VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1928 hub caps/wheel caps

Gents

The column was getting a bit quiet so I thought I'd throw in a few curley questions regarding 28 hubcaps

1. Why did some come out with aluminium hubcaps and others brass

2. Why did some had one V in the top of the bowtie, some had VV and some just had dots

3. What was the origin/availabilty of the winged wheel aluminium hub caps

4. I have a 490 aluminium hub cap, fine thread type with a winged wheel emblem. Where did this come from?

Hope I don't strain the brains too much

Chris

Chevyroo, that is a very good question!

Maybe it really is that variety is the spice of life!

And they think there is a controversey on 1932 cranks? Kids stuff!

My 28 has three different ones on it and I got a 4th one on E-bay plus I have two more with Alimite fittings in the center (marked Miller) for greaseing the front outer wheel bearings..

Hi gang, old stuff,

Under Gereral Discussions, mystery hub cap you will find all the answers to your questions.

Ray
I went to general discussion but couldn't open an old post, any clues
Chris

When you first open up the Discussion Section, go to the upper right corner and use the pull-down, select a number of days (60 for example) and then it will show the old posts.

Hi chris maybe this would be a good chance to have a science experiment through our teacher . i have heard numerous theories so what I propose is that everyone checks what is on their car eg their year and list how many markings and what plant their car came out of and at the end of it maybe we can get a true picture of what went on and which year had what markings and what plant fitted them this could also allow for the different manufacturer or supplier, maybe we will be very surprised what turns up .using owners of good original cars to disgard the chances of parts being changed through restoration

Hello Chevguroo, Ozjim and Mr Mack and others,
On my 1926 Superior K I have 3 identical wooden spoked wheels and 1 that has a thicker center with recessed bolts and the hubcap does not appear to screw in all the way. The wheel is painted, complete with the original pinstripes so do I have something different or what is going on?
Regards,
Peter Moody

Hi Peter,

You did not indicate the body style of your '26. However, if it had wood wheels originally, it must be a Roadster, Touring or Coach. In each of those body styles the wheels were painted body color and NO striping.

Thanks Ray/Chevradioman. I have a tourer. Maybe the striping was something that they did here in Australia. There is also one thin stripe that is approximately 2 inches down from the top of the body that starts at the windscreen, continues all the way around the body and stops at the windscreen on the other side. There also appears to be stripes on the trailing edge of the bonnet louvres. Any more ideas?

Peter
In Australia the wheels option was
1. Painted wood spokes, usually black. All the original ones that I have seen had a pin stripe, usually yellow.
2. Varnished wood spokes, again with pin stripe, this time with varying colours.
3. Disc, same colour as body (on tourers)

Also in Australia we had what I believe was known as a 'sports tourer' these had chrome dash bolts and chrome windscreen posts. most had accessory bumper bars, although different from those that came as an option with the US cars, there were probably other minor differences but off the top of my head, I can'r remember them.

My 28 tourer, which is/was a very good original car and would not have needed repainting if the woodwork was still solid. It came with the above mentioned 'sports' accessories, as well as a sun visor, luggage rack and side monted tail light

I have seen a lot of 28's with the trailing edges of the bonnet lourvers painted.

Chris
PS I agree with Ozjim, it would be a great idea if we could through a bit of light on the history of these hub caps

Hi Peter,

You have not stated where your Touring was assembled. Normally, the stripe starts near the cowl lights, continues along the body across both doors, and then terminates a few inches under the top where it is fastened to the body. This is near where the hole exists in the body for the top bow holders. It starts again on the other side at the same point, and ends back at the other cowl light. Also, as you point out, the stripe was on the outer edge of the 'fins' on the hood. There was no stripe on the wheels.

Your correct body and wheel color is Biscay Green and the stripe is Gold. The fenders and splash aprons are black.

Just curious, you indicate your car is a SUPERIOR "K". Is the generator gear driven or belt driven?

