Update! Luxstang reinvents the wheel

[Don C]

I like the bright trim rings and the black gap, gives it more definition and a better feeling of depth.

 

[luxstang]

I like the bright trim rings and the black gap, gives it more definition and a better feeling of depth.

Ok, good point. I hadn't seen it that way. I'll let that sink in. 

What's your take on the shiny rings vs brushed dish issue?

 

[Don65Stang]

I still wasn't entirely pleased with the result as I've mentioned previously so I tried something else. I guess I know now what it is with women and shoes.

I thought you just liked playing Barbie dress up with your car but the shoe example works well too. Hahaha

 

[Don65Stang]

I like the bright trim rings and the black gap, gives it more definition and a better feeling of depth.

Ok, good point. I hadn't seen it that way. I'll let that sink in. 

What's your take on the shiny rings vs brushed dish issue?

I think the shiny vs brushed looks fine. The gap also looks okay. I like the idea of painting the wheel argent or a light silver color. That may add sme refinement to the look. Be careful to tape off a good circular edge in the "spokes" on the wheer at the base of the dish. If you jt spray it the 5 spokes will show up in the gap where the spokes meet the dish.

 

[luxstang]

I like the bright trim rings and the black gap, gives it more definition and a better feeling of depth.

Ok, good point. I hadn't seen it that way. I'll let that sink in. 

What's your take on the shiny rings vs brushed dish issue?

I think the shiny vs brushed looks fine. The gap also looks okay. I like the idea of painting the wheel argent or a light silver color. That may add sme refinement to the look. Be careful to tape off a good circular edge in the "spokes" on the wheer at the base of the dish. If you jt spray it the 5 spokes will show up in the gap where the spokes meet the dish.

Oh! Good thinking on the spoke issue. Yeah, I think the small recesses where the dish doesn't completely cover the spokes would show as darker areas. So I'd have to keep that area dark. 

I hadn't considered that! Thanks! 

And yes, it's a little like playing dress up.

 

[Don C]

I like the bright trim rings and the black gap, gives it more definition and a better feeling of depth.

Ok, good point. I hadn't seen it that way. I'll let that sink in. 

What's your take on the shiny rings vs brushed dish issue?

The brushed dish adds to the depth look, plus I think they look good together.

 

[secluff]

Considering what a set of 15" NOS trim rings cost (if you can even find 'em) I think your trim ring/caps combo looks great. Only people like "Us" would notice the gap left by non-OE trim rings. And...it also leaves your wife with more shoe money!    :whistling:

 

[luxstang]

I like the bright trim rings and the black gap, gives it more definition and a better feeling of depth.

Ok, good point. I hadn't seen it that way. I'll let that sink in. 

What's your take on the shiny rings vs brushed dish issue?

The brushed dish adds to the depth look, plus I think they look good together.

Ok. Thanks for your input. It was like I felt it should bother me but it didn't really so I wasn't sure my judgement was right.

 

[luxstang]

...it also leaves your wife with more shoe money!    :whistling:

Yeah.... let's not go there! :-/

 

[Mister 4x4]

Ok, good point. I hadn't seen it that way. I'll let that sink in. 

What's your take on the shiny rings vs brushed dish issue?

I think the shiny vs brushed looks fine. The gap also looks okay. I like the idea of painting the wheel argent or a light silver color. That may add sme refinement to the look. Be careful to tape off a good circular edge in the "spokes" on the wheer at the base of the dish. If you jt spray it the 5 spokes will show up in the gap where the spokes meet the dish.

Oh! Good thinking on the spoke issue. Yeah, I think the small recesses where the dish doesn't completely cover the spokes would show as darker areas. So I'd have to keep that area dark. 

I hadn't considered that! Thanks! 

And yes, it's a little like playing dress up.

I say just keep 'em how they are.  If you paint the rims argent to fill the dark void, you're going to have 5 argent areas and 5 void areas, since only the spokes can hold the paint (the voids, not so much).

 

[luxstang]

They are powder coated so paint adherence shouldn't be an issue. I'll just end up with a third kind of silver after the shiny chrome and the brushed caps.

