# DIY - Replica mutli piece, fake rivet /bolt covers for painting wheels



## QnBsDreadnaught (Apr 5, 2016)

So I have for a while been working a set of montes. I may or may not put an entire threat from start to finish with them- but essentially this was a full detail; rash repair, rim building, bare metal strip prime, paint and will be polished.
The motif is black and orange. I did not want full orange wheels but black with orange accents.
At first I was going to paint the inside orange and the face black- later decided against that since keeping the inside of the wheel clean would be a b*^%.
So end results will be black on black with Orange rivets.

Now I'm not here to talk about how to paint your wheels and what paint to use unless asked since I have had a ton of trial and error thus far and have already have had to wet sand coats down because I was not satisfied. But there are plenty of threads and diy out there on wheel painting. 

In my case I was painting my rivets then in need to cover them up to apply the wheels base paint, in short to paint rivets it takes time to circling around rivets with painters tape and only spraying that area lightly with several coats to get the rivets- if you are painting the rivets a different color than original or the whole wheel. 

SO lets talk about dealing with "fake" rivets. Some models allow for you to pull out rivets and replace them with new ones, but in this instance I was not testing that theory out on the montes.
I have seen many threads about how to cover them up, buttons, smiley stickers, painters tape and wire twist etc. I am sure many people would like new ways to cover up their rivets if they are not removable, "fake" or not of a multi piece wheel.
A lot of these methods only seem to cover the face of a rivet, or an unclean cut portion around it...
Well, I found a solution. Straws. 
Straws are the same concept as wire twist method but cheaper and less labor intensive since straws are more pliable (and no drill needed). Wire twist method Found here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5291938-DIY-Painting-your-replica-multi-piece-wheels


Above you see 1 piece of straw inserted into the rivet cavity, add another to fully enclose the rivet.


All rivets have been enclosed with two pieces of straw and then will need painters tape over the opening in the top to keep all over spray out.

So, get a bunch for straws cut them into around 5 -6 pieces per straw and slice down the middle then take two pieces per rivet and snugly insert the straw piece around the rivets cavity then cover with small amount of painter tape to close the top of the straw covers. If done correctly it will almost fully seal in the rivet as to where other coats will not get over spray on them. This keeps the entire rivet covered.
Alternatively if you can find caps that fit use them the same way, but Bubble tea straws are probably more optimal because they are larger and you will still have to cut them and slit them down the middle but with bubble tea straw it should only take one piece of slit straw piece per rivet. I did not use bubble tea straws because I forgot to bring some home and used what I had on hand.

This take a little patience, straw pieces will clip, pop, snap and fly all over the place- but well worth it in the end.

Anyways I felt like I should share this alternative method for rivet covering. :wave:


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## QnBsDreadnaught (Apr 5, 2016)

QnBsDreadnaught said:


> Bubble tea straws are probably more optimal because they are larger and you will still have to cut them and slit them down the middle but with bubble tea straw it should only take one piece of slit straw piece per rivet. I did not use bubble tea straws because I forgot to bring some home and used what I had on hand.


Update/ note.
Bubble tea straws are NOT the best fit, you would still need two pieces to cover a rivet.
They still work regardless if that's all you have on hand.


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