Wanted: source for reproduction 1933 Plymouth hubcaps

My wife has a 33 Plymouth PD rumble seat. It has 2 spare tires mounted 1 on each front fender, for a total of 6 hub caps. The hub caps are in need if restoration, so I took them to a re-chromer. Turns out they are aluminum, and nearly impossible to restore without loosing a lot of detail. I have searched for reproduction caps, but have come up empty. Is there anyone you know who makes these.

Thanks

NC Industries in Sayer Pennsylvania. They have done these in the past and might have some in stock.

Welcome aboard and show us some pictures of your '33.

Chris

Post a picture of cap. I think that we may have some left..

Hi, Are they from the wood wheels? the above are from the wire wheels. They did reproduce them some years ago. Erick

Here is a picture of the reproduction 1933 Plymouth Wood Wheel hub cap. Erick

Post a picture of cap. I think that we may have some left..[ATTACH=CONFIG]233597[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]233598[/ATTACH]

I believe these are for the 1932 Plymouth.

According to Al Smith's catalog, he has them listed for 32-33 PLY. for the 16 and 17" wire wheels.

I was under the impression that the "box" around the Plymouth name was larger or closer to the edge of the cap on the '33 wire wheel cap as on the wood wheel '33 cap shown, but I could be wrong.

Can anybody tell us about the hubcap? Al Smith wasn't wrong to many times from my research. Only found 1 thing wrong, the windshield knob to hold the windshield in place in the up position. Its to small.

Can anybody tell us about the hubcap? Al Smith wasn't wrong to many times from my research. Only found 1 thing wrong, the windshield knob to hold the windshield in place in the up position. Its to small.

I'll pull one of my battered original ones out tomorrow and put it up against the Al Jr caps that are on my car and see how different they are.

Edit: Box was easy to get too. Quick check with a ruler did not turn up any difference in outside sizes or appearances. The originals are constructed of a nice steel backing with a skin with the actual Plymouth logo. Quite heavy and well made. The Al Jr ones look the same mounted but are made in one piece, are lighter weight, and from experience I know are a bit fragile on the inner spring, etc.

Thanks for the clarification.

Here is a picture of the reproduction 1933 Plymouth Wood Wheel hub cap. Erick[ATTACH=CONFIG]233647[/ATTACH]

I didn't realize caps for wood spoke wheels would be different from wire spoke wheels. Huh.

I actually have both wooden and wire. The wooden ones are currently mounted, and are the hub caps I'm looking for. This hub cap is the type I have. They appear to be solid aluminum, not the "skin" type. Erick, where did you find these?

Mic

I didn't realize caps for wood spoke wheels would be different from wire spoke wheels. Huh.

I actually have both wooden and wire. The wooden ones are currently mounted, and are the hub caps I'm looking for. This hub cap is the type I have. They appear to be solid aluminum, not the "skin" type. Erick, where did you find these?

Mic

My father got some for his 4 door PD, his first set from a guy who reproduced them in 1985, and he got more from ebay and Hersey swap meet about 2 years ago- this set is for his convertible. I don't think the guy who reproduced the ones in the 1980's is still around. I will try and find some and will contact you if I find some. The wood wheel hub caps are solid spun alumimun; the repros which just polished but the originals were chrome plated. Erick

Keen25 if I understand you,you have it backwards. The originals were stamped or spun steel with a chrome plated face. The insides were not plated. Aftermarket ones from the 30s (or 40s?) were aluminum ,sometimes chrome plated sometimes not,just polished. It was PlyDo in Virginia that made the repro wooden artillery wheel hubcaps and he has indeed passed on. Don't you wish we could find out who these people were dealing with and just order some more? They could still be in business. This happened with Al Smith as well. And he had a HUGE catalog of repro'd Plymouth and Dodge stuff.

