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OK, diggit, fellow Bricksters. Remember when I was asking where I could get trim rings and hub caps and complaining bitterly that repros weren't made? No? Well I did. Anyway...
Found a set of rings and caps off of a guys '83 245 on eBay for sale, starting bid - $4. I bid. I won. They came.
Despite being packaged horribly after paying $14 for shipping, I'm pretty happy with the purchase because the trim rings were in real good shape, one hub cap was perfect, two decent, and only one trashed. I also discovered, much to my happinessity, that the trim rings are not in fact chrome plated, but stainless. Sweet. For the less metallurgically inclined, that means I can hammer/sand/polish as much as I need to to make them look like new (if I so choose) without going through chrome to brass plating or steel.
So I polished up two rings and two caps and stuck 'em on my car - which do you think looks better? Caps or covers? (I know, I know, it needs washed/waxed, etc. and the wheels need a coat of black paint if I'm gonna use the caps)
The photo site I use has reduced the quality it would seem, to the point that the caps look kinda grainy, but in real life, I've mirror polished them quite well. Finsihed up with jewelers rouge, if it's good enough for 24k gold I guess it's almost good enough for a Volvo.
Any thoughts? Should I repaint the center caps or mirror polish? Thanks for the indulgence.
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Now that I have 8 of the old stlye hubcaps I decided to take worst one - which is really bad - and see just how deep that chrome goes.
You see, I knew they were chromed steel (here comes a tutorial for ID'ing metals, sorry, but I need to prove this to myself as well) because a magnet sticks to them. In everyday life, the only metals you will encounter that a magnet will stick to are pure nikel, or iron and some of it's alloys. Since steel is mostly iron, magnets will also stick to steel. BUT once the alloying elements in steel get too high - as in many stainless steels - you lose the magneticity (is that a word?).
Therefore, as a general rule, stainless steels with a lot of chromium and nickel added to increse corrosion resistance are no longer magnetic, such alloys as are usually used for decorative exterior applications. An example of this is the 240 trim rings I just got - a magnet does not stick. Since I know they are not aluminum - the only other feasible, silver-colored metal to make cosmetic pieces for a car out of - they have to be stainless. How can I prove they aren't aluminum? Aside from the weight, they also have integral little clips on the outside with enough springiness to keep them in your wheel. Aluminum would bend, not spring.
So, back to the hubcaps; because the magnet sticks, naturally I assumed they were a low-alloy steel plated with chrome, very common for automotive trim. I've never seen anyone use solid nickel for such a thing and if they'd used stainless, like the trim rings and center caps, it wouldn't be magnetic.
So, as I said (long ago) I decided to find out how deep that chrome goes so I took a dremel grinding wheel and bit in on the back. I was expecting to find a layer of copper underneath, then steel. I never got to copper, underneath is more silver colored metal. Magnetic. They must have chromed directly to the steel then, right? So I use a little cold blueing solution - not the most scientific, but it works - to find out where the chrome ends and the steel begins. Didn't change color. What?!
If that was a mild steel underneath, chrome plated, then it should have turned black when the cold bluing hit it. Since it didn't - and I will double check later, because I hardly believe this even now - then the only conclusion I can draw is that the hubcaps on early 80's 240's must be a lower alloy stainless steel! Why they wouldn't have used the same alloy for trim rings and hubcaps, I don't know, but it seems like the hubcaps are also stainless steel, only a lower alloy that retains it's magnetism.
Therefore - yep, there's a reason I've gone on this long - one should be able to hammer out any serious dents in the hubcaps, then sand out any hammer-wave, re-polish, and make them look brand new! Pretty cool, huh?...ok, well I think it is.
Just thought I'd share.
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Covers look traditional/professorial...Nice
Cap/rings look edgy/Heavy Metal band...Nicer
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Haha, that's actually what my original plans for the car were. Sort of an industrial gothic minimalist vehicle. But when I got to driving it I fell in love with the car 'per se', in it's own right. That's when I decided to keep it stock as possible and that's why the rings/caps are only temporary, for fun.
I picked up an eBay set of coronas today that're the best I've seen for sale in a looong time, and got them for $50 too. I may still have to paint them (really don't want to cover up that beautiful aluminum) or at least strip the clear coat because while one of them is almost perfect, like brand new, two are really nice with only a little wear around the edges, nothing I'd even call rash, but still have peeling clear coat.
One of them has some ugly curb rash that'll need sanded down at least. I hate curb rash on a wheel with a lip like the coronas - almost impossible to fix. Oh well...such is life.
--
Sean Corron. Black '93 244, 117k mi. now with the one-of-a-kind custom Ipe handbrake cover!
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Going from the pictures, the plastic wheel covers sorta look better, but I think thats just a trick of the sunny side/shady side.
I have a black 89 sedan with the two piece center cap/trim ring combo, so obviously, I like that style. My V caps are painted black around the V, and I definitely prefer that look, especially on a black car.
I actually had two different types of the black painted ones. Three had black paint that was chipping and one had black paint with some sort of thick clear coat over it, giving a much nicer finish. I lost one of the crappy ones, and when I found a junk yard was selling them for a buck each, I replaced them all with the nicer, newer looking ones (the junkyard has since shutdown, and I regret not buying a bucket of the caps). Anyway, knowing your penchant for perfectionism, you might want to look for the newer style coated V caps.
