I was wondering if anyone knows what the red/black center pieces for the center caps on argent wheels are made of?

The chrome center caps on my truck are great, but the red/black pieces on the rear wheels are faded. Are these paper/cardstock/decals attached from behind? Plastic discs? Or are they molded into the center caps, requiring a full center cap replacement? If they are paper or decals, I could try printing a scan online. The last time I looked at them, they almost looked like plastic discs, but I could be wrong.

I haven't tried removing the caps yet, but I just wanted to know if there is any way of replacing the colored part.

 

The red/black centers are technically not a serviceable part by them selves. You would need to replace the whole thing. BUT If you look on Ebay I have seen 3 dimensional emblems that are round an may fit in there
4x 56mm 2.2" Car Wheel Center Hub Cap Emblem Badge Decal Sticker For Ford | eBay

There are other places that make custom stick ons enters, maybe they could duplicate the originals

 

Those center discs look like you could restore them like you can headlights and taillights. Maybe buy one from a pick and pull to experiment. 600, then 100, then 2000 grit sandpaper and then a couple coats of clear should do it.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys!

The picture doesn't accurately show the fading, the red part is starting to turn sort of a pinkish color. The dullness on the clear plastic face is no problem for me, I'm VERY familiar with wetsanding and polishing plastic.

My truck will be restored as it was from the factory (except for undercoating and possibly LineX in the bed in coming years), so replacing the caps with something else is out of the question for me. I'm home now, so I can take them off and take a closer look inside soon.

 

Look on the inside of the cap for its Ford ID engineering number and post what it is.

There may be some available NOS

 

It turned out to be better than I had remembered. Apparently the fading I remember was just some yellowing of the surface plastic covering the painted parts. I polished one center cap with Noxon, and the plastic center piece with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

The yellowing on the plastic is now gone, and the chrome looks brand new!!

Before:


After:


In case anyone else is interested, as I no longer need replacements, there are two codes inside. They are:

E 2TA-1A097-GA
E 2TA-1A097-FA

The zeros may be 'O's, but they're slightly oval, so I believe they're zeros.

There is also:

CAV 1

 

Without any discussion of the supplier, Dennis Carpenter has the red centers for $20 and the black centers for $15. Since yours cleaned up great I post this for information only. More than I'd pay but mine is a truck truck.

 

Those look great. Good job.