Tech: Caddy Sombrero mounting with Epoxy

I know this has been covered here to death, but I just finished this set for a customer, and I thought they came out nice.
By using the epoxy I did not have to do any welding, and saved the nice polish job on the new caps.

I started with a set of repop sombrero caps.


I used a cut off wheel to trim off the factory inner mounting ring, and cleaned up the cut.






I then used a green bristle disc to rough up the area where the cap will mount


To fit them to the trim rings, I took an old steel wheel, and cut out the center, and welded a strap to the back side with some all thread coming up to use to clamp the cap down.

Next I fit the trim ring to the rim, aligning the valve stem hole. The blue tape is to prevent any extra epoxy from gluing the cap to the wheel.


With the ring in place on the rim, I used the bristle disc to clean up the surface of the ring.


The epoxy is Fusor, a two part that comes out of a gun and mixes together.


The epoxy is runny, so be careful laying a bead where the ring and cap will touch.




Then I set the cap onto the rim, and aligned the valve stem hole, and centered it in the rim. I had a large washer and nut, and used the all thread to hold slight pressure on the cap.




Allow the epoxy to set up, the time will depend on the temperature.


Not having a center in the rim allowed me to pop the cap out from the back side, and made it so I did not have to pry on the edge.


You can see a bit how the pressure will squeeze some of the epoxy out, but this stuff holds strong.




add to a big car and some white walls, a bullet in the center and you are done.

 

Looks good you ingenious litl' monkey!

 

Great basic tech for just about anyone...I actually had never seen this done.

Thanks for sharing

 

That is a cool idea. I love those old caddy caps.

 

Man, that is cool! Good thinkin.

 

That is precisely how I did mine on the roadster about a year ago.I posted some shots on my web site of the procedure as well. I used a product called "Panel Bond "and it is also a 2 part epoxy that mixes in the special nozzle you get when you buy it.Nice job...Time-Bomb John or visit www.timebombs.ca

 

Sweeeeet.

I know that this is a two year old thread, but I need to do this, and was wondering....

What trim ring did you use?

What trim ring have other people used?

Thanks,

Rich

 

Nice job,thanks for posting..think I'll try it your way

 

I love those Caddy caps. Nice simple tech, thanks!

 

Great idea.....that is what I call talent!!

 

GREAT tech brother!!!! I love it!!!

Thank you!!!

 

Great stuff, looking good! Thanks you!!

 

were did you get the "new caps"? are they 16in thanks

 

http://www.mcveys.com/

Although they measure a full 16 inches, they are for a 15 inch wheel.

 

A neat job, nice one

 

I did a set of earlier Caddy caps like this - same deal.

I used some skinny rings I had laying around that came off a late model Chevy/GMC pickup.

I also did a pair before using a mid-'50s Ford hubcap. On those I actually ran a stud through the Ford cap and the Caddy cap, and into the bullet.

Here's a pic of those:

 

Nice...

 

Damn! The secret is out. Price of Sombrero's is going to go up again. Great Tech!

 

I used rings I had laying around at the shop. we had a pile of rings, and I picked out the four that were the same, and fit the caps the best. I wish I could tell you what they were from, but I have no idea. I can tell you that these rings do not hold them on the best. The finished caps are HEAVY, and they tend to work loose a bit.

 

Interesting thread. I have a set of '51 Pontiac wheel covers, "Sombrero" style, similar to the Caddy's, that I'd like to put on my '48 Pontiac convert. I couldn't think of how to attatch the old caps to trim rings, but now I do!

 

Ya had me until the bullet cap. It looks kinda like a "smoothie" chrome wheel now

 

Nice tech post, the big beautiful Caddy 4-door rag top in the first example photo is amazing, and a cool coupe as well. Thanx bro ~sololobo~

 

How do you get the cap off the rim without damaging it when you pry it off , is there a trick to it ?

Paul

 

Does that stuff hold? What brand is the epoxy, has it proven good with time & road use?

 

I did this as well to mount my caps the same way to my 47 Chevy - I used Sikaflex 252.

Sticks like shit to a blanket !!

Rat

 

Pics please................

 

Of the Caps.......or the blanket???????

 

Of the caps on the car.............. not the shit on the blanket..........

 

Its a 2 part kit that body shops use to glue door skins onto the frame of the door. once this stuff starts to harden up you cannot get it apart. When you replace a door skin on new cars you have to grind the edge off and use a air chisel to get the skin, off due too the expoxy that the factory uses. Then use a body hammer and dollie to straighten out the flange on the door shell and prep it for this expoxy. Then place the new skin on the door frame and then use your hammer and dollie again to fold over the flange onto the door shell. Hope this answers your question. If door skins do not come off driving down the road the hub cap is not coming apart either.

 

Great tech and may need to borrow that jig for my caps for the 36