1946 16" dog dish cap issue

T

tracy46SDCNV

Senior Member
I have a 46 SD convertible. stock 16" x 5" wheels. Painted body color. All the wheels appear to be identical. My problem is I can't install the center caps. These are reproduction Ford caps. One wheel accepts the cap the others do not. Feels like the inner lip that engages the wheel nubs is too shallow. I have a spare wheel the cap pops right on. Those nubs seem to be a bit closer to top edge of center of wheel, but I could just be imagining that. Any ideas?
 
Have your wheels been powder coated? If so that may be your problem as the coating adds additional height to the nubs and fills in the dimple in the inner part of the wheel at the nubs.
 
Are the reproduction hub caps not going onto the wheels at all, or are the reproduction hub caps not snapping into the wheels?
Do all the reproduction hub caps fit the same on all the wheels?
 
Had that happen to me on my 42 Ford with Drake caps. I took a "quick clamp" and tried to squeeze the inside ring. Little better but not much. Anyway, one flew off and got a pretty big ding when I found it. Ordered two more from Third Gen. Both fit great with no tweaking. Let's just call it inconsistent quality control....
 
The repop caps will not snap into the wheel. I think its poor QC. Feels like the inner snap ring is not engaging. Thanks for everyones help.....
 
Which specific brand of reproduction caps do you have? One of the manufacturers specifically states its caps won't work with the OE Ford wheels - only it's own reproduction wheels.
 
itslow said:
Which specific brand of reproduction caps do you have? One of the manufacturers specifically states its caps won't work with the OE Ford wheels - only it's own reproduction wheels.
Click to expand...

Is this what the state of the reproduction industry has fallen too?
 
I have managed to make these caps fit. The inner lock ring was inset too far into the cap. I had to pry the inner ring out 1/4" and now the rings engage. I do not remember the manufacturer of the caps as I purchased them years ago. All 4 caps were made the same way. Very unfortunate that the repro parts aren't what they claim to be. Thank you everyone for your input and comments it was helpful.
 
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