VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Hubcaps from C-of-40's Don't Fit Properly-sad

I have new hubcaps, P/N 3658374S, advertised to fit 41-48 Passenger car (stainless).

They don’t fit my 16” 1948 wheels properly.

The old General Motors hubcaps clip on OVER the six clips on my 6-lug wheels.

These new hubcaps from C-of-40’s want to go INSIDE-of and under the six clips on the wheel.

I know others have had this problem, I recall seeing posts about it in the past.

Please don’t tell me I have to grind off my old clips and rivet some new style on there. I just had these wheels powder coated and they’re virgin-perfect right now.

Grrrrrhhhhhh :-(

FF,

What did C of F say when you called and described the problem?

Did they say anything about your clips being sprung or something.

Did you measure across the opening?

I don't question your saying that others have had this problem, I just don't recall it.

It seems to me that they should be able to get the back side just right.

Grease the outside of the clips that meet the shoulder of the opening. Is that a possible solution? Mercy!

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

I just discovered it today (Saturday), so I haven't called them yet.

My springy clips are perfect. The problem is the profile of the formed sheet metal that makes up the inner mounting ring of the hubcap.

Original caps have a smoothly transitioning concave, almost like a quarter-round surface, whereas the new style have that same concave surface, but with a "bead", if you will, that is supposed to grab a different clip design, apparently. Not to mention, the diameter of this inner clipping area of the cap is different.

I already chatted with the other fella who had the same problem from the same supplier...he said he eventually got the right caps from FS.

Thanks!

They show a cap for a rallye wheel. I don't know how they differ, but that would be my guess. I didn't take a picture of the incorrect ones I received from Cof40's.

You need to call Chev's of the 40's and tell them about your problem. Their hub caps are probably made in China and I have found that in China they use a completely different tape measure than we do here in the USA.

Thanks J-Dog and Keith. That's interesting about the rallye wheel cap.

I'll see what they have to say on Monday.

Chevs of the 40's parts catalog shows they stock 2 different 1941 hub caps. One is 'modified to fit Nostalgia wheels the other to fit Rally wheels. I assume you should have gotten the Nostalgia hub caps?

Hopefully, you only have a communication problem?

Good luck, Mike

Fever,my guess is they sent you a modified cap,not the one you ordered.They sell 3 types for 41-48...The rally and nostalgia wheels do not have clips but have round extrutions that the caps fit over..The part # you show is correct for the stock wheel..Someone messed up

.......but they make nice clocks, don't they chef?

Yah Ken,still have'nt figured out what to do with the wheels though

Chef, the design you're describing is exactly what these caps look like....as if they're meant to squeeze into a wheel that is shaped to hold the bead on the hubcap mounting area.

I'm glad the part number is correct, anyway, cuz I'd have sworn I ordered the right part. I told them exactly what I had for a car, so hopefully they'll clear it all up.

Thanks again, all. I'll update with the outcome.

I have notice chevs of the 40s declining in their service more and more recently...The Filling station my be a better option in the future

I can not imagine how we would be locating parts without Chevs of the 40's and the few other part suppliers. A few mistakes now in then, while frustrating, is unfortunately, going to happen with the volume of parts they handle and the lack of experience a new generation of employee has with our old car parts. If they are anything like our national part stores they are hiring part time employees at low wages and few benefits.

The new set of stainless 41 hubcaps I ordered from them last year arrived in a timely fashion and in my eyes where a work of pure beauty. Perhaps waiting 10 years to make the purchase had something to do with my pleasure?

In the 10 years I have been restoring my car I have rarely had a problem with any of the part suppliers I have used. If you really need a challenge try fitting a reproduced piece of sheet metal on a cowl or rocker panel.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. Yesterday I switched over one set of rear brakes from my old rear axle housing brake plate to my new housing's brake plate on my new axle housing. In the process I decide to change one of the brake links that was heavily pitted with a nicer one. It took me most of the day because I wanted to video tape the steps in the process, and I messed up the correct links. This was way up there on my most frustrating day working on my car. Fortunately, I realized I wasn't going to solve the problem in the state of mind I was in so turned off the lights and took the rest of the day off. I'm going to try to win the battle with those brakes today!!! Fortunately, the other set of rear brakes are still on the old rear axle brake plate so I can check my parts placement for accuracy.

Hey Mike,
I have a bunch of photos of the rear brakes before I overhauled them, If you need them, let me know and I will post them. Some good close-ups in there.

