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I just bought some OEM polished thin spoke wheels for my 2003. The problem is that the wheels did not include center caps. Do any of you fellow forum members know if chrome center caps will look okay on a polished wheel? The online vendors want $100 a piece for polished center caps, but I can find reproduction chrome caps for a quarter of that price.
Mixed will not look right IMO. Spend once. Besides... chrome
If you're implying that chrome caps won't work, you're completely incorrect. Polished wheels, when in a good state of repair, look chrome, although with a bit more texture at angles. If not, polish out the clearcoat with some polish and a foam-cone. Here's one of my polished rears, with a chromed center cap (sorry for the astro-turf reflections):
The chrome center caps on eBay will be your best bet for a match. Go with the generics, and get a set of decals. The only other option are the painted ones, with indented logos, which would not match at all.
If you're implying that chrome caps won't work, you're completely incorrect. Polished wheels, when in a good state of repair, look chrome, although with a bit more texture at angles. If not, polish out the clearcoat with some polish and a foam-cone. Here's one of my polished rears, with a chromed center cap (sorry for the astro-turf reflections):
The chrome center caps on eBay will be your best bet for a match. Go with the generics, and get a set of decals. The only other option are the painted ones, with indented logos, which would not match at all.
Thanks. Those don't look bad on there. The wheels I bought are brand new OEM polished wheels that I got from House of Wheels, so they should have a pretty good shine on them already. Think I might try some of those chrome caps and put the stickers on. Sure beats paying $100 a piece for GM polished caps (the dreaded Corvette tax)
Thanks. Those don't look bad on there. The wheels I bought are brand new OEM polished wheels that I got from House of Wheels, so they should have a pretty good shine on them already. Think I might try some of those chrome caps and put the stickers on. Sure beats paying $100 a piece for GM polished caps (the dreaded Corvette tax)
This is a pretty good deal for the 3d embossed ones:
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I will say that even when my OEM high polished thinspokes were new they did not have a shine like chrome does. I would not mix them myself, but it's your car. Perhaps before buying a set of chrome center caps, see if you can find someone that has some that you could use to see what the difference is.
That way if it is not something you like, you can just buy the high polished version.
Honestly I've seen the 'correct' polished caps and they look dull vs the rest of the wheel. If your polished wheels aren't all milky, the chrome blends pretty well. Dead on? No, but pretty close and I prefer the smooth look.
Here are some pics of back when I ran around on thinspokes in all kinds of light.
My "feeling" is, if you cannot match them exactly go unapologetically for contrast. I have Chrome thinspokes with chrome caps, but I sometimes swap out my center caps with these and they give the wheels a whole new look...
I had a set of aftermarket chrome wheels that came on my car when I bought it. I purchased a set of speed lines from a forum member and polished them myself. The chrome caps from the old z06 chrome reproduction look fine but do not fit tight. The tabs don't snap in tight enough and currently I have a temporary solution to tighten the caps. I saw caps as you mentioned for sale at a couple catalog companies at a price as you say but upon reading the fine print, I see they say they are for reproduction wheels and I assume they won't fit Gm spec wheels. Probably why the Gm ones are 100 bucks.
Polished vs Chrome