Ray
Thanks for your search hints, I found the bit on hubcaps and found that while it gave some answers to my question, there are still quite a few that have not been answered, especially the ones about the V's, dots and dashes, as mentioned by Ozjim
Chris

Well you forced me into it. So let’s explore the ”˜funny’ markings on the 4-cylinder hubcaps. Some 15 years ago when I put my ”˜25 roadster together I noticed different marking on some of the hubcaps I found at the swap meets. Some of them were plain, no marking, others had a single dot, some had 2 or more dots, some had a single ”˜V’, some had what I would call a “W”.



This is one that has the “W” located under the bar under the word CHEVROLET. This is where the other marks mentioned above also appeared.



Here is a collection of hubcaps. In the center is the hubcap wrench necessary to remove the caps without damage. Now, let the discussion begin.

Mmmmmmm......interesting.

Hello Chevradioman and others,
My car is definitely a Superior K, Car Number 2V 6119, Engine Number 220 1600, built in Tarry town, New York, and then shipped to Australia.
Apparently the trip took about 13 weeks, so the 1925 model in the US was a 1926 model dowwnunder.
Because of the ridgid import duty laws and tariffs most of these cars had the body fitted locally. In my case the body was fitted by Holden in South Australia, (a plate fitted to the side verifies this).
The pin stripe starts from just rear of the windscreen bracket and is continuous all the way around to the other side.
The colour is white, including those markings on the wheels and bonnet

Sorry Chevradioman,
i forgot to let you know that the generator is belt driven and the colour scheme is dark Navy blue for the body and black for the guards and other bits and pieces.
Regards,
Peter Moody

Peter
I'd like to comment on a few points mentioned by you.
You say that your car is a Superior K, however the 2V in the car number suggests that is a Superior V. and you say you have a belt driven generator, interesting? As there were 2 distinctively different 1926 models we need to know a bit more.

Does it have a swage line or body mould line along the bonnet (hood) down both sides and around the tub? If so it should have external door handles, if not it should not have external door handles.

Chevs in Australia were the same models as those in the US, except that ours weren't available until about May. That is a 25 US built rolling chassis that was shipped to Australia was sold as a 25 model out here, not a 26.
They were probably shipped late Dec or Jan, direct to the Holden plant, were it left as a finished car about 4 weeks later.

In fact my research shows that there were really NO closed body Chev 4's built by Holdens, they were imported as CKD (completely knocked down), all panels were US made and Holdens did the wordwork, assembly and upholstery etc. The roadsters and tourers that were shipped included the cowl and if you have a look at your Holden tourer cowl firewall, on the passenger side you can still see the 2 holes that held the Fisher body badge. Holden made all panels from the cowl back, including the dashboard.

Anyway enough of that, give us a bit more info on your Chev and we'll make sure exactly what model it is.
Chris

Ray
Thanks for the photos of your hubcaps. The one cap shown in detail with what you call the W and what I call the 2 V's is very interesting as it appears that the dots are placed in concentic circles. I haven't seen this type before, I have one with all the dots in a straight line and one with the dots in no pattern at all, just as though they were thrown on.

Would it be possible to have a blow up of the others? as it is the detail I would like further comments on.

From your group photo I think there may be another 490 style cap, I'll check out my collection and let you know.

For those that are not aware the 490 (small hex) cap continued through to 1924, but had a courser thread like the 25-28 caps.

Although not shown, I think the V8 and the FA FB series cars ran the same cap, is this so?

Ozjim and were only talking about all this last night and would be very interested in other diehard Chev people's opinions
Chris

Hi chevguroo,

Don't wish to clutter up the Chevy Site, but would consider specific ones. Could you identify the specific ones? (Pictures of caps are difficult to take because of the extreme shiney surface which causes reflections).

My group picture was not intended to show all of the caps I have, but give a sampling of the various caps Chevrolet used.

Anxious to hear about additional "marks" that others have observed on the more common caps.

I checked a few of my stock of octangonal caps and find seven different ones.

The F, FA, FB and Model D (V-8) caps are different than those pictured by Ray. According to the parts books that I have they're all the same part number number 40954.

Hey Ray how about an series of articles on early caps? Maybe we could set the record a bit straighter. I am sure it will not be the last word however. Any one want a picture of the 43031 and 43256 caps?