garage. I'm certain I have a set with the blue badge but think I might have a set of red badge ones. If anyone is interested, I'll have a hoke for them later. They should be relatively good as I mainly used a set of alloys (which I also have with virtually unworn Michelin Alpins).