EDIT: Oh, now I get it! You mean the holes/ openings in the rim! The dishes cover the voids completely.

 

[Mister 4x4]

They are powder coated so paint adherence shouldn't be an issue. I'll just end up with a third kind of silver after the shiny chrome and the brushed caps.

EDIT: Oh, now I get it! You mean the holes/ openings in the rim! The dishes cover the voids completely.

Gotcha.  I figured there was a gap between the dish and ring, which would be with the spokes and voids behind them.  Since that's not an issue, game on.

I still say they look fine the way they are. 

 

[mach71351c]

I like it, I like it allot!

 

[scgamecock]

Ok, I've been up to no good as usual and I had an idea which I wasn't sure how to make it work.

Some of you may remember that I've had my Magnum 500s powder coated a while ago and that I did not really like the result.

But I've always been a sucker for the Mopar style steel rim with hubcaps but no rings look and I bought some hubcaps off Ebay in September but I had no wheel to put them on.

So I thought I needed to come up with a way to make do with what I had here.

Here's the result:

Pretty different, eh?

Believe it or not, those are the Magnum 500s underneath those hubcaps. 

How do you put hubcaps on Magnums? Well, that's the problem I've been dealing with and I tried lots of ideas which were all crap until I found these clips which are for vintage VWs, Bugs and the famous small vans (or busses as we call them)

http://www.justkampers.com/111-698-131-hub-cap-clips-pack-of-5-vw-beetle-1947-1966-vw-t2-split-1950-1967-vw-t2-bay-1967-1971.html

The cool thing is that they are located in the UK, so lower shipping costs and no taxes (...yet! Stupid Brexit!!)

I didn't know whether they would fit but for +-30 bucks I thought, meh, let's try them. 

And wouldn't you believe it, they fit perfectly!! And I mean PERFECTLY, not only ok. If they were specifically made for those Ford hubcaps they couldn't fit any better.

So now comes the hardest part..... drilling holes in my original rims..... yikes!

The clips are meant to be riveted on but I chose to screw them on. As the holes need to be drilled on the flat surface (more on that later), I needed to raise them by 5 mm which I did with a M6 nut in between the rim and the clip which raises the clip to the exact height. 

And here's the rim with all 5 clips installed. You can see here that I had tried to screw the clips into the "slopes" first, so that they'd be flush with the hub cap base but I had forgotten that the tilted angle would not allow the clips to work properly. Of course I only noticed it after I had drilled the 5 holes and installed the 5 clips. 

Plus you see holes in the flat surfaces that are empty. That was because I then tried to spread 4 clips instead of 5 more or less evenly on the rim but I found out that they were impossible to center correctly, so I had to opt for 5 clips and relocate the two so that they were all in the same spot. Still a lot of trial and error involved. 

The other rims are less "swiss cheese" than this one though. Sorry!

So that's that. Hub caps on a Magnum 500 can be done. 

I would prefer the look to be more "deep dish" but that's because the rim has this "pyramid" in the middle. Oh, by the way, I was surprised to find that the hubcaps clear the rim completely. I was afraid the center piece of the rim might be higher than the inside of the cap and that would have ruined it all but in fact only the base (outer ring) of the cap touches the rim, the rest clears the rim perfectly. 

Now I wonder whether I should turn the tires around so that the letters face towards the inside and they show only black wall....

What I will do though, and that was the whole idea behind it, is, I will raise the suspension. 

The car has become almost undriveable, suspension travel is the width of a quarter. Not a quarter of an inch but an actual 25 cent piece. I could just squeeze a quarter in between the hump on the upper control arm and the rubber bumper on the shock tower reinforcement plate but I had to get pliers to get it out again. The car handles like a go cart but unfortunately our roads do not allow for this kind of setup. 

Relocating the rubber bumpers to a higher position is also no option as you can not squeeze in a standard pencil in between the wheel arch opening and the tire when the wheel is turned, so it would immediately hit the fender if there was more suspension travel.

