I bought some 32 ford wheels a while back for my model T gow job project and they came with this badly damaged 32 v8 hubcap...I think it must have gone through a barbed wire fence sideways as the entire hubcap was heavily gouged and dented. For some reason I thought it would be fun to try and straighten it out a bit, after struggling for many hours I was able to get it slightly better...good enough for a paper weight or wall hanger...when I have some more time to waste I plan to paint the center blue like it was from factory. This may be a world record for the most time wasted on a part that you can buy for $30 brand new haha.
Very true, from an economic standpoint the old car hobby is probably a waste of time, but at least it's an enjoyable waste of time.
Is that really da same cap?? If so, unfreakingbelievable to say da least. You have a skill, i would love to desire, even if only partially, id be able to impress myself on a regular basis. Boy would i have a big head. Lolol.
Bit early for April Fools Day . If it is the same cap, congratulations on a fantastic job. Please show us how , we all have a banged up cap hanging on the wall.
I would really love to hear about the steps you took to repair that hubcap. I would also like to try to do what you did. Very impressive! Thanks for sharing.
Impressive.I did my '33 locking hubcap but had to pull the SS skin off to do it right and reinstall it.
That looks awesome, great job! I had to remove the skin on this one as well, did you refold your skin back over, or reattach it some other way? I ended up using structural panel adhesive to reattach it to the inner, then folded the flange over part way so it still had a nice edge.
Thanks! Its actually not difficult, just incredibly tedious, I'll see if I have any other junk trim laying around that I could do a how to with some pictures. I started by unfolding the outer flange from the inner cap so I had full access to the backside. Then I roughed out the larger dents with a soft mallet...the rest of it was just done with a variety of chisels and punches, I used a block of wood as a backer and just slowly tapped each dent and gouge out from the backside, tapping down any high spots as I went. The key seems to just be going slow, and making sure each hit is accurate to avoid stretching the metal. Once I felt it was close I used a small file to lightly file the surface which revealed any remaining high and low spots, tap up the low spots and tap down the high spots, repeat until everything is level. Its important to avoid getting carried away with the file, its easy to remove too much material, on the other stainless trim I have repaired I avoid filing at all, and just use 80 or 120 grit on a block to reveal the highs and lows, but on this hubcap the metal was thicker and incredibly difficult to work with so the file was necessary. After filing its just a lot of sanding, starting with 80, and working up to 1500 grit changing direction between grits, then a final polish.
Back in the 1960's and 1970's John Young from Connecticut, and then New Hampshire, was the man to go to for stainless restoration. John was a true craftsman. When I had my antique Ford business I gave John A lot of work. He could really make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. He told us the tricks of the trade, but there was no way that we could compete with his talent. If you ever saw the minimalist tools that he used, you wouldn't believe it. John would go to Hershey in October with a load of finished stainless trim and restored hubcaps for sale. He would always sell out, and go shopping for more material for next year. He had a great following all over the country.
I carefully pried the lip the least bid until the skin popped off.To reinstall I used a piece of wood -well padded with a large bolt thru the lock cyl hole and tightened it down.I then carefully hammered the lip tightly over the edge.Hard to get it super tight.2 part epoxy does the trick.Years ago when I did these lockers I had a machined round support made of aluminum - again tightened down with a bolt when reinstalling the skin.
Really nice work you guys. The only trick I'd like to add is, I shoot the back of the stainless with flat black and lightly hit it with 0000 steel wool. This will high-light any and every high spot(ding) that you need to work out. Re-spray and repeat this method until the steel wool doesn't reveal any major high spots. This will allow you to do 95% of your repairs before starting surface filing.
Great idea to use the lock hole for leverage, I think something similar could be done on these non locking caps by welding a long bolt or threaded stud to the inner cap, and then cutting it off after.
Thanks, I usually just lightly sand the inside to reveal the highs and lows, but I like your idea of using flat black and steel wool, that seems like it would make it a lot easier to see the highs and lows without removing material....I'll be giving that a try on the next piece, thanks!
Excellent...looks fantastic! One thing about getting older...if you challenge yourself, you can actually learn and improve some impressive skills! It didn’t seem to work out for this person though: