I have just bought an 82CE and was forewarned from the previous owner that the center caps fall off while driving. Sure enought, I lost one on the road somewhere. Any suggestions or experience on how to prevent this in the future? Silicone glue the caps to the wheels?

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New Owner

MIne have a sticky, gum like substance on the inside, which seems to hold them fairly well on the wheels. 14 years and counting. Almost looks like Playdoh, but greyish.

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-Stefan

Thank you very much for this insight. What may this substance be? Would any of the experienced ce owners know what this substance is? Maybe adhesive putty, such as the one by Scotch? The 82 CE I purchased has the caps removed, with no putty evident. I would be please to find an adhesive to prevent the loss of the caps as we are driving at 75 mph.

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New Owner

Adhesive Putty sounds about right..

But hopefully someone will chime in with the definite answer..

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-Stefan

Welcome to he Registry. . .
If the caps are not broken in any way, and it is just a "tenion" issue, I believe syntrifical force does most of the work. It should only take the smallest bit of assistance to keep them in place. I would just clean & dry a place for a small (1/2 in) square of two sided tape, and try that
If you put too much putty on these you will have trouble getting them off when you need to. Not to mention what it may do to the finish on both the cap & the wheel.

By the way there are several places selling refubished Caps if it turns out yours are broken. But they are not cheap. @120/ea

Gerry

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Thanks for these great ideas. Far better than what my brother suggested: Drilling a hole in the cap and screwing them onto the wheel! I will follow-up on this conversation once I have tried several options. thanks,

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New Owner

I bet I'm right.... That sticky greyish substance is the remains of
duct tape that somebody else put on to try and hold the cap on,
then the next time they pried the cap off, the duct tape pulled off
and left the gooey grey sticky goo.
Gosh, I'm such a freakin genious!!!!

Steve

Use a heat gun (not a hair dryer) to evenly heat the tabs that hold on the cap and gently bend them outward . . . especially the one that had the strange 'bump' on it.

Do this slowly and methodically as the plastic will seem to resist the heat and then will soften too much very suddenly.

Your caps will then be tight.

Repro caps are not refurbished, they are new, authorized GM reproductions. Available from several sources, so shop around.

thanks once again. I probably will do several things - the heat gun plastic melt followed by double stick tape.

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New Owner