MTFCA Forum

Yesterday I saw a hub cap that had the ridge around the top but was smooth without the logo on top. I assume it was an aftermarket cap. Any ideas?

Nickel over brass? Never had one, but seen dozens of them over the years. One fellow at a swap meet about forty years ago had eight or ten of them, all in nice condition. I don't know who made them or when. But would suspect Western Auto (They have been around for a long time) or one of their suppliers.

It would have been an aftermarket hubcap.

A mate had a similar experience here. He found a couple of Hayes wire wheel hubcaps which were plain on the outside, but had a ford script stamped on the inside!

Allan from down under.

No expert here but at old junk stores around the area over the years I’ve seen blank hubcaps
that looked like Ford hubcaps that would fit a T hub that were probably aftermarket and either rusted chrome steel or blank brass. No telling how many cheap knockoff Ford hubcaps were made. JC Whitney sold Ford script knock off steel T replacement hubcaps. I bought some in the 60’s for my 24 Coupe before I finally restored it 10-15 years ago.

Here’s older post showing many different aftermarket Model T hub caps.


https://search.app/Q9Pp7koHKZsCQ2Ly8

Here’s a couple of different aftermarket hubcaps. I’d sell them for $20 + mailing. No cracks/good threads

The comment on the older post reference is about right. It would difficult to find a good matching set of those aftermarket hubcaps. One or two here and there but that’s about it!
To those who are trying good luck!

Presume they did not have the Ford logo to avoid licensing fees, but if the T was the only thread size that these hub caps would fit, wonder how they avoided patent violations. Perhpas a slight design alteration? Now I'm going to go through my tote of caps and feel around for a blank one. I do have one with a large "D" on it which I belive is a Desoto cap.

I believe early Essex and some Chev cars had hubcap threads the same as the T. I have a rear wheel puller which was sold to me as an Essex tool.

Interestingly, my barn fresh and very original 1925 tourer buckboard has afternarket hubcaps on the front wheels. They are cast aluminium, and they are NOT the same!

Allan from down under.

I think the Model T size thread on the early wheels were just an industry-standard thread, used on industry-standard wheels. My 1910 Brush cars both have the exact same thread size and style, and the caps are actually identical to early Model T Hubcaps, except they don't have the Ford stamped logo, instead having the "BRUSH" logo embossed in them. I bought 8 blank hubcaps from Vintique so I could get a stamping die made, and stamp the "BRUSH" logo on them. My original hubcaps were stolen off my BRUSH at the Homer Edmiston sale, in the time it took me to walk from the car to the auction administration booth and back to the cars I bought. I immediately took all the remaining brass off the cars, put it all in a box, and took it with me. I had never seen so many 4 cylinder Cadillacs as I did at that sale. There must have been 100 of them, stacked on mushroom-growing platforms, with one car per platform, and they ranged from nearly complete, to just piles of parts. But each one had at least an engine, transmission, and rear axle, and most had frames and other small parts. Any one of them would have been a good start on a restoration project. Just those filled up one entire farm field! He actually had SEMI TRUCK TRAILERS full of brass items. I never saw a sale like that BEFORE or SINCE!