From: Christopher Hoffman <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:52:51 -0700
Title: Re: IML: Refurbishing Wheel Covers (was "Wow! 1967... ")
This is a task of great fun (if ya like that kinda thing), if only to count the hardware and experience the weight of the covers. I believe they tipped my scale at 13.5 lb, which is about 50% more than the entire alloy wheel of one of my modern cars! I have also seen a photo from the factory back in '67 that showed a woman with a stack of them to her side, balancing each one on a fixture. She was balancing just the wheel cover, no wheel in sight!
A few tips when restoring them:
1.) To see the correct paint scheme for your year, use the wheel cover guide on the club website:
<http://imperialclub.org/Repair/Wheels/covers.htm>
2.) When painting the areas that require paint (usually matte silver and flat black for these years), I recommend stripping the old paint off (fine steel wool will usually do it), masking the areas to be painted (have fun cutting the circles!) and then starting with a coat of epoxy primer. I have found this to be the only way to keep your new paint from practically washing off the next time you clean the whitewalls.
Hope this helps you have show-quality wheel covers!
I have spent a couple of days refurbishing my hubcaps. This is a neat project as these hubcaps break down into parts that can then be easily be cleaned and/or repainted and wow what a difference when your done (a lot of bang for your time)! Of course when you do this all of the warts show. I have rebuilt these by separating the good parts from the not so good parts. I would be interested in any good parts you may have to replace my not so good parts.
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