wondering if anyone has modified a new(er) wheel to accept an old hubcap and what have you done? i'm unable to find an original set of wheels for the project i'm working on, but found a set of new steel wheels (cheap) that i can use, but they have no tangs to accept a hubcap, they were made for plastic hubcaps that are held on by the lug nuts. i realize that i can make a set of tangs from flat stock and weld them to the rims, but i'm wondering what else anyone has done in this situation... thank you. tred
The old Chevy truck guys on http://stovebolt.com discuss this often. Some of the vendors sell the clips/ tangs. Most people drill the wheel and bolt or rivet them on. This was one guys method http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/117147209
right on, thank you. i wondered about welding them on and what that could do to throw the wheel out of balance at high speed if it's not exactly perfect on each tang.
Yes, so far so good. The dog dish ones on mine are retained with 4 #10 screws taped into the wheel. No vibrations and they are on tight
This might not help in your case but my buddy wanted to run 48 Ford hub caps on his late model Ford truck wheels. a pair of late model truck dog dishes that fit the wheel. A hole was cut in the cap for the 48 cap was cut out so that the 48 hubcap fit the later dog dish The "adapter cap" was pained red to match the wheel so that when it was installed it disappeared. Only the real picky notice and it's a cheap solution. I like cheap solutions!
Yes, I have 33-34 Ford caps (Ford wire wheels) on my 15" steel wheels. I did this roughly 15 years ago. I had never seen this before (or since). These were not done like the wheels that use snap-on rings that the hubcap snaps into. - EM
Tried the tangs (got them from a VW bug suppier on eBay) and they didn't work for me, so I drilled 3 holes in the rim and used dome headed bolts to hold my wheel vintique's caps in place. Takes a while to mark out the bolt holes just right, but it works like a charm. I practiced on a dud rim until I got the process right.
Here's a tech article from one of the stovebolters, Smokey Culver, He let me mirror it on my website. http://www.laroke.com/larryk4674/smokey_culver/hubcaps.htm And here's a link to one vendors clip's http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cart/index.asp?sdes=hub%20cap%20clip
Looking at doing similar with my 46 Olds caps into late steelies. Might adapt OEM tangs to new rim for authenticity.
Didn't fit snug into the recess inside my caps (depends on the cap you are using I suppose). Tangs work if the caps are designed to snap over the clips. The Wheel Vintiques caps are made to snap inside a retainer, not over. If you take a close look at a set of steel rims from Wheel Vintiques, you will see that they have 3 raised nubs on the outside to accommodate the caps, so I tried to emulate that. Hope this makes sense Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Here's a tip to locate you retaining clips that I just remembered. Place some pieces of masking take on the wheel, radiating out from the centre. Rub something that will transfer onto the contact lip of the cap (I used a whiteboard marker). Then place the cap in the rim and rotate it while applying pressure. This will leave a mark on the rim to show you exactly where the inner contact lip do the cap touches the rim. Makes it much easier when placing your tangs or nubs/bolts. Practice on a dud rim till you get the process right. Obviously the process varies depending on the cap and the angle of the steel at the contact area on the rim. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Can't believe I stumbled onto this! I have mine stuck on with heavy duty all weather two sided tape. Been there for two years and hundreds of miles, but if I need to remove a wheel, I'm screwed. Hambers rock!
In my earlier post (#8), I didn't quite explain how you need to locate the round headed bolts to act as nubs, so here's a pic that I drew on my iPad so it's kinda sucky, but you get the drift. The trick is locating them just right. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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