Painting white wheel covers black

[ksoul2084]

I didn't care for all the white on my 2016 Soul EV so took the plunge and painted the white plastic covers a nice satin black.

This was a bit of work:

Removing each wheel (twice if you don't have 4 jacks to hold the car up).
Removing the covers (15 screws per wheel).
Cleaning them thoroughly with dish soap and some de-greaser.
Scuffing them up a bit with a brillo pad so the new paint would adhere well.
Apply 3 coats of satin black spray paint and let dry overnight.

I think they turned out fantastic and am much happier with the overall look of the car now. They really tie in with the black wrap on the roof and mirrors, and other black accents on the car.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[Wizfinger]

Late reply but it looks great!

 

[IanL]

Late reply but it looks great!

Certainly does

 

[Zia]

I am thinking about this, then suddenly I saw these post... Ill do it ASAP

 

[hyperactiveme]

Looks great, will try with plastidip

 

[DaEV]

Looks excellent.

This is what I want to do with my blue/white Soul - seriously too much white with the wheels inserts.

My biggest worry (and this is the only thing I want to change - otherwise love it), is jacking the car to remove/replace wheels.
Everything coming from Kia is "No!!, thou shalt not remove wheels for fear of creating v.expensive paperweight!!" - let us do it and charge you £100/hr labour (wtaf?!!?)
I tried our local kwikfit tyre 'specialist' - always a risk as they tend to screw things up as a USP, and even they said no, nearest kwikfit with correct equipment is an hour away - I love driving it but that coupled with risk factor :shock: .

So, looking at using standard kia soul jack.... cheap enough but not designed for weight of EV, which is a couple of hundred kilos heavier than the ICE version. I know it's not a lot but really don't want to turn it into the most expensive paperweight ever by getting that wrong.

Any suggestions please for any solution that will be reliabe and affordable.... or am I just gonna have to grit 'em and learn to love white ?

cheers

 

[notfred]

I don't know why the tyre place thinks they need special equipment, they don't.

The Soul EV has a standard jacking point by each wheel. This can be used with any 2 post lift to lift the whole car, or a floor jack at any one point to lift just that wheel. There isn't much clearance between the jacking point and the battery so you have to be careful in placing the jack, but then if you aren't placing it in the right place then you aren't on the proper jacking point and that's likely to do damage to any car - ICE or EV.

What the Soul EV doesn't have is a jacking point in the centre front and centre back of the car. Many other cars do and you can use those to lift the whole front or whole back of the car and work on both wheels at that end simultaneously. This is because it has all the aerodynamic covers on the underside of the car.

 

[DaEV]

Many thanks for that notfred - I've taken the leap, purchased a trolley jack and rubber adaptor, plastikote is on the way and am hopefully removing the inserts later on today....