MTFCA Forum

A friend just bought a Model T speedster with buffalo wheels. He feels the caps are in bad condition, so he would like to replace these with better ones. Does anyone repop these or do we need to advertise for originals? I don't see them in any of my catalogs. What is a fair price? Are there left and rights? I am not a speedster guy, so this is new territory for me. Pardon my ignorance (again!).
Marshall

Well, I now see from my friend's photos that there IS a left and right side. See? I told you I know nothing about these wheels except that they are dynamite looking!
Marshall

Marshal, those caps are about a nice as they come. I seriously doubt that you could find nicer original caps, I have seen many that are not even half a nice.

Hi Marshal

Kevin Pharis can help you. He is on here. I’ve used him for Buffalo parts. The parts and service were great.

viewtopic.php?t=8037

I can vouch for Kevin's quality and interchangeability of the parts he produces with original Buffalo parts.

The caps pictured above are reproduction, produced by Tom (or possibly Tony) Minocchi. The original logos were stamped, and so were very fine. The Minocchi caps had logos that were cast in, and so have somewhat wide lines. This lettering was also hand engraved into the mold causing the letters to be fairly inconsistent. Take a closer look and you will see the letters are not a consistent font shape

Thanks to all for your quick and informative responses. I have contacted Kevin Pharis and because his hex nut caps are out of stock, we will decide soon whether to put our names on his waiting list. In the meantime, however, as the general consensus seems to think the hex nut caps on my friend's new speedster are not all that bad, we'll see if we can improve their appearance somewhat. Polishing by hand with a brass cleaner did very little.
Marshall

Rouge polishing compound and buffing wheel?

Looks like the castings may have never been buffed and polished except for the face. Take them off the car and give them a good buff and polish job. They may need more than just Rouge and a polish though. Some emery and a sewn wheel might be in order 1st.