OE Center Caps on Rota Torques (3D Printed Adapters)
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3D Printed some simple adapters from the Rota Torque center cap size to the Lotus center cap size.
Rota Torque center caps are 62mm across. The Lotus caps have a 50mm ID for the section that attaches to the wheel. The Rotas have a lip about 1.5mm in to hold clips to. The Lotus caps have their clips inset 3mm.
Could use a bit larger "clips" to go into the wheel but I just applied some silicone (better safe than sorry) and they're in there solidly now. The OE caps snap in very strong and I'm not worried about them coming loose.
Wouldn't use these at the track as the ABS would probably warp under the heat, but since the Rotas are my street wheels they're perfect.
Attached the STL file if anyone else with a printer wants to use it - again, I'd probably make the clips a bit bigger if I did it again, but they work.
Oh, and these will only work with the "Tall" OE caps. The "Short" style won't clear the rear axle nut. Some taller adapters could be made but more finish work would be required to make them look good.
Printing:
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Before paint:
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Painted:
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Turned out:
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Rota Torque center caps are 62mm across. The Lotus caps have a 50mm ID for the section that attaches to the wheel. The Rotas have a lip about 1.5mm in to hold clips to. The Lotus caps have their clips inset 3mm.
Could use a bit larger "clips" to go into the wheel but I just applied some silicone (better safe than sorry) and they're in there solidly now. The OE caps snap in very strong and I'm not worried about them coming loose.
Wouldn't use these at the track as the ABS would probably warp under the heat, but since the Rotas are my street wheels they're perfect.
Attached the STL file if anyone else with a printer wants to use it - again, I'd probably make the clips a bit bigger if I did it again, but they work.
Oh, and these will only work with the "Tall" OE caps. The "Short" style won't clear the rear axle nut. Some taller adapters could be made but more finish work would be required to make them look good.
Printing:
Before paint:
Painted:
Turned out:
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I don't think I've ever seen an all-aluminum center cap, honestly... they all have some sort of plastic clip system. I do agree that the Lotus caps aren't very high quality though. A friend made fun of me for making these adapters just to transfer such generic caps over rather than buying an eBay set.
In defense of the Lotus caps they don't seem to melt as readily as other caps, and the "tall" caps worked great on the rear hubs where the axle/axle nut sticks out a bit.
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It would be nice if someone made these. I mean, the form could be 3D printed and then cast pretty easily.
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Nice! You should make some more, group buy? 
opcorn:
opcorn:
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Like these?
Actually 2 of these flew off on the track... Lotus only made 20 sets of these for the Esprit X180-R cars! Kind of expensive if you can imagine! Also wheels expand and heat up a lot on track!
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Same, I thought bri3d was going to make them opcorn:
opcorn:I didn't really plan on selling these, but I'm glad people are interested.
The .STL file (a kind of 3D model which is used in 3D printing) was and is attached to the original post for those with access to a printer.
Like I say in the first post, there are a few revisions I would like to make to the clips which hold the adapters into the Rota wheels. The ones that are on my car (and in the attached file) work. They have been on my car for over a month and about 800 miles of somewhat spirited driving. However I just eyeballed the fitment and they could engage a lot better. I used a dab of silicone on my car to keep them really secure, and I'd like to make them fit well enough to make that unnecessary.
I made these using OpenSCAD, which is a programming language for making CAD models. I'm a programmer, so that was the most intuitive way for me. Obviously you could make something similar in SolidWorks, AutoCAD, CATIA, or whatever CAD software you're familiar with.
The material is VERY cheap. These weigh probably ten grams each, and a kilogram of ABS plastic filament is around $25. That's less than $0.10 an adapter. The time is the most expensive part as my printer is very crappy and slow and takes about 40 minutes per adapter, but even still they're not exactly pricy.
Since there's interest I'll make some revisions to the model and post it. I'm not sure I'll have the time to make and sell them myself, but you can use a third party like Shapeways to print the model out for you.
The .STL file (a kind of 3D model which is used in 3D printing) was and is attached to the original post for those with access to a printer.
Like I say in the first post, there are a few revisions I would like to make to the clips which hold the adapters into the Rota wheels. The ones that are on my car (and in the attached file) work. They have been on my car for over a month and about 800 miles of somewhat spirited driving. However I just eyeballed the fitment and they could engage a lot better. I used a dab of silicone on my car to keep them really secure, and I'd like to make them fit well enough to make that unnecessary.
I made these using OpenSCAD, which is a programming language for making CAD models. I'm a programmer, so that was the most intuitive way for me. Obviously you could make something similar in SolidWorks, AutoCAD, CATIA, or whatever CAD software you're familiar with.
The material is VERY cheap. These weigh probably ten grams each, and a kilogram of ABS plastic filament is around $25. That's less than $0.10 an adapter. The time is the most expensive part as my printer is very crappy and slow and takes about 40 minutes per adapter, but even still they're not exactly pricy.
Since there's interest I'll make some revisions to the model and post it. I'm not sure I'll have the time to make and sell them myself, but you can use a third party like Shapeways to print the model out for you.
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511 Posts
Ok. Thanks for all of the legwork. That wasn't my intention, but it's really cool that you're taking the time.
I did realize that you didn't want to sell them, but figured someone with access to a 3D printer would be interested.
If all else fails, I'll contract it out to someone but this is just not my area of expertise and I hate contacting someone to order something that I know very little about.
Thanks again
I did realize that you didn't want to sell them, but figured someone with access to a 3D printer would be interested.
If all else fails, I'll contract it out to someone but this is just not my area of expertise and I hate contacting someone to order something that I know very little about.
Thanks again
I've had a lot of inquiries about the STL and I'm looking around but may have lost the file (it's somewhere, but I must have named it something stupid).
I think I posted enough of the measurements to reproduce it without too much work so I'm going to try to cook up a new one tonight and test it on the wheels tomorrow.
I think I posted enough of the measurements to reproduce it without too much work so I'm going to try to cook up a new one tonight and test it on the wheels tomorrow.
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