Replacements for old Enkei center caps

I recently lost one of the center caps for an old set of Enkei wheels that I have had for a long time. I run them with my rough mud/snow tires in the winter months.
When I went to eBay to search out another, I got quite the shock, as the going price for a single cap of this style was $100 for a new, and in the 80's for used. Being frugal, I wasn't about to pay that much. I decided I would look around for something more reasonable. I did not find a direct replacement, but was able to come up with what I think is a good solution. I started with a center cap for the Toyota wheels that came on the 2005-2013(?) alloys. The part number is 42603-AD060, that came on this style wheel,

and perhaps others.
Here is the cap on the right, before modification: The one on the left has been modified to fit the Enkei wheel.

Here is the process, which isn't too hard if you can run a dremel with a steady hand. I used a cutoff wheels on the dremel. Basically, you must trim two sections off each of the prongs that go deepest into the wheel, surrounding the lug nut. I have marked the lines on this image.

There are two cuts made at the area of each lug nut for a total of 12 cuts.
Here is what one side looks like once you are done.

There is actually a good guide line that is cast into the plastic on the inside for the verticle cut. , and you just follow the ridge for the horizontal cut. You have to work with the dremel wheel on the side where the lug nut goes, to avoid hitting the post that holds the cap in place. Notice that the post is now exposed, allowing it to grip the groove in the wheel. There are also to little tabs that need to be ground off to allow better fitment. See them in the lower left of this image:

Once I test fitted the cap to the wheel, I noticed that it seemed to not be quite as secure as I might hope, so I removed the wire spring that pushes on the attachment posts, and gave each of the bends just a very slight pinch with linemen pliers to straighten just slightly, there for applying just a bit more pressure. Here is the before, and here is the after . It is only a very slight adjustment to each one, but the cumulative effect is considerable, and tightened them right up.

Here is the end result:
, compared to the original:


Overall, I like the look much better, and it was probably no more than an hours work, once I had gotten the prototype first one done.

Hope this is helpful to you guys having trouble finding those old (and expensive) caps. You can buy a set of four of the 42603-AD060's on eBay for anywhere from $20 for rough used ones, to about $60 for new replacement ones.

 

WOW ... That was a great idea to modify those Toyota center caps. It does look pretty good. I wanted to check to see what did you do with the other three Enkei center caps? Do you still have any of them?

 

LOL. When I saw they were going for $80 each on eBay, I sold them. Almost paid for a new set of take-off wheels, lugs, and centers.

 

Seagull223 Thank you Brother...I have spent most of today looking for replacements. I keep coming back to your work around and I think I'm going to give it a shot. Will post results when I get done.

 

What size wheels were yours

 

They were 15 inch, probably 7 inch wide.

 

Guys I found a FB marketplace add for four old enkei rims that had three center caps for twenty dollars...my dreams were answered!