Hi Peter,
Thanks very much for forwarding the info on changing the rear end gears on my
'49 3600 and Smokey's 'how-to' on installing hubcap clips on Ford rims.
I thought about removing the hubcap clips from the old split rims and
pop-riveting them on the new Ford rims. However the inside flange on the old
Chevy hubcap does not fit inside the Ford rim, which makes the Chevy hubcap
protude 3/4 inch or so when held against the Ford rim. In Smokey's
illustrations it appears he has found some sort of chrome ring to fit between
the Chevy hubcap and the Ford rim to fill this gap.
What I ended up doing was making my own right angle clips out of sheet metal
(four per rim spaced 90 degrees), pop-riveting them onto the Ford rim, and
then drilling four matching 1/8 inch holes in a 15" baby moon hubcap with a
10 1/8" inside diameter. Through those holes in the hubcap I used #6 x 3/4"
stainless sheet metal screws to fasten the hubcap to the clips on the rim.
The only downside is having to unscrew the four screws to take the hubcap off
to get at the lug nuts and remove the wheel. But that only takes a minute or
two and hopefully I won't be taking the wheels off very often. And with a
stainless trim ring and the chrome baby moon, I really dig the "classic 50's"
look of the wheels.
Thanks again for your information.
John Doak in Baltimore, MD
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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