Keen25 if I understand you,you have it backwards. The originals were stamped or spun steel with a chrome plated face. The insides were not plated. Aftermarket ones from the 30s (or 40s?) were aluminum ,sometimes chrome plated sometimes not,just polished. It was PlyDo in Virginia that made the repro wooden artillery wheel hubcaps and he has indeed passed on. Don't you wish we could find out who these people were dealing with and just order some more? They could still be in business. This happened with Al Smith as well. And he had a HUGE catalog of repro'd Plymouth and Dodge stuff.

Hi DodgeKCL, To The best of knowledge the original wood wheel hub caps were spun aluminum and chrome plated, I have about a dozen old ones in bad shape. I know the 1980's reproductions are close but are not plated and the Plymouth script is slightly different - the "P's" "leg" is not a long. I will check to see if the "old" ones I have are chrome plated inside. I wonder if the patterns and stamp for the scrip is still around for the reproductions. If maybe the family still has the equipment may they would sell it so someone could start to remake some hud caps? I can send some more photos if you wish. Erick

Here are some pictures of the Plymouth script. The first picture is of a original

, the next is a reproduction, the third is them together, the forth is a wire wheel to show script, the last is a repro with out any script. You can see slight differences in the "tails" of the letters - the angle.

Did not see any chrome in the inside. Erick

Keen25 if I understand you,you have it backwards. The originals were stamped or spun steel with a chrome plated face. The insides were not plated. Aftermarket ones from the 30s (or 40s?) were aluminum ,sometimes chrome plated sometimes not,just polished. It was PlyDo in Virginia that made the repro wooden artillery wheel hubcaps and he has indeed passed on. Don't you wish we could find out who these people were dealing with and just order some more? They could still be in business. This happened with Al Smith as well. And he had a HUGE catalog of repro'd Plymouth and Dodge stuff.

The ones on our car are chrome plated aluminum. This implies they were not original, but aftermarket from the 30s?

Also, when I google Al Smith, I get a Chrysler dealer. From the comment above, this is not the right source?

i did get an email from ramreproductions.com that hey have some. They were not listed in their catalog so have asked for pictures, since it appears this is not an exact science.

When I hear from them, I'll post more.

Thanks for all your comments. I've learned a lot.

The ones on our car are chrome plated aluminum. This implies they were not original, but aftermarket from the 30s?

Also, when I google Al Smith, I get a Chrysler dealer. From the comment above, this is not the right source?

i did get an email from ramreproductions.com that hey have some. They were not listed in their catalog so have asked for pictures, since it appears this is not an exact science.

When I hear from them, I'll post more.

Thanks for all your comments. I've learned a lot.

Looks like some of their reproduction parts are the same as from places like N/C Industries and Buckeye Rubber. I did not see the hubcaps listed but they had a photo of a stack of used ones. Do they have new reproductions?

Al Jr. (who I believe was actually Al Smith) passed away maybe 14 or 15 years ago. He had reasonable quality stuff at very reasonable prices and was a nice person to deal with too. His stock was picked up by Dodge City in Jamestown, California. That fellow has also now passed and his widow and countrytraveler who has posted on this thread are now the vendors. So the "Al Jr." hubcaps are the remains of Al's stock and are available from Dave (countrytraveler).

To the best of my knowledge, Al Jr. only made hubcaps for wire wheels. The 1980s reproductions for the wood wheel hubcaps were a "new to me" bit of information I've learned from this thread.

Al Smith (Ram Enterprise) passed sometime in 2000. We bought him out along with another company in Colton Ca. Al, to my knowledge just work out of his mom's house. He had farmed most of the reproduction work to outside sources. We have most of his catalogs and i'm not seeing any caps for the wooden wheels being reproduce.

