I lost a "Z" hub cap when I took my Z out for a drive recently. So I decided to refinish a few caps, one replacement and a couple of spares. After digging through my stash, I found a few suitable donors. The topic of hubcap refinishing has been addressed before, but I thought I'd document the steps I took to bring these hub caps back to life.
I began by removing the center ornaments. I used a pick to bend up the tabs on the retainer clips. The clips could then be pulled off. Next, the hub caps got a bath in hot, soapy water. After drying them off, I wiped them down with a wax & grease remover to make sure all dirt, grease & grime was completely removed. I keep a little PPG wax & grease remover in a spray bottle. Eastwood's Pre Painting Prep (or similar) would do, as well.
Once clean, it was easy to spot the dents & dings. A little hammer & dolly work straightened things out.
Next, I used paint stripper to remove the old paint, which is pretty thin. I put the hub cap in a large plastic tub that I got at Ace Hardware to prevent from making a mess. I poured a little stripper into a clean vegetable can and used a chip brush with natural bristles to apply it. Be sure to wear rubber gloves to prevent getting any on your hands. The old paint started to wrinkle within a few seconds of applying the paint stripper. I rinsed the caps off and used a green scouring pad to remove all of the old paint. Repeat as needed to remove all of the old paint.