Hubcaps, wheels, and tires

[Duke City Mark]

Hi All,
First forgive me as I am new to the Forum. I have looked through all threads to get my answers. Definitely there have been posts on the hubcaps and tips on keeping them in place.

1. I saw that drilling two sheet metal screws at opposing sides of the hubcap into the wheel is the best way to keep them on the wheel. But...aren't you risking an air leak when drilling into the wheel?

2. I have purchased radial tires from Coker and have mounted them on the original wheels after I had them powder coated. The gentleman I purchased the car from expressed concern that the original wheels couldn't handle the radials. Could that be true? My tire person said the ride would be smoother with the radials than the old biased tire. Any feedback would be appreciated.

3. I recently bought a radio from a company that specializes in retrofitting for the opening in the dash. It is advanced in that it is AM/FM, digital, USB port, Bluetooth, etc etc. Needless to say it lacks the aesthetics of the original face with the town/country bar, heavy chrome, stylish profile. My mechanic has been working on the original radio trying to get it to work. We have purchased manuals, a parts radio, new transformer (wasn't correct and therefore useless). Would I be better off putting the original back in the dash and just feeding off it's power, putting a new tuner in the glove box?

[Mark Norris]

For 1. This involves 2 set screws (ie. parallel threaded machine screws of approx 4mm diameter and 50mm long). The (threaded) holes are made in the side wheel body and not into the tire seating area. The wheel covers on my car are secured this way (its the most secure method but if you have un-drilled wheel covers its a pity to modify them). This is only one of several ways members have come up with, more details on page 7 and 8 of;

https://www.markiiforum.com/showthre...ghlight=hubcap

For 2. I had original steel wheels with Coker radials on my car. The wisdom was that the original steel wheels were not stiff enough for the forces coming through a radial tire so I switched to modern replacement steel wheels from the recommended manufacture. I noticed no difference whatsoever to handling or noise etc. Don't bother switching is my personal experience based recommendation. Others may/will disagree.

[Milsteads Garage]

Barry should be along shortly lol

[Barry Wolk]

People drill into the wheel center not the rim itself. Get rid of the original wheels or you'll be chasing wheel covers forever. Hub caps are different animals. They only cover the hub, like Baby Moons.

New wheels solve the sidewall flex problem because the rim of the wheel is thicker. That makes the wheel covers tougher to install because the ID of the rim is slightly smaller. but they grab better. Also, you need all-metal valve stems covered by a piece of fuel line to act as a separator between the wheel cover and the stem. If you use rubber stems your looking for a trip with roadside assistance. The wheel covers creep, bending the rubber valve stem over so hard they break, or pop a wheel cover. New wheels are inexpensive compared to a wheel cover. I wouldn't drill a hole in a Mark II cover if I didn't have to, and you don't. I used to lose my covers all the time. Only lost one in 15,000 miles, and that was my fault for letting the tire shop use stick-on-weights that were too wide.

Do a search. We've discussed this many times. People that go with my suggestion are quite pleased.

FYI, there are better choices than Coker.

[Barry Wolk]

Barry should be along shortly lol

Am I not giving sound advice?

[jdsnoddy]

Barry:
An attempt at humor.
I would characterize your advice as: solid, seasoned, sage, sound, resounding. Keep it up Barry; we love you, man.
Best regards,
John

[Milsteads Garage]

100% you are giving sound advice. It’s why I said you should be along any minute. I follow your advice on this subject even.

[Vreeland]

I have removed vane next to valve steam and strait across from stem where bolt was removed from vane drilled hole installed large head self tap screw. then pushed vane back under screw for a tight fit. The car i put them on rolled around in ocean during Hurricane Sandy and caps still on car no holes drilled in hub cap .ck out car 1521

[C.J. Larrick]

Barry, that was a compliment from Morgan, not a criticism.

[Duke City Mark]

Thank you Mark for the advice on the hubcaps. A lot of effort but worth it as opposed to loosing a cover.
Have a good day!

Regards,
Gary