Help needed.

[Magnums Moustache]

Hello, fellow builders. As the title says, i am in need of assistance from anyone who has in their possession the red Pontiac arrow sticker for the hubcap. I needed a set of 15" caps and didn't really fancy anything that was fibreglass or required zip ties to mount to the wheel. I decided to have a machine shop tool up to produce my caps in steel and they look great, very happy with them. I have gone with the shaved, smooth look for my own car but a friend of mine with a Trans Am wants a set with the arrow and the machine shop needs a pattern to work from so that they can make a tool to stamp the recess into the cap so that it looks like factory.
Anyone of you kind souls who would be willing to trace the shape onto some thin card or paper will be helping me out big time.
If anyone can ride to my rescue please PM me and i'll provide my address for posting purposes. Many thanks in advance and thank you for reading this post.

Chris

[Magnums Moustache]

I should have added that i'll gladly pay the postage and any other costs for materials as required.

Thanks again.

[Newcastle knight]

Ive actually not long removed the arrow decals from my caps to prep them for paint, i can post you one down if you want mate because i wont be re-using them, i may have considered it even though its not screen accurate but a couple of them are faded and naff.

PM me your address and i will send it down

[Magnums Moustache]

You're a good man! PM on it's way to you. Let me have your Paypal info and i'll cover your costs and time.

Thank you so much

[Newcastle knight]

Don't worry about it mate, its just the price if a stamp

[Magnums Moustache]

Well, to me it's more than just a stamp and i'm very grateful to you for answering my call for help.
If you ever happen to have the misfortune of losing another cap please give me a shout. I owe you one.

Chris.

[Newcastle knight]

no worries mate, i will post it tomorrow for you

Scott

[Magnums Moustache]

Arrow decal arrived this morning safe and sound. Going to drop it off at the machine shop so they can scan it and finish tooling up.
Many thanks again. Very grateful here. If I can ever return you a favour just let me know.

Chris.

[Newcastle knight]

Glad it got to ok mate, happy I could help

[peter]

Do you have any pictures of these steel hubcaps.
That would be fun to see.

[Magnums Moustache]

I have pics but they're of the 'smooth' hubcap..the one without the arrow recess. I've been told by the machine shop that the press tool will be ready in about 3 weeks, so it'll be at least another month before i see a truely accurate cap.
I'll post up what i have as soon as i get back from Sainsbury.

[Magnums Moustache]

Ok, i just arrived back. This has taken a little longer than i expected because i'd forgotten how to upload to photobucket. Anyway, i have it sorted now so pics in a few minutes.

[Magnums Moustache]

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[Magnums Moustache]

What you see above is the pattern. The holes are 3mm too small. The set i'm having made now are correct in size. The copper pipe you see being turned is part of the jig that i've had made that will allow the stainless tubes to be welded to the cap. I'll post a finished pic when the machine shop lets me know that they're ready. I'm debating wether or not to have them powder coated. Some people have told me to do it, others have advised against it because it won't get on very well with automotive 2K paint. I'll keep on researching that to see if it is true. Results will be posted in a separate thread unless there's a paint expert in our midst who won't mind lending his expertise to the subject.

The arrow decal that Scott very kindly supplied is being used to make a two piece press tool. There's a stamp that will punch down onto the face of the cap from outside, then there's a receiver that sits underneath to catch the press tool and prevent it from going all the way through the cap.
Once they're stamped with the arrow recess the cap will be jigged up and the tubes welded into position. The outside edge is rolled back on itself to leave a nice, rounded circumference and no nasty, sharp edges. What i don't have pics of are the wheel nuts that i've also had made. 12 in total, 3 per wheel. They're case hardened steel and the cap will bolt to them using allen or torq bolts, which are being machined next week. I'm plenty happy so far.

Chris.

[Whicher]

Goodness Chris, that's some fine work! I think people are going to start asking you to have a set made for them very shortly!! you could make a few bux if you started producing 14's and 15's with or without the arrow.

[Magnums Moustache]

That's kind of you to say that but i have no interest in selling these or becoming a supplier. If there are any builders out there who fancy a set i'll put them in touch with the firms who are doing these for me. There are three seperate companies so far involved in making these, not including the firm who are making the arrow press tool.
One company is doing the actual caps and the five holes, which are stamped or pressed, a second firm are responsible for the wheel nuts and a third is doing the tubes, twelve of the tubes have special ends welded on so the torx bolts can bite down and tighten against them. They'll also act as a handy anti theft device. All the pieces will then be jig welded together by a welder.
To be honest i can't see these selling in any volume. There are GRP replica caps available and i havn't read anything bad about them. I went this route because my car is going to be my daily driver and i just wasn't happy with GRP or zip ties. We'll see i suppose. I could be wrong.

[Whicher]

Yea I have replica caps and I'm trying to think of a way to mount them without cable ties but can't find another solution yet. Haven't got the turbo casts on the car yet so will tackle that problem when the time comes! Hehe

[Magnums Moustache]

I thought hard about securing replica caps. OEM caps tended to fly off, hence the 'bowlingball' monicker, and used ones tend to be advertised as 'only a couple of broken tabs', a few dings, etc.. and the repo caps all needed zip ties, all except for Joao's latest caps, which are currently being reworked due to some softening issue in the material they're made from. I scribbled my idea onto a sheet of A4 and gave it to the chap at the machine shop, together with a turbocast rim.
These caps will simply bolt on. Job done. I'll post pics when they're finished and mounted.
No chance of these ever coming loose and making a break for the border. You'd need a wheel brace to remove them.
If you're handy with your hands you could try extending the tubes that form the back of your cap to go all the way to the wheelnuts and use those to secure them on. I thought about doing this myself but i couldn't figure out how to incorporate the bevelled end to fit snugly into the alloy wheel.
Look at one of your wheel nuts to see what i'm talking about. I gave up in the end and went for the caps you see here. Simple, nothing to break, strong, rust resistant, no extra zip ties, no problems.
You're not a million miles away from me so maybe one weekend we can hook up and compare notes?

[pbryant_knight]

Thats a fantastic set of caps you have there. And a great idea for securing them.

I definitely think you should become a cap vendor. Even if you get the company to make 20 sets or so, you could get bulk buy discount and then offer them to replica builders. i'd be willing to bet they'd be gone in weeks if not days.

Peter

[Magnums Moustache]

Thank you for those kind words, and i hear what you're saying regarding selling them but it just isn't realistic for me to do that. My job ferries me all over the place and i spend around 3 months of the year, give or take a week or so, in America, where i have my home. Granted, the tooling belongs to me but the main press tool is in 2 parts and needs a fork lift to move. May cost a few quid to ship it over there, or anyhere else for that matter.
It's a lot of effort to get this thing into the big press just to run a handful of caps off. The company that is doing them usually makes a run of many hundreds, or thousands of units. It's things like lampshades, plaques and other metalwork. I'm having 16 made and they should be done in about a month. 4 for my car in the UK, 4 for my other car in Texas and 8 for my friend. The manager at the machine shop needs at least 4 weeks notice to prepare and make them because of all the faffing around to get the press tool mounted in the hydraulic pressing machine. I didn't think something as simple as a hubcap would create such a stir. If someone with experience wants to step in and drive i'm happy to sit back and chill out.
I'll post more pics when i have finished caps mounted to the wheel and you can all get a better look.

Chris

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