wire wheel covers

[Rztrike]

I have seen pictures of mid 50's Buicks with wire wheels with white walls and love how they look. Unfortunately the real deal is not in the budget. Can anybody give me direction on what would be a good looking wire wheel cover would be for my 56' Special?  Do I need to be concern about certain wheel covers fitting the original rim or will any 15" cover do?

Would like to see how it would look with it before I commit down the road

Thanks in advance

Edited July 24, 2018 by Rztrike (see edit history)

[PONTIAC1953]

hi, i feel your pain, i have always loved the looks of the 1953 to 1956 buick "skykark" wire wheels made by kelsey hayes, but could never afford them, also ended up getting one used wheel and discovered that they were too wide for my 1953 pontiac chieftain custom catalina coupe, the fender skirts wouldn't go back on, so i found at a old car swap meet a few years back, a set of six 1953 oldsmobile optional wire wheel covers or "hubcaps" that looked almost as good as the skylark wheel. i had a local metal shop cut out the olds crest from the center caps and i used 1951 to 1953 pontiac rear fender indian emblems to cover the hole and make the covers look correct for my catalina. plus i didn't want to pay what the prices were for the actual 1953 pontiac optional wire wheel covers are going for. 

Edited July 24, 2018 by pontiac1953
added a picture (see edit history)

[Rztrike]

Pontiac1953, they look really good. Just the right amount of wires. Sometimes I think it can get to busy with to many wires. I'm sure there are some others that have run across this same dilemma.

Thanks

[Joseph P. Indusi]

In 1953, Buick offered wire wheel hubcaps or wheel covers, similar in appearance to the Oldsmobile wire wheel covers. There were two very similar wheel covers offered; one for the Super and Roadmaster models and one for the Specials.   The main difference is that the center cap for the large car wheel covers was decorated with a large V to symbolize the V-8 engine that these cars came with.   The wheel covers for the Special had the Buick Coar-of-Arms in color in the center cap.   This is the most obvious difference, however, there is another difference and that is in the depth or height of the wheel covers.   The covers for the Special models is not as high or deep as that for the larger cars.   You can install the Special wheel covers on the larger cars but there will be a noticeable gap where the wheel cover meets the outside edge of the wheel rim.

These are good looking wire wheel covers, I have a set for my 53 Special, but I have noticed that the wheel balance suffers with these installed since the wheels are balanced without the wheel covers.   There were wheel balance machines back in the day that remained on the car while the mechanic balanced the wheel, wheel cover, and brake drum, essentially the entire assembly.   But I always thought these were dangerous because the wheel cover could break lose from the wheel while the assembly was spinning at high speed.

Finally, these 53 Buick wire Wheel covers are very hard to find today and are expensive if in good condition.   The ones I have are reconditioned originals.  I had to buy 6 to make 4 good ones.   There are other later model Buick wire wheel covers that might work for you and these will likely be more plentiful and at lower cost.

Joe, BCA 33493

 

[Rztrike]

Joseph, thank you for your reply. The history of the wheel covers was very helpful

[Barney Eaton]

I think this is a 15" Riviera wire wheel cover....it is similar to the 53-54 Skylark real wire wheels.

GM used this similar wire wheel from around '63 into the early '70....they came in 13" for the early GM compacts, 14" then 15".......

The spinner was made in 2 and 3 bar and on the 2 bar the center plastic emblem was interchangeable between Olds, Pontiac, and Buick.....Chevy used a 3 bar with the bow-tie molded into the metal.

[MrEarl]

On 7/26/2018 at 1:51 PM, Joseph P. Indusi said:

however, there is another difference and that is in the depth or height of the wheel covers.   The covers for the Special models is not as high or deep as that for the larger cars.   You can install the Special wheel covers on the larger cars but there will be a noticeable gap where the wheel cover meets the outside edge of the wheel rim.

 

Wow, never knew of that difference Joseph. I collected probably 20 of the large series over the years trying to get one really nice set but was never happy with any 4 so ended up selling all. They are difficult to restore as they have to be disassembled in order to paint. I actually saw a set that was all stainless, no paint for sale at the Danvers meet but had already decided to go Kelsey Hayes so passed on them. 

[Joseph P. Indusi]

MrEarl:

The BUICK parts book shows 2 part numbers for these wheel covers.  From my experience the color on the round backing panel behind the spokes is commonly black but I have seen red and also the stainless you mention above. I think only black and stainless were factory supplied while the red may have been done by a restorer to match the common red wheels.  

Joe

[Rztrike]

Thank you for the information. Sure giving me some ideas I hadn't thought of

[1953mack]

On ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 12:51 PM, Joseph P. Indusi said:

In 1953, Buick offered wire wheel hubcaps or wheel covers . . . There were two very similar wheel covers offered; one for the Super and Roadmaster models and one for the Specials . . .  however, there is another difference and that is in the depth or height of the wheel covers.   The covers for the Special models is not as high or deep as that for the larger cars.   You can install the Special wheel covers on the larger cars but there will be a noticeable gap where the wheel cover meets the outside edge of the wheel rim . . .