Oh, and tire places seem to be incompetent at putting these hubcaps back on, so double check that they're on right so you don't lose a center cap.
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I like the rings/caps.
Sure would like to see a pic from the fella with the black wheels, stainless caps and chrome lug nuts... thinking of going that route on my '83 245 (which has the covers now and looks weird).
-Josh
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I too could love to see a picture of this style. I need something for my steel wheel snow tires. I can't quite picture how the caps fit on. Do they have 5 holes around the edge so the lug nuts lock them on? Do the caps have a V or volvo in the center, or are they plain?
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Its either covers or turbo alloys for me....but whatever floats your boat.
--
1991 Volvo 240 Sedan 115000
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posted by
someone claiming to be Kyle240
on
Wed Aug 2 11:32 CST 2006 [ RELATED]
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Good question, caps vs covers. With your side by side photos the picture of the caps looks odd and awkward to me. I think that is because they belong on a car without the wide trim across the bottom; a pre-86. Yes, if you parked that across from my front window, I'd have to ask you to put the covers back on or get some Coronas. Probably say the same if you parked an 82 there with those plastic things on the wheels. Funny how we've come to expect a 240 to be dressed a certain way.
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I think I like the wheel covers better, but I think the caps/rings have the potential to look really good if you paint the wheels and shine them well--maybe renew the "V" on the caps with some detail paint. With the caps/rings, the car looks like a police interceptor Volvo, which is cool to me.
--
Patrick McHugh, Cincinnati, OH, 1993 244 Limited Ed. 'Classic' model (daily driver)
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It's actually not black paint you need for the wheels, but an "aluminum" paint. Before 1986 and the era of the wheel cover, the 240 wheels were finished in a nice shiny aluminum "color". Makes 'em look almost like alloys. You should be able to prep and paint with the tire still on.
Black wheels look sorta like spare tires.
A little black paint on the hub caps (I forget exactly how they were finished).
Purty car, BTW!
-Ryan
--
Athens, Ohio -- 1990 245, 125k, M47, E-codes -- 1991 745, 278k (girlfriend-mobile)
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Thanks Ryan, I know that originally the caps and rings were used with a silver painted wheel, but I figured since I'm already deviating from the stock look it doesn't matter too much. The black is a nice contrast to mirror polished chrome I think.
Anyway, I'm picking up a damn-fine-looking set of coronas tomorrow that will go on the car eventually. Another eBay purchase. I have a set of center caps - those will need some serious refinishing, I hope the wheels won't need refinished but at least the tires are shot so I don't have to worry about hurting them if they do.
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I agree with the black wheels rather than silver colored. The black of the wheel and center V cap tie in to the black of the car and make the shiny silver caps and trim rings stand out. If memory serves, there is a green car in the IPD catalog with green painted wheels and the chrome caps and trim rings, looks very nice.
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You might want to first consider whether you will darken the lower body trim or keep gray as-is. I always assumed it was originally black but I really don't know. Gotta find some sales promo photos from like 15-20 years ago!
I noticed that the lower body trim looks darker in the lower photo due to not being in direct sunlight. I think this changes the overall look nearly as much as the hubcaps/wheel covers. Also changes how the wheel treatment meshes with the rest of the appearance.
I've been wrestling with the wheel treatment for my '89 245. Painted a spare set of plastic covers dark blue to match the body. Too dark. I didn't like it. I soaked them in an empty trash barrel + soapy water and scrubbed with a plastic "wooly" scrubber and a scotch-brite (carefully!). Those were getting painted, if not painting you might not want to use scotch-brite.
--
DAMHIK: Don't Ask Me How I Know - - - Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, e-codes, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 500 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).
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That's something I've been struggling with myself, Bruce - IS the trim supposed to be black or is it supposed to be grey?
If black, no problem - I'll use the dye method, like with Forever Black. But on a black car I'm not sure if it would look too monotone. Anyone know for sure? Is it possible that they produced the trim in black for lighter cars and grey for darker ones?
I thought about painting the wheel covers also, but...what color? Black? White? Silver? OR should I follow my heart and paint them flat black with little skulls and crossbones in the middle? Hahaha...that'd be sweeet.
--
Sean Corron. Black '93 244, 117k mi. now with the one-of-a-kind custom Ipe handbrake cover!
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My experience includes white, black, red, and blue volvos, ranging from 86-93, and all have grey trim along the bottom. I'm not sure I'd go black, but I think you could go to a darker grey to have it blend in a little more.
As for the wheel covers, black with skull and crossbones gets my vote!
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I'd say a graphic of a donkey kicking an elephant.
But then I do get political sometimes.
--
DAMHIK: Don't Ask Me How I Know - - - Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, e-codes, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 500 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).
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Nah, if we go that way it'd have to be a donkey and an elephant both hanging from a gallows. :p
--
Sean Corron. Black '93 244, 117k mi. now with the one-of-a-kind custom Ipe handbrake cover!
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I like the covers. Many here like the caps.
It's all a matter personal taste...
--
90 244DL 271k - All original drivetrain :)
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