Mahle Center Caps

[Keith V]

Hello All,
What does/did Porsche use to remove the center caps from the Mahle wheels? I don't want to ruin four perfect caps. MANY THANKS for your replies.

[Jim Smolka]

Back when I had Mahles on my car, my caps were not perfect, but I did figure out a way to solve the problem. Go to your local machine shop and have a piece of round metal made that is about the same OD as the hole in the wheel. This way, you will be appling a force only on the out side lip. It should work.

Just my $0.03 worth (inflation)

[Keith V]

Hello Jim,
Thanks for the reply. This might be a dumb question, but do they come out from the rear to the front of the wheel? There appears to be two parts to the cap...an inner ring, and then the cap which shows from the front.

[HarveyH]

The caps do drive out from the back side of the wheel. After I destroyed a cap trying to remove it for a flat fix I got the tool set from Parts Werks of Chicago (I think) They're not much, a piece of steel pipe with a length of the OD turned down to just fit into the bore of the wheel center, and a phenolic disk with the shape of the cap cut out in the center, but I seem to remember that the set was only about the cost of one center cap.
Harvey

[Scott S]

Two different sizes of PVC or ABS pipe with an end cap glued on - one sized for the inside diameter (to remove them) and one for the outside flange diameter (to smack em' back on). Use a rubber hammer and keep the pipe as short as you can.
Less than $5.00 at any "home labyrinth" hardware store. It kept my 2.0 fuchs centers perfect for a long time. Then I forgot to tell the tire shop to use it once - no more need for the tool...
Scott S

[3D914]

While you're on the subject of center caps, any idea what kind of adhesive should be used to reattach the Porsche emblem?

I have decent caps all around but a couple without emblems.

Many thanks,

Gerard

[Scott S]

ummmm...
just an fyi, factory center caps don't have emblems...

[Doug914]

For removing the caps, I use a really large, deep socket that's about the size of the cap's I.D. that I pound on with a rubber mallet. I like the PVC pipe idea, as the plastic has some "give" to better protect the thin sheet metal of the cap. Sometimes the caps are really stuck in the wheels.

Don't expect the tire shop guys to remove these without butchering them ...I speak from experience!

[3D914]

My mistake. I have Fuches, not Mahle wheels, which probably did not come with emblems on the center caps either. But, I have two caps with emblems and two without. I either need to clean the old adhesive off, or locate new adhesive to attach new emblems.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Gerard