Joe, BCA 33493

 

Joe,

 

Let me know if I'm haywire or not in saying just the opposite of what you're saying. I will edit my post accordingly . . .

 

-  1953 Buick SPECIALS came with the narrower 15x6 steel wheels (smaller tires). 1953 SUPERS with the optional “V” wire-wheel covers and all ROADMASTERS (non-SKYLARKS) came with the wider 15x6.5 steel wheels.  

-  Since the emblematic wire-wheel covers for the SPECIALS are not as deep, they will fit on the wider 15x6.5 steel wheel.

-  Since the "V" wire-wheel covers for the SUPERS and ROADMASTERS are deeper, they will not fit on the narrower 15x6 steel wheel and there will be a noticeable gap. 

 

I say this because too-many years ago, a local Club Member wanted the wire-wheel cover look and couldn't figure out why the noticeable gap.  His SUPER didn’t come off the assembly line with the optional “V” wire- wheel covers. His low-mileage 1953 Buick SUPER had the factory 15x6 steel wheels. I wound up giving him four 15x6.5 steel wheels and everyone was happy ever after. End of story.

 

Thanks.

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

[Pete Phillips]

Might add that these 1953 wire wheel covers bolt onto the wheel using the wheel's lug bolts. You have to watch out if you take it to a tire shop that isn't familiar with these, so they don't start prying on the edge of the wheel covers trying to get them off, before finding and undoing the bolts.

Pete Phillips

[Rztrike]

Reading the information above. Is this just applying to 1953 hubcaps or does it apply to others?

Edited August 4, 2018 by Rztrike (see edit history)

[Joseph P. Indusi]

1953Mack:

I was wrong on my initial post regarding putting the narrower Special covers on the wider Super and Roadmaster.  So your first and third items are correct.  The deeper covers will fit on the Special wheels with a gap.  Now it may be that the narrower Special covers may not fit on the wider wheels but maybe they could depending on the offset of the wider wheels.   So your second item may or may not be true until we do a test of the Special cover on a large series wheel.  

Joe

[PONTIAC1953]

4 hours ago, Rztrike said:

Reading the information above. Is this just applying to 1953 hubcaps or does it apply to others?

most wire wheel hubcaps of the early 1950s will have a center cap that hides the hubcap retainers that will use three of the five lug nuts that hold the wheel to the axle. this is found on several different makers of the wire wheel hubcaps such as mimetic, cello, and others. in my using the mimetic made 1951 to 1953 oldsmobile optional wire wheel hubcaps, the design of the backside of the hubcaps allow it to use the same wheel clips that are normally there for mounting the standard small "dogdish" hubcaps, i learned this from a oldsmobile club member.

[PONTIAC1953]

Here is the backside showing the rolled lip of the wire hubcaps where the wheel hubcap clips snap onto to secure the hubcaps. 

[1953mack]

17 hours ago, Joseph P. Indusi said:

1953Mack:

. . . Now it may be that the narrower Special covers may not fit on the wider wheels but maybe they could depending on the offset of the wider wheels.   So your second item may or may not be true until we do a test of the Special cover on a large series wheel.  

Joe

 

Joe,

In theory if you run any tests, you will most likely find out that the offsets are the same on 1953 Buick 6.0” and 6.5”-wide steel wheels . . . zero. The rear and front spacing’s should be equal and centered on the

width of the rim making the noticeable gap dimension equal to one-half the difference between the two wheel widths . . . 1/2 of 1/2" = 1/4". Therefore, by adding three individual 1/4”-thick spacers/washers to the backside of each wheel cover’s mounting flange before you bolt them to the brake drums, the wheel covers should look right (no gap). The way I see it, you would need a dozen 1/4"-thick spacers/washers and a dozen lug bolts that are 1/4” longer-than-original to do the job right on 4 wheel covers. Let me know after you do your testing if I need to correct my second item in my original Post #10 above. Thanks.

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

“500 Miles West of Flint”

 

[Joseph P. Indusi]

Al:

Thanks for your reply.  I think your idea using washers for shimming the covers to avoid a gap is one way to skin the cat.   I do not plan to do a test with the larger wheels and the covers from a Special as I only have the Special wheels and no large series wheels.   

These wire wheel covers were a one year only option for 1953 models. 

Joe

[53buickconvert]

I thought too about getting the wire wheels  for my Roadmaster. After doing some research on them and finding the issues, seeing the expense and everything else, I found a nice set of the wire hubcaps with a few spares and have been very happy with them.

 

Tim

[Rztrike]

Thanks for your reply Tim. Love your Buick! One of my favorite cars for sure. The wheel covers look great, what are they from?

[53buickconvert]

I believe they were an original option for my car? Does anyone know for sure?

 

Tim