I've been reading about mounting Olds and Caddy wheel covers on Fords and some people say that one way to do it is by simply using Mopar wheels. But haven't found any info on which Mopar wheels? Dodge, Plymouth or Chrysler? What year Mopar? Eventually I would like to run '53 Olds Fiesta covers on my '53 Customline and I'm trying to gather as much information as I can.
When I put 16" Ford wheels on my 1953 plymouth, I took the 5 on 5.5 15" wheels off the plymouth and used them as rollers on a model a chassis. Not sure if that helps
Just try any 15" wheel with a 4.5" wheel bolt circle and see if you can mount the hubcap. Ford, Mopar, IHC, Studebaker and others have this wheel bolt circle. I am using old Mopar wheels with the spring clips for the dog dish hubcaps but some have a deeper offset than others.
Seems there was a difference in the center register, so one would work and the other wouldn't. IIRC it was Ford wheels work on Mopars but Mopar wheels won't always work on a Ford.
The 15" (also 16"!) steel wheels with 4-1/2" pattern are International pickup, early '40s thru late '50s. They are deep, accept the Gennie '55 Olds Starfires, Fiestas, and all the others that 'bottom out' on the Ford centers. Only wheels that would do for my custom '53 Vicky. They are 4.5" and 5" wide, the 16" as well as the 15". Come both ways...
Ford wheels won't fit a MoPar unless the center hole is enlarged. MoPar wheels will fit any 4 1/2'' 5 lug car. Be careful when picking lug nuts - make sure the nuts are not too small to cover the bevel.
I fought that on with one of those "they are all the same" guys a lot of years ago when he carried a set of Ford wheels into the tire store that I was working in to put on his Dodge or Plymouth. Every rear wheel drive Dodge or Plymouth that I have been around that is between mid 30's and 1989 was 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern. The early 50's ones like the ones on my car trailer have holes for the guide pin to set the wheels on the hubs that use lug bolts rather than studs and lug nuts. The one 53 Mopar that I know of that had 5 on 5-1/2 was 53 Chrysler Imperial. in the 60's and up until 1978 at least a local guy drove an F-1 Ford pickup with 53 Chrysler imperial Wires on it. He was driving i in the mid 60's when I was in high school and was still driving it when I moved back from Texas in 1977. Not a show truck by any stretch and it was looking a bit tired by 1977 and sometime around then it disappeared.
The 7 pass DeSotos and some New Yorkers were 5 1/2'' as well. Never did figure out exactly which years. When looking at '50s pictures of hot rods with slicks & reversed wheels, quite a few use Chryslers because of the 6'' rim. Drilling the centers to use 3 or 4 dome headed 1/4'' screws in the location of the Ford bumps allows use of Ford or Merc caps.
Thank you. Are the International pickup wheels the only Mopar wheels with 4-1/2" bolt pattern that will accept the Olds covers?
Thanks for all the answers. Guess another way to install Olds covers is to move the center of the Ford wheels a bit. Or does Mercury wheels from the early 50's accept Olds covers?
Imperials were the 5 x 5 1/2in the 50's up to 1966. The wire wheel that Mopar had came in both 5x5 1/2 and the 5x4 1/2. You can put clips on Mopars if the don't have them because the holes are already there. Most big Chrysler's came with full covers on the wheels.
The center register on most '50s-'60s era need to be opened up to use them on a Ford. Well at least if you are going to use them on a '57 and newer rear. Other then the the early A body Mother MOPAR used 5 on 4.5 o nearly everything. I would think that if someone is using a full wheel cover wheel diameter is probably the most important part. If you are using dog dish hub caps that is a different story. On a side note I like the look for a MOPAR wheel. I have a pair now that will probably end up on my next project whatever that may be. I have already opened up the register.
Be aware that not all lug nuts have the same taper on the end that goes goes into the bevelled lug holes in the wheel. You want these angles to match. What I was told and did years ago was to use the lug nuts from the donor car that gave me the wheels. Perhaps the easiest thing to do today is to research and / or measure the taper of the lug nuts on your car and the ones from the wheel donor car and see what you find out. Hopefully someone else can chime in here to give us all more information on this as well.
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