jep350z Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I've decided to make my Nissan a pure Z-car by removing all the Nissan branding. First job was to replace the Nissan-branded centre caps on the Rays alloy wheels. Replacements were purchased from eBay and are a perfect match for colour and finish. Installation means taking the wheels off. Loosen the wheel nuts, jack the car up using the Nissan jack at the correct jacking points (two little indentations mark this roughly underneath the front and back of the car door), and then remove the wheel nuts to take the wheel off. Good opportunity to use some wheel cleaner to thoroughly clean the wheels where it's usually difficult to reach when they are fitted. The centre caps are held in by a broken circle of stiff wire, which you can see in the back of the new one here: Fron the back of the wheel, press inwards a couple of the tabs and you can push the entire cap straight out. To refit, simply line up from the front of the wheel, and press into place. If you're paranoid about breaking a tab off the caps, you can remove the wire (which is how I did the first two wheels until picking up Wayshot's advice - I used the simpler method above for the other two). If you want a more complicated way, then from the back of the wheel, carefully use a flat screwdriver to unclip the wire at one end, and then the other, and lift it out. It clips in three places. The centre cap will then press out from the back. Fit the new centre caps by pushing them in from the front, and then from the back fit the clip back in place. It's tempting to use the old clips because they are already bent in but I decided it's worth persevering with the new firmer clips just to ensure no-one can ever prise them out from the front. Pull the clip in to a tighter circle and ease into the back of the centre cap. Get the bottom bit secure first, and then bend in one side and then the other to catch into the other two places. Wheel with new Z centre cap looks like this: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watshot Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 You don't need to remove the clip to fit or remove these, it's just a spring, push fit, or a bit of finger pressure on the tags to pop them off if it's tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Looks smart and a much cleaner look that the branded burger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jep350z Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 @Wayshot: the caps felt very tightly held in the wheel, so I thought I'd remove the clip to avoid the risk of snapping off one of the tags. I've still got the left-hand side to do so I'll give your method a try tonight and update my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I did the same recently, purchased the things months ago but had to get new tyres so got the fitters to do it while they were there... much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jep350z Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 @Wayshot: you were right, they can be safely prised out and pushed in without removing the wire clip - at least I found out before I'd done all four! Original post updated. Thanks for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Looks smart and a much cleaner look that the branded burger. +1. Looks daft to have nissan wheels when some people have front and rear Z badges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jep350z Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 @Dblock - I agree. My Z badges just arrived in the post so I'll be fitting them early next week (busy this weekend). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rog Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Hi Can I please ask where you purchased your z caps from, I know from eBay but do you have more details please. Thank you in advance for any info Org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arran Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 The finish on the Z goes after a while, mine where on the car when I got them but not sure wether to buy new Nissan ones or get another set of Z ones and laquer over the top of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I'm liking those, looks like a relatively cheap mod to. Off to ebay immediately, just worried about longevity of finish though, more laquer applied as per previous poster sounds like a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomzed Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 What do you search to get these I can only find the stickers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenn-350 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I think it's the same guy who sell's the z burgers for front and back ,on ebay. how ever they seemed to have disappeard from his listings a few weeks ago as i was going to order some , think they were £27.95 plus p+p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS8055 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Yeah, I'm looking at getting the Z centre caps too (especially as I've just ordered the Z badges for front and rear). Contacted the eBay user I bought the badges from and he informed me he should have more in stock mid-May. His eBay user name is "k2hks0". Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helimeddaz Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 They look nice in this flavour too. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helimeddaz Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Yeah, I'm looking at getting the Z centre caps too (especially as I've just ordered the Z badges for front and rear). Contacted the eBay user I bought the badges from and he informed me he should have more in stock mid-May. His eBay user name is "k2hks0". Hope that helps. I bought one of these for mine. On the second one now in 2 years. The finish is not as durable as stock. Same supplier too. Ready for another new one. Thinking of going back to a stock Nissan one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS8055 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Yeah, I'm looking at getting the Z centre caps too (especially as I've just ordered the Z badges for front and rear). Contacted the eBay user I bought the badges from and he informed me he should have more in stock mid-May. His eBay user name is "k2hks0". Hope that helps. I bought one of these for mine. On the second one now in 2 years. The finish is not as durable as stock. Same supplier too. Ready for another new one. Thinking of going back to a stock Nissan one. What I am planning on doing once I receive the Z badges (front and rear) is to coat them in a few layers of clear lacquer before applying to the body. Hopefully this will protect against the elements and give better durability. I will also do this for the Z centre caps when I order them. Has anyone else tried this? Feedback would be appreciated on the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helimeddaz Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Yeah, I'm looking at getting the Z centre caps too (especially as I've just ordered the Z badges for front and rear). Contacted the eBay user I bought the badges from and he informed me he should have more in stock mid-May. His eBay user name is "k2hks0". Hope that helps. I bought one of these for mine. On the second one now in 2 years. The finish is not as durable as stock. Same supplier too. Ready for another new one. Thinking of going back to a stock Nissan one. What I am planning on doing once I receive the Z badges (front and rear) is to coat them in a few layers of clear lacquer before applying to the body. Hopefully this will protect against the elements and give better durability. I will also do this for the Z centre caps when I order them. Has anyone else tried this? Feedback would be appreciated on the results. Yeh when I had the caps colour matched to the smoked chrome on the wheels they were lacquered and I've had no problem 2 years on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Handy thread, I was just trying to prise off the centre caps so I could get a camber gauge in there, I didn't realise it was THAT snugly fitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Got the same tarnished issue here to. Bought them from this site, they looked real good on. Fitted then for Le Mans last year so been on 9 months ish, despite frequent poorboys application wish I'd lacquered them more now, looking very tatty. They weren't expensive so I guess will replace shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrzed Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I did a real dastardly thing when I swapped my burgers for zeds, I was too bleeding lazy to jack her up and drag the wheels off and knowing I was gonna chuck the burgers away I heated a screw driver up and just punched em through from the front. Levered them off without damage to the wheel and popped the new zeds back in ..................voila ............ a lazy bloke always finds the easy way. Please don't think bad of me, I'm just a bit of heathen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tay Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Does a trader on here sell them or do i go to ebay? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanjuke Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 (edited) Im also looking for z centre badges for my wheels.let me know if you find anybody!!! cheers Edited March 14, 2015 by nissanjuke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Does nobody search the forum at all any more? http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/81830-new-350z-z-logo-centre-caps-for-rays-18-alloy-wheels/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanjuke Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 cheers lads,but I am needing badges ,not push in,s as I have shadow chrome wheels zzr,need stick on,s anybody help? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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