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/showthread.php?8207-1459-is-in-paint-prep-stage/page8&highlight=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

[Milsteads Garage]

I consider this a very important subject as I let Barry answer because he knows best on how not to lose one of these valuable wheel covers. As you may know, a driver quality wheel cover starts at $500 and will often fetch prices of $1000 each in some cases. They are NOT being reproduced for various reasons and is an off the table subject with everyone I know of with the means to do so. These wheel covers can and will do serious damage when they fly off. A few owners who have passed told me stories of detached wheel covers actually going through the windshield of passing by cars they hit.

[Milsteads Garage]

Okay, so your #3 question about radios is off topic with the subject of wheel covers but I feel is definitely another good question to answer so I will start off by asking this question of you. What is the intended purpose of your car? How correct looking do you want it to be? Personally, AM radio is dead. FM radio is dying a slow death. I am one of those people born at the end of Generation X so I cherry pick what I want for myself concerning technology. I listen strictly to Pandora or YouTube and I am going to tell you a very personal factoid about myself. I am a metal head. They dont play loud fast metal bands like Meshuggah on the radio. Yes, I am an animal for owning a Mark II but I still fit the bill because Im an interesting person. Knowing all that, here is what I intend to do concerning that. I plan on keeping my old, long dead AM radio in the dash where it belongs. I am removing my antenna assembly, sending it to Pat Marshall. I plan on taking our boom box which we use on the boat and just using it there so I dont have to modify my interior to accept speakers. Really, it all depends on what your car is and what the intended use will be.

[Duke City Mark]

Thanks Morgan for your thoughts. After many hours of diagnoses and cannibalizing parts off of two purchased Premier radios, my original radio is working. Burnt transformers, inoperable vibrators, dimming tubes were the culprits. So what am I left with? A functioning original radio in all its obsolete glory. You are spot on regarding AM/FM. I ordered a replacement radio from a company that 'specializes' in replacement radios for classic cars. NOT! It is state of the art but looks rinky dink in the dash with a piece of black plastic surrounding the face to fit in the Mark II dash. I am not renovating my Mark to exacting original specs but in some cases form takes priority over function. I have had the working original radio reinstalled and am putting a new tuner in the glove box with a remote to select and play my favorite music with superior sound quality. I have several speakers that I will decide whether I install them or not. I will NOT sacrifice side panels or door panels to mount new speakers. They will either have to be hidden under the dash or they won't be used.

[Johnb]

Good Day Mr Wolk, I am in the process of purchasing new tires. Can you give me your place of choice other than Coker tires.

[Barry Wolk]

Diamondback Auburn radials. They look just like bias ply. You should put them on new wheels with a 3 5/8"backset instead of 4". That moves the tire 3/8" outboard eliminating the upper ball joint clearance problem.

[Mark Norris]

Hit the url below for their catalogue, see page 4.

https://www.northhantstyres.com/pdf-files/2019-Diamond-back.pdf

[Barry Wolk]

Good Day Mr Wolk, I am in the process of purchasing new tires. Can you give me your place of choice other than Coker tires.

You should order 15" wheels with a 5.5" bolt pattern wheel with 5 studs. It should be a 6" wheel. It should be ordered with a 3 5/8" backset. The new steel wheels are a heavier gauge which eliminates the bias-ply wheel flex that makes you lose wheel covers. Buy 5 2" all metal stems. No rubber, but the seals. Slip a piece of rubber fuel line over the metal stem. The rubber will protect the stem from the rotating wheel cover. When they stop rotating the tangs of the wheel cover dig in and stop the rotation and noise.

If you love driving your Mark II make it a real pleasure to drive with all new, rebuilt, suspension parts to go with your tires. These cars suffer badly from cumulative suspension wear. Even individual parts within specs have some wear. You can even have your parts rebuilt. I am very impressed with the result of installing all new wear parts and bushings.

The last Mark II I did the suspension on got plastic-filled tie rod ends and upper and lower ball joints available from one of the regular suppliers. They dismantle the tie rod ends and ball joints and discard the inner spring and ball seat. The void left by those discarded parts is filled with a hardening plastic that forms a new, no need to lubricate, socket around the original ball and stud. As received they are very difficult to change the angle on, but a right-sized length of pipe allows for movement that gets the tapered parts into the tapered sockets. Everything moves freely with the tires off the ground. Does anyone have long-term experience with this method?