Hey Mike,

Funny how you mentioned working on brakes. I figured now with my brand new sparkling white walls on my newly-powdercoated wheels (and hubcaps that won’t fit!), I better not just slap lipstick on a pig, so I decided to tackle the front brakes, since my car has been pulling violently to the right on braking, from the day I bought it three months ago.

This is probably fodder for another post, but long story short, a frozen wheel cylinder (original equipment) on the driver’s side, go to remove the rubber line from the chassis hard line, and of course, that’s frozen solid too, so I just wound up twisting the steel line until it broke at the U-bend. Figures on a 66 year old car.

I’ll either re-flare and splice, or replace that whole center section hard line…we’ll see after I talk to C-of-40’s today and see if just the center section is available (as opposed to the whole kit).

I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg with this ol’ girl!

I hate to say it but you should consider replacing all of the components to your brake system if you can not document when the system was last thoroughly gone through. For sure you should look at seriously replacing all the brake cylinders, master cylinder, and all the brake lines. You have too much invested to have a brake failure while driving your car. You also have too much at risk from a spouse, child, or grandchild that is afraid to ride in your car.

There are other brake line suppliers than Chevs of the 40's, and hopefully they might be cheaper. The first thing I did when I purchased my car 10 years ago was replace all the above mentioned items and a set of brake shoes.

I solved my brake problem today, but am in a hurry, so will post my solution later.

Good luck, Mike

Description of the various styles of the same hubcap is very confusing, they need to clarify somehow.

Check out Chevs of the 40s catalog for hubcaps.....several different descriptions...

Here's a link....
https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/shop/...amp;dept=Car&searchtype=FT&Go=Go

Confusing? Yes!!!

You need to know what you want.

Ken, you have a PM.

Mike,

You hit the nail on the head. I've gotta replace every line and component through the car. Anxious to get into the master cylinder to see what it's like, I'd like to rebuild it just for some personal satisfaction. But heck, some of the brake fluid in the lines near the (frozen) wheel cylinders is almost like jelly now.

Ken48: I knew exactly what I needed. Chevs apparently can't bag the right parts. After investigating further, I noticed that one of my bubble bags has TWO different part number labels on it!!! TWO!!! How pathetic is that?

Imagine that...C-of-40's can't even figure out what they have, or how to label it.

And to top it off, the dude I talked with on the phone yesterday wasn't very pleasant, told me I need to measure the ID of the cap mounting area, else he didn't know what I had on my hands.

So stock Chevy caps from my era have an 8" ID where it mounts to the wheel. The caps they sent me have a 7.5" ID.

More to come. And in the interest of full disclosure, I've edited this post for politeness. This issue is no cause for offending anybody personally, it's just annoying that something so seemingly simple has to be confusing. I trust that they'll make it right. If not, I'll simply take my business elsewhere.

Why are you being such a jerk? Someone made a mistake. Are you so perfect that you have never made one? I have done a lot of business with Chevs of the 40's, and they have made a mistake on a couple of my orders also, but they have always handeled it quickly and courtesly. The last time, they sent me a part that had been back ordered for approximately 4 months and I no lopnger needed it. When I called them they told me that they should have called me before shipping a back order that old. They issued me a credit and told me to go ahead and keep the part. That is what I call great customer service. You get the wrong hub caps and post it over all the forums as if Chev's of the 40's is a horrible place to buy parts. If this is the most serious problem you have restoring a car you are probably the luckiest guy around.

Yes misteaks can be made but sounds like the COT 40s order filler guy was pretty sloppy, you gotta check and recheck orders. It can get quite costly for the purchaser when an order is wrong, especially when its a foreign county being served. I have had very good luck buying parts from BOBS AUTOMOBILIA in Templeton CA , he has a few parts that interchange with the old Chevies.

Yep, you're right Latigo. I shouldn't pass judgement so early on.

I'll give them time to sort it out.

Oh, and I was wrong about the labeling...apparently they change a suffix on the package deal when you order four.

My bad, I shouldn't get caught up in the moment. Regrets

Hi Fleetline,

The most common form of brake line failure is from internal rust. So it is good you are changing your brake lines. They may look okay from the outside but after 60 plus years it is hard to predict what the inside might hide.

I admire your wanting to rebuild your master cylinder, but likewise caution you about the potential risk that you might be incurring. The master cylinder is the brain of the brake system so make sure you have absolutely no doubts about its condition after your rebuild. This is the wrong part of your car to think it's working fine!!! I bit the bullet and got a new master cylinder when I rebuilt my brake system.

Please also make sure your emergency brake system is in perfect operating condition.

Good luck, Mike