I absolutely guarantee you 110% that your Plymouth did not leave the factory with aluminum hubcaps on those wooden artillery wheels. The originals were chrome plated spring steel. The aluminum ones are soft and have a tendency to let go of the ring "dimples" on rough roads. The spring steel ones do not. However I was not around in 1933 so I cannot say for certain that Chrysler-Plymouth dealers did not offer aftermarket aluminum ones from their parts store. The wheels and hubcaps were made by MotorWheel of Detroit and they may have turned to aluminum later for replacements but the originals, out the door, were stamped spring steel. Plymouth was not the only vehicle to have those wooden artillery wheels as an option after the industry as a whole went to wires or steel discs. I have seen personally these wooden wheels on Buick,Auburn, Pontiac,Terraplane and several others. And all the caps are steel. Several Dodge books on trucks show a photo of a 1934/35 Dodge Express (pickup) wearing these wooden artillery wheels from MotorWheel with the same cap as Plymouth but with Dodge script on them. I do not believe Plymouth made an aluminum cap after the 1931 PA "Thift" screw-on. After that all were steel with brass skins or just a steel,chromed,stamping.

Hi DodgeKCL, I would think that they would be steel and chrome plated but I don't have a single steel one. Maybe some one else dose. Erick

Found a couple caps I believe fits the 33 Ply wood spoke. They are steel with a one piece construction as you can see with a magnet holding the cap from the ground.

If you look closely, besides shiney and rust looking, the 2 caps are different. Different vendor maybe?:confused:

The 33 wire wheel caps I have are steel backed with a brass skin, on the inside of the steel backer is stamped the Chrysler/Dodge/Desoto/Plymouth logo.

Would these be originals or repro?

Hi Dave, The rusty one has a funny script not the original with 3 m's. The shinny one looks like an original, can you scrape the inside to check for the metal? thank you, Erick

Hi Dave, Maybe if the hub caps used a nickle coat that could be magnetic. Also, iron oxidation is red and aluminum oxidation is "white"; what color inside the shinny one? thank you, Erick I still think that the originals were steel.

Steel. Didn't take long to notice the 3 Ms. Wonder what the story is on these?

I'll sand blast inside tomorrow and put the magnet to the cap.

You have to watch those old repros. Not having patents or authorization to reproduce official logos they misspelled the names to avoid controversy. J.C.Whitney used to sell a number of repro caps; the Model A Ford caps said "Bool" in Ford style script instead of "Ford".

Anything with CPDD or Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge/DeSoto stamped on it has to be an authorized Chryco part. I don't know if Chrysler ,or MotorWheel, made their own hubcaps or not. I know CPDD bumpers for the first 10 or so years were made by the Weed Chain Co. who also made bumpers for Chevrolet. Most small parts like door handles etc. were made by an outside supplier same as today. I live near a company that makes "window frames" ,I've been told, for many of the major car makers. I got some plating done in Concord Ont. at Alpha Plating for my KCL and noticed a grille for Lincoln hanging on the lunchroom wall. They informed me they do all the front grilles for all Lincolns, Canada and U.S., and have for many years. I have a couple of aftermarket hubcaps,one with "Plmmmth" on it for 1934, and one for 1934/'35 Dodge with "Dooge" on it. I used to have a Ford cap(somewhere) with "Food" on it. It must of been quite common to buy these aftermarket copy caps back then. BTW a CPDD price guide I have shows 1933 caps at $1.30.

Anything with CPDD or Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge/DeSoto stamped on it has to be an authorized Chryco part. I don't know if Chrysler ,or MotorWheel, made their own hubcaps or not. I know CPDD bumpers for the first 10 or so years were made by the Weed Chain Co. who also made bumpers for Chevrolet. Most small parts like door handles etc. were made by an outside supplier same as today. I live near a company that makes "window frames" ,I've been told, for many of the major car makers. I got some plating done in Concord Ont. at Alpha Plating for my KCL and noticed a grille for Lincoln hanging on the lunchroom wall. They informed me they do all the front grilles for all Lincolns, Canada and U.S., and have for many years. I have a couple of aftermarket hubcaps,one with "Plmmmth" on it for 1934, and one for 1934/'35 Dodge with "Dooge" on it. I used to have a Ford cap(somewhere) with "Food" on it. It must of been quite common to buy these aftermarket copy caps back then. BTW a CPDD price guide I have shows 1933 caps at $1.30.

Thanks for the information, but would you have any idea what the 'R' means?

My 33 PD had these , wood wheel hub caps , originals, I also have some for 33 wire wheels but they need skins, they are listed under Dodge..