Wheels/ Hubcaps

[hiplso]

Hi, I am a total newbie to jeepsters, but after seeing a nicely restored 67 vert a few months ago I was immediately smitten, having always liked classic cars, convertibles, and jeeps (I have owned nothing but jeeps for the last 15 years). After lurking here for a while I have now just purchased a 67 hard top wagon a few weeks ago and am getting ready to begin the restoration process. I will be trying to keep to as much of a "stock" look as I can, though I will be replacing the hard top with a soft top, and mostly driving it in nice weather with the top off.

One question that I have is whether there are any wheels/ rims currently made that would fit the original "dog dish" hubcaps used on the 67, which I have, and relatively "stock" size tires (I am thinking maybe 215 75 R15's). The car came with the original steel rims, although they were not on it when I bought it. They didnt look too bad but when I took it in this past weekend to have the original rims put back on, I was told that they were pretty bent, that the lug nut holes had become oval, rather than round, and that they would, at best, make for an uncomfortable, wobbly ride, and, at worst, be unsafe. So, I guess my options are to look for a set of original rims that are in better shape than these (which seems like it could be pretty hit or miss), or try to find a product currently available that would be a reasonable approximation of the "stock" look that would work with the original hubcaps. I have done a few searches on the forum but havent really found anything about currently available, new rims that might fit the bill (perhaps there is no such thing?)

Anyway, any thoughts would be much appreciated. This forum in a wealth of information and I cant even begin to imagine how I'd go about many aspects of the restoration without it, you guys are awesome!

[clffhnger]

You should post your location as these are not cheap to ship, I have several original rims and I'm sure others do here also.

[hiplso]

Originally Posted by clffhnger

You should post your location as these are not cheap to ship, I have several original rims and I'm sure others do here also.

Sorry about that, I thought it was in my profile but looks like its not, I am in Baltimore, Maryland.

[Mr Fast Bucks]

Ok,

I have two options for you. I have a set of original wheels you can have free.

Or, if you are planning on disk brakes down the road, I would buy something like these:



Available from Quadratec and you put the original hubcap on (but not the dish style)

[hiplso]

Originally Posted by Mr Fast Bucks

Ok,

I have two options for you. I have a set of original wheels you can have free.

Or, if you are planning on disk brakes down the road, I would buy something like these:



Available from Quadratec and you put the original hubcap on (but not the dish style)

Thanks! (I sent you a pm as well)

[Danger_Dave]

Will the 15" Quadratec wheels work with a GM 1500 style disk brake conversion, or would I need to step up to 16"?

[Joe67Conv]

Hipslo-
I had the same issue several years ago. I wanted to run the "dog-dish" caps as some call them, but've never seen a dog dish that is rounded on the bottom, so I refer to them as the "baby moon" style cap. I searched all over the US for wheels that would accept the baby moon Kaiser Jeep logo caps and finally, got close through Stockton Wheel in CA. What we did is locate a wheel center that was so close, but not close enough to hold the cap. I had Stockton weld a bead at each of the three bumps that holds the cap. They welded these into a 15" x 7", "JJ" rim shell, which will clear the GM disc brake calipers/mounts like on an early/mid 70s GM 1/2 ton or Blazer. That was about 9 years ago. But, here's the good news. I bought 8 or 9 more of the wheel centers, just in case. I ran across them in my garage attic a few weeks ago and have been meaning to get them on this BBS to sell. I sold my original set of the wheels, having gone to aluminum rims. Most major cities have a wheel repair shops and wheel builders that can weld a center into a shell. Shipping wheels is NOT that expensive. Less than $100 a set, for even a set of 17" wheels. Steel would be more of course. I'm sure UPS rates have gone up since my last set of rims shipped a few years ago, but I doubt its' cost prohibitive. If you're interested in buying my centers, we could possibly work something out if you want me to weld up the bumps to hold the baby moon caps. I'm attempting to attach a few pics.

Joe
Denver

[hiplso]

Joe, thanks for the respsonse, that's very helpful, I may take you up on that, as the restoration goes forward. Will pm if I need more details.

[stumblefoot]

My stock jeepsters use the same rim as a Ford, 5X5.5, look for rims from an old Torino or Falcon with 15 in rims, mine came of a wrecked Falcon and hold the Jeepster baby moons just fine. Now, if you upgrade to GM disks or something, well your on your own

[Joe67Conv]

The whole point of these centers is that they DO fit into a rim shell that accomodates disc brakes ( they'd be stamped with the size and a "JJ" ) . I didn't have any problems finding old wheels that the caps fit and would NOT work with discs. Plus, many of the old wheels also had a smaller center hole that won't clear the hub. I even had a set of 16" military wheels, 5 on 5.5 that had a center hole a quarter inch shy of clearing the hubs. I just sold those. These centers are so close to holding the Kaiser baby moon caps, but they weren't snug and they needed a little welder help to raise the bumps just a bit more. Easy to do. The AMC (red and blue logo) caps are a bit larger in diameter and are a whole 'nother story. Since my Jeepster is so far from stock, I decided that running the OEM hubcaps were no longer a priority and have since gone to light weight wheels. With zero miles on my new, 4 year old wheels, I'm already contemplating going up to a 17" wheel. 15 inchers barely clear the calipers and if some tire tech with ADD doesn't pay attention, they'll stick the weights right where the calipers will clean them off before leaving the garage bay. Yes, this actually happened. Who'd think that could happen with the outstanding level of service we have these days.