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Removing Hub Caps correctly.


Phil C

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It can be very difficult to so without crushing the trim, so all you can do is take care or try to cushion it, maybe by wrapping the hub cap tool in masking tape or soft foam.

These come up from time to time online; a little rubber or plastic cover on the two feet should help preserve the wheel paint:

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It is a Mk2 but not being a fan of the Rostyle trims I am going old school and using simple chrome hub caps.

Colin - that gizmo might work but I have yet to fix a hubcap in place so not sure what kind of gap will be available to get any purchase on? I don't want to fix one on until I have a suitable plan to get it off again!

 

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33 minutes ago, Phil C said:

that gizmo might work but I have yet to fix a hubcap in place so not sure what kind of gap will be available to get any purchase on?

There are three lugs on the wheel, which hold the nave plate, and are slightly raised from the rest of the circle. That difference is what you have to work with (you operate the removal tool, whether Colin's one or the OE lever, just to one side of one of the lugs). I've found the OE lever from the toolkit in the boot to be fairly good at not damaging the wheel paint, but a bit of rubber or heatshrink sleeving over the bend would make it even better. The paint that will be removed is right on the lug, where the nave plate itself scratches it off during fitting and removal. That's hidden, though, so a bit of non-setting mastic or similar will keep rust at bay.

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I've the same type of hub caps on my 13/60. I remove them with the tool referred to by Trigolf. I have a short piece of hose pipe on it which protects paint. I would post a photo but car & tool are up the road having work done, which happens to be to rear brakes so I removed the hub caps before hand - easier than letting the mechanic try and do it 🙄

Oh, I'm surprised Mr Lindsay didn't point out the difference between a hub cap and nave plate - he must be slipping 😁

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43 minutes ago, NonMember said:

There are three lugs on the wheel, which hold the nave plate, and are slightly raised from the rest of the circle. That difference is what you have to work with (you operate the removal tool, whether Colin's one or the OE lever, just to one side of one of the lugs).

Thanks, that makes sense. I don't have any original tool but from google photos I am guessing the OE tool is the cranked lever? Probably not difficult to make something up.

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this all reminds me of the past   when they facelifted the   Commer/Dodge  PB van to 14" wheels the 3 lugs were not compatible with the rim of the nave plate they were flying off all over Dunstable  and kyboshed a few  inspectors on the rolling road 

so  we converted some giant bolt croppers to re swage the lug and afford a fit that gripped  the nave plate  and at 48 vans per shift gave some guys  some good work outs 

of 1440  squeezes a day   or the nave plates flew off at the first corner   

Pete

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29 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

who remembers the gadget similar to Colins post that put a kink in the handbrake cable to take up slack outlawed by MOT tests 

I have probably still got one in the bottom of my reserve tool box !

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1 hour ago, Chris A said:

Oh, I'm surprised Mr Lindsay didn't point out the difference between a hub cap and nave plate - he must be slipping 😁

I may miss out on a nave, but I recognise a knave when I see one. :)

1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

who remembers the gadget similar to Colins post that put a kink in the handbrake cable to take up slack outlawed by MOT tests 

That jogged a long forgotten memory!!

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1 minute ago, mark powell said:

Still got two of those handbrake adjusters lurking somewhere...

I'm sure you've got them well locked up as you wouldn't want them finding their way onto a car somewhere would you, not that anyone would want to fit such a thing . . .🙄

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As far as I am aware there is no difference, other than the term Hub Cap was more American, and since WW2 has become the "English" standard term for the Nave plate. (two countries divded by a common language) Tire/tyre, Color/Colour------------------etc;

As for hub cap removal, Difficulty appears not to affect certain members of society when one is parked?.

Pete

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It's possible that a nave plate was a larger wheel-sized plate that completely covered the wheel, in particular spoked wheels, to keep the spokes clean or to make the car look classier. The hub cap just covers the centre area. 

I could be completely wrong in that, but then again I've just read on a web site that nave plate is the British term for a hub cap - I had thought we were hub and the US was nave?

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I was told (by an elderly Riley enthusiast) that what I was removing was the nave plate and the hub cap was the thing behind it. His definition was that a true "hub cap" seals the hub so the grease doesn't fly out (and our cars do have such a cap on the front hubs) whereas a nave plate is mostly decorative but probably hides the wheel nuts. I've found some support for that but most just fall back on the old "American" excuse.

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17 minutes ago, NonMember said:

I was told (by an elderly Riley enthusiast) that what I was removing was the nave plate and the hub cap was the thing behind it. His definition was that a true "hub cap" seals the hub so the grease doesn't fly out (and our cars do have such a cap on the front hubs) whereas a nave plate is mostly decorative but probably hides the wheel nuts. I've found some support for that but most just fall back on the old "American" excuse.

TBF, that would make a lot of sense, In the USA, they only talk Hub Caps. The old Rileys and Rovers had huge "Hub Caps" (nave plates?) which covered the whole wheel as I recall, and the small caps which I knew back in the 50`s as a grease cap could conceivably have been the "hub cap"?

Refered to in the Haynes Herald Manual as "the cap" p139. item 15 and the 1st edition 1200 herald repair manual P72/3, AS the HUB CAP.)

Pete

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9 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

wonder what the GT6 III, Spit IV/1500, & TR6 center wheel trim that is held in place by the wheel nuts is called, it doesn't hide the wheel nuts?

OR that stupid thing fiat fit, "Plastic wheel finisher"? (hub cap?) held in place by two of the wheel nuts, but takes forever to decide which two?🙄

Pete

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