1932 Ford Locking Hubcap

[32inxs]

I recently bought the locking hubcap shown in the picture. The seller enclosed the attached strup with the hubcap. Even after looking at pg 19-6,10-7, and 19-8 of the 1932 Ford Book, I still cannot tell what it is or how it attaches to the car. I believe that it attahes to the bottom of the back of the locking hubcap but I can't tell where or how it attaches to the car. Any pictures of one on the car would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[jim1932]

You need a hook strap like this one....

 

[Lawson Cox]

Yes, he is missing the long piece that goes around the tire. He should be able to find one pretty quickly on the swap site or on ebay.

 

[32inxs]

I get it now. Thanks for the help. I will start looking for the long piece. Thanks again for the help.

 

[DavidG]

Sorry guys, that strap doesn't belong on a '32, that's why you won't find a photo of it or reference to it in the '32 book. What you have is a '32 cap that was used on early '33s which did use the two-piece strap. Put the short ******** the shelf in case you end up with a '33 or '34 some day.

The only strap type lock used on '32s was the one shown on page 19-8 and while it can be used in conjunction with a locking hubcap, that would be overkill (two locks). The original intent of the '32 locking hubcap was that it was to be used on side-mounted spares, not on rear-mounted spares; the lock for those was the strap-type lock assembly on page 19-8. By adding a strap to the cap in '33, it became usable on rear-mounted spares and that along with the with spare tire cover became standard equipment on deluxe models.

 

[Ian NZ]

The 1933 locking hubcap is different to 1932 one. Refer to the book 'V8 Affair'
The 32 locking caps were released late in 32 but no straps were fitted on them until they were fitted to the early 1933 models until they produced the 1933 caps. Apparently sales of the locking caps were slow in 32.
Ford must have intended to put a ******** them for the 32 models why put a slotted place for the strap.

 

[DavidG]

I don't recall anyone in this thread stating that there was no difference between a '32 and '33 locking hub cap, what did I overlook?

As for "The V-8 Affair", there's lots of nice photos in it, but many of the cars shown are no longer 'as Henry built them' (the '34 cabriolet being a notable exception).

 

[Ian NZ]

The

 

[Ian NZ]

The picture of the locking spare wheel cap on the original 1933 3/W coupe is on page 67 in the 'The V8 Affair'. The locking cap is of different design to the locking caps of other Ford models.
As I require more information on production and fitting the 1932 locking cap to the 32 Fords I have contacted several 1932 knowledgeable people and literature for information which I have received.
There-for I have fitted a strap onto my spare wheel locking hub cap on our 32 ford the way that Ford could have intended it to be.

 

[DavidG]

Could have, but never did. Come up with a part number with a 'B' prefix and not a '40' or '48' prefix in a Ford-published parts catalogue or a copy of the Ford engineering drawing or some other piece of physical evidence from Ford and you'll make a believer out of me (and others too).

The point of this thread is not what Ford did in the '33 model year, but what it did in the '32 model year. Retro-fitting with later model parts may work, but you cannot re-write history.

I'll gladly compare my CV against those of your mystery "1932 knowledgeable people" any day of the week.

 

[jim1932]

My picture is a 34 (i think) not of a 32 cap, and was intended only to answer the question of how the short strap is used. Dave is the expert on 32's. For my 32 I have a locking STRAP. The strap does not have a hubcap component.

 

[32inxs]

I agree with Dave that the Locking Hubcaps did not have a strap as 2 locks would be overkill. The reverse of my hubcap has a place for a strap to be installed. I also thought that the 32 hubcaps were a one year only item, so was the strap some kind of option with the hubcap or what? I just want the car to be correct as Henry built it Maybe the hubcap is 1933 instead of 32. The number on the back of the hubcap is M2 F-0152 the M2 is weak but the F-0152 is real legible. Thanks again.

 

[deuce lover]

From my experience and as David G has mentioned the 32 locking cap did not have the strap and they were used on the side mounts hence the small filler piece in the notch .Regarding ******** the 33-35 caps - when you removed the cap from the wheel and unhook it from the main strap - that strap(which is attached to the spare carrier) puts pressure on the faceplate of the tire cover so the outer tire cover band can be removed.Otherwise you need almost 2 people to remove or reinstall that complete cover without it(face plate) falling down.Hope this helps.

 

[jim1932]

Funny.... never thought about it till now. The ******** the older hubcap locks is rather pointless isn't it.

 

[barnfind08]

I cant remember his name but a fellow in calif made repro 32 locking hubcaps and I think he used good used locking hubcap castings and pins from 33-35. This was done late 70's. Maybe Dave can elaborate that all original 32 locking hubcaps had that groove for the strap.

 

[DavidG]

32inx3,

Without the strap, your cap is the same as any other '32 locking hubcap, especially given that in your photo your cap has the filler plate attached referenced above by deuce lover. When the locking cap was introduced in mid-September, 1932, it came configured like your cap as shown in the illustration from the November, 1932 issue of the "Ford Service Bulletin" (which I am temporarily unable to attach).

I've had a lot of '32 locking caps over the years, B and V-8 versions, and all are configured this way. Obviously the design anticipated the addition of a strap as an alternative, but such a strap was not released until the '33 model year. (Given that Job #1 for the '33 model was in February, 1933 in North America, it seems reasonable to assume that much of the engineering work for the substantial changes that were involved with the new model was well under way and in those instances were hard tooling was involved, likely completed, by September of 1932.)

 

[DavidG]

Here's that illustration.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

The lock as fine art...Steiglitz photographs Georgia O'keefe! Somewhere I have a poster of one of the pics of Georgia draped over the spare. I think '33, but close enoughh!

 

[DavidG]

Right you are; it's a '33.

 

[deuce lover]

Hunter Hilton in Inglewood,CA made those perfect repro 32 locking caps.He has since passed away.