So, you have an 86. It’s still pretty plain, but you kinda feel like doing something to have a go at this modifying game.

Scott here, Club Chairman. I have a little DIY project that is fun, easy, and I think turns out looking pretty good.

When the cars travel from Japan by ship, they often have clear plastic films applied to protect paint etc during transit. The glue residue is cleaned off before sale, however it often isn’t scrubbed from the factory wheel nuts resulting in them being all sticky. This in turn results in the nuts collecting brake and road dust which makes them turn black. They are in fact chrome and I think they look much better cleaned up.

Today, I’ll run you through a quick easy tidy up to leave your nuts pristine!

You will need:

19mm socket, breaker bar.
A can of WD40.
An old kitchen scourer.
Optional: socket extension peice, just makes life a little easer and moves the bar further from the wheel to avoid damage.
Optional: a torque wrench is recommended to get your nuts to the right tightness.
Optional: An old towel to protect your knees while working.

Will take around 20 minutes. Is a bit rough on your hands, but the payoff of clean nuts is definitely worth the discomfort.

Mehod:

Remove 1 nut at a time.

Spray your nut with WD40.

Scrub with a scourer. Take care to clean in the grooves along the edge of the dome, this sometimes requires a bit of extra rubbing.

And then bolt it back in place. The correct torque value (if you are using a torque wrench) is 120Nm.

As you are only removing one bolt at a time, the wheel stays in place and the car does not need to be lifted or jacked.

I recommend removing and replacing in a star pattern as this method seats the wheel correctly. For example, touch your nuts using this pattern:
Top, bottom left, top right, top left, bottom right.

And finally, you should end up like this!

Well there you go. Enjoy playing with your nuts, and hopefully this little DIY will leave you wanting more!

Scott aka The Captain.