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wagon wheel center cap tricks or tips?


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You can either bend the clips outward to fit between the rim and the drum/disk.........or........fab up some circular O rings from some thin-stock metal and make your own clips.    The latter will not involve permanently altering your caps.  

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I believe Ivan is referring to either the original flat chrome disk type wheel covers that were held on with a single bolt (or screw, if you will) through the center.

you can apply that technique to your subaru center hub type covers by drilling a hole in the center thereof and inserting the appropriate type bolt/screw fastener. (as he mentioned,)  a Chromed bumper bolt slotted to accept a screwdriver appears to have brought him satisfactory results.

 

Either that or just use the chromed bolt without the hubcap/wheel cover and cultivate the minimalistic look.

 

You could even weld spikes on it and tear down the road humming the musical score to Mad Max, or Apocalypse Now, or Beethoven's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor , or even His 5th Symphony (its billed as being in a minor key but it ends in a Major key, the epitome of juxtaposition if you ask me! That Beethoven was a crafty son of a gun!)

 

whatever you end up doing, Please take and post photographs. we would be curious to know.

(I also am against the same situation, only I am lacking one (of the small) center caps for my stock wagon wheels, I have the plastic center ring remaining on one of the wheels, so I have an idea of what is supposed to be there., the other three wheels do not have the retainer.

 

I was considering using the u-channel notched plastic strip that we used to use for wiring protection as it went through a sheet metal hole, its a white (or black, might be available in different colors as well, I do not know) and fits into the hole, and is held in place by being a "U" channel that covers the metals edge. they come in strips so you can just cut a piece off for the length that you need (for the proper inner circumference of the hole).

 

I have not checked but I am pretty sure it's available in the proper width to cover the thickness of the metal at the center of the wheels. I'm fairly certain that  radio shack wouldn't carry anything that wide.

 

I'll have to research that further.

 

Until then, Good Luck!

 

We are a crafty bunch, no?

 

laughingly,

Timothy.

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If i can find my centercaps, i am going to try and mount them on 14" steeles 1st gen legacy wheels with chrome trim rings on my e 5 lug 86 3door. got to have the classic period correctness since i only have steel wheels to work with.

 

I do remember that there is a slight difference in the retaining rings between ea81 and ea82 8spoke wagon wheels.

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does anyone have any tips for keeping ea81 wagon wheel center caps on without the plastic retainer rings? i hate not having center caps on my wagon and have a box of center caps I want to get put on. 

why not just find a set of plastic retainer rings at the junk yard?

Edited by scoobiedubie
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  • 11 months later...

I'm facing this exact problem with some white wheels I bought and re-painted...to put on my '87 GL. I'm not even going to try and look for the real parts.  Modifying some plastic u-channel seems like the way to go.  I will post here in the following week to show what I come up with.  It will work.

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you can buy those retainer rings new, I have 4 sets of them, the subaru part number is 723146020

 

google the part number "Subaru 723146020", you'll get a few hits as to were to buy them, and their cheap, they come in a package of 4.for about 3 bucks.

 

it's not worth the hack job you would go through to make the caps fit when you can still buy the retainer rings for so cheap

Edited by Stubies Subie
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you can buy those retainer rings new, I have 4 sets of them, the subaru part number is 723146020

 

google the part number "Subaru 723146020", you'll get a few hits as to were to buy them, and their cheap, they come in a package of 4.for about 3 bucks.

 

it's not worth the hack job you would go through to make the caps fit when you can still buy the retainer rings for so cheap

+1 for trying the dealer. I just ordered a set not long ago myself.

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I am working on getting center caps to dress up my redrilled 15" wheels. Don't think I have ever seen this plastic part -I'd like to see if it could be used for this.(I ran caps on my hatch without any plastic.) Can someone post a pic of this part? -I searched the web and I can buy them, but no one selling them shows a pic.

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