I'm really sorry I have to do this and make my car less remarkable and special but I fear too much structural damage from hitting potholes that make my keys jingle in the ignition. 

I guess this is what it will look like for a while, only a little higher, more classic muscle than restomod. Who knows what the future brings......

Mike,  those are the 15" magnums?  What size tires are you running?  I have the stock 15" rims with the dog dish hub caps.  New wheels aren't in the budget right now so I am sticking with those for now and like what you have done with the blacked out wheels and dog dish.

How did you get that level stance? Mine squats in the back with the nose up and I hate it!!  Is this just worn suspension or do I need something aftermarket for a level stance or even a small rake in the front?

What did you paint the rims with?

Thanks

Wade

 

[luxstang]

Those are the old stock 7x15 Magnuns. Tires are 255/60/15 on all 4.

The rims were powder coated after the chrome was media blasted off (or at least thoroughly roughed up).

The stance is a story in itself. Lots of lowering and coil cutting and trial and error.

 

[scgamecock]

Here is what mine looks like from the side.  It appears to sit level only because the front is ratcheted down tight.  Some of the suspension parts look fairly new but this car has not seen the road in 10 years.

Do you know or does anyone else know the largest rear tire will fit on these stock rims without sticking out or needing to roll the fender?  What would be the size that would look good and fit without rub for the front?

 

[luxstang]

255/60/15 look good (fat!) on 7 inch wide rims. I don't know if they'll accept wider tires. My tire dealer even claims 255s would be too wide for a 7 inch rim but I've got the proof right there and it's the third set of 255s that went on those rims.

Fender rubbing is no issue unless you have way too little back spacing which you don't as your rims are original.

As for the stance: these cars drag their tails unless modified. They came like that from the factory.

Add sagging rear springs (age!) and it gets worse.

Try and find out if your leaf springs are sagging and replace them with new ones and install some good shocks. Don't need a big budget for those either, I've used KYB gas-a-just for years and they're great.

Then get one inch drop coils for the front. Most parts suppliers sell these. They're usually 260lbs coils, iirc.

That should get the car at least level with the ground.

Then you could try staggered tire sizes where the rear tree are higher (bigger diameter) than the front tires but I don't much care for that look if it shows too much.

Mine sits way lower than that. I've got one inch lowering coils that have had one complete turn cut off on top of that. The rear springs are quite shallow and have one inch lowering blocks. That brings the car down considerably but causes other issues like rock hard suspension and complete loss of ride comfort.

Looks cool but gets annoying after a while.

 

[scgamecock]

255/60/15 look good (fat!) on 7 inch wide rims. I don't know if they'll accept wider tires. My tire dealer even claims 255s would be too wide for a 7 inch rim but I've got the proof right there and it's the third set of 255s that went on those rims.

Fender rubbing is no issue unless you have way too little back spacing which you don't as your rims are original.

As for the stance: these cars drag their tails unless modified. They came like that from the factory.

Add sagging rear springs (age!) and it gets worse.

Try and find out if your leaf springs are sagging and replace them with new ones and install some good shocks. Don't need a big budget for those either, I've used KYB gas-a-just for years and they're great.

Then get one inch drop coils for the front. Most parts suppliers sell these. They're usually 260lbs coils, iirc.

That should get the car at least level with the ground.

Then you could try staggered tire sizes where the rear tree are higher (bigger diameter) than the front tires but I don't much care for that look if it shows too much.

Mine sits way lower than that. I've got one inch lowering coils that have had one complete turn cut off on top of that. The rear springs are quite shallow and have one inch lowering blocks. That brings the car down considerably but causes other issues like rock hard suspension and complete loss of ride comfort.

Looks cool but gets annoying after a while.

So 255/60/15's should work all the way around correct?  If so I will probably do same size and then try to get it level.

Thanks!!! ::thumb::

 

[luxstang]

They will. Only thing is when you turn the steering wheel all the way to the left the tire will rub on the bolt of the steering box (?) on the frame on the driver side. But then these cars will do that with almost any tire size and you never get that far while driving. Only when maneuvering in a tight spot.