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Wheel covers???

Started by irvine, 04 March 2018, 06:15 AM

irvine

Hey everyone, just a quick question today,
Regarding the wheel covers, mine are in really good condition, a few scuffs from dodgy parking and a few marks on the centre painted part.
Now how are the wheel covers made to be so shiny, are they plated or simply buffed to a high finish from manufacture???

I'm thinking of removing the Center paint and polishing the entire cover.

Cheers,
Neil.

TJ 450

As far as I know, it's polished stainless steel.

There shouldn't be any dramas stripping the paint off then buffing.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

marku

How could you even think of it?
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof

irvine

Quote from: marku on 04 March 2018, 12:14 PM
How could you even think of it?

You'll love what I have planned then,
Air ride....

I seen a cracking w114 with white wall tyres and fully polished caps kinda my inspiration.
But may get a second set and colour code them so I can change when I want.

Cheers,
Neil.

Squiggle Dog

Some wheel covers are chrome-plated steel, and some are stainless steel. In my experience, the chrome-plated ones are for steel wheels, and the stainless steel ones are for aluminum wheels--and the clips are not interchangeable between the two.

I much prefer wheel covers to be painted. Seeing ones that have no paint on them looks unfinished to me. Actually, one of my pet peeves is seeing nicely restored Mercedes with fresh paint, but the wheel covers are left unpainted. I just got done painting some stainless ones for my aluminum wheels. It was an interesting learning process.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

irvine

Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 04 March 2018, 10:04 PM
Some wheel covers are chrome-plated steel, and some are stainless steel. In my experience, the chrome-plated ones are for steel wheels, and the stainless steel ones are for aluminum wheels--and the clips are not interchangeable between the two.

How do I tell which is plated and which is stainless?

Thanks,
Neil.
I much prefer wheel covers to be painted. Seeing ones that have no paint on them looks unfinished to me. Actually, one of my pet peeves is seeing nicely restored Mercedes with fresh paint, but the wheel covers are left unpainted. I just got done painting some stainless ones for my aluminum wheels. It was an interesting learning process.

rumb

usually a magnet.  most stainless is non magnetic.
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

UTn_boy

Ok guys.  Back up a second.  Here is the scoop on the full face wheel embellishers. 

In late 1968 when the first full faced wheel embellishers were introduced on the W108, W109, W114/W115, and W111 coupe`and cabriolet, they were steel with chromium plating on them.  In early 1969 they switched over to polished stainless steel embellishers.  From that point forward until they quit using them they were all polished stainless steel.  They made the switch because the early ones that were chrome plated were rusting away with in a year or two, and stainless steel was less expensive. 

As time progressed, new models, namely the W116 and R107, used these full faced polished stainless steel embellishers, too. 

The material the wheel was made out of had no bearing on which type of embellisher was used. Furthermore, the aluminum wheel didn't come about until the introduction of the W123 in 1976.  This is not inclusive of the Baroque wheels that were introduced in 1968.  This is in reference to actual aluminum wheels that a wheel embellisher would fit on. 

The part number for the 14" wheel embellisher, 115-401-03-24, is the same for all models from 1968 through 1985 when they quit using them. 

The clips that hold the embellishers on, 123-401-01-28, are the same for all models, and is also used on the 15" full faced wheel embellishers.  The chromium plated embellishers did not have different clips than the polished stainless steel embellishers, either.   Both types used the same clip. 

Suffice to say, chromium plated wheel embellishers are not cosmetically correct for any W116.  That's not to say one can't use them on a W116, though.  These polished stainless steel wheel embellishers, both 14" and 15", are still available new from Mercedes and various other sources. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

irvine

Awesome info, thanks that helps loads.

Cheers,
Neil.

Squiggle Dog

Wow, so chrome-plated steel wheel covers are a 1968-only item, then? I guess I was unlucky enough to have a set of them as my first set and then realized that the clips for the aluminum wheels wouldn't fit them.

It's also interesting that the clips for both steel and aluminum wheels fit the stainless steel wheel covers (but certainly with the exception of the chrome-plated steel wheel covers as the clips for aluminum wheels would definitely not fit them).

I had no idea that the majority of wheel covers are stainless. I thought most of them were plated steel as most of the ones I've seen up close were chrome-plated steel. I figured the stainless ones were special ones for aluminum wheels. Something is learned daily.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

UTn_boy

No no. The chrome plated wheel covers use the same clips as the stainless wheel covers. and the aluminum wheels use the same clips as the steel wheels.  There is but one clip for the full face wheel covers regardless of whether the wheel is steel or aluminum.  If what you had wouldn't fit then you had a different clip. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

marku

Its really ingenious how they are made and painted. There was a piece some time ago on the Classic site when they started remaking them. Apparently its done by high pressure water and the painting is done through a complicated mask simply pressed on to the surface. Got a second set recently in case I lost one.
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof

Squiggle Dog

I'm afraid personal experience had shown me differently--that chrome-plated steel wheel cover clips don't interchange with the ones for stainless steel wheel covers. Also, aluminum wheels use different clips than steel wheels because the wheel material is thicker, and the clips for steel wheels will absolutely not fit the aluminum wheels.

Here's why I say this--I had a set of chrome-plated steel wheel covers (probably from a W108) on steel wheels (from a W123) my 300SD. I put a set of aluminum wheels (from a W123) on my 300SD and had a set of the special aluminum wheel clips (they are special because they have nylon tips on them to prevent them from gouging the aluminum).


I attempted to install the clips for aluminum wheels into the plated steel wheel covers. They absolutely would not fit--the wheel cover was too shallow to fit the curve of the clips and the clips were also too long.



So, I decided to just install the wheel covers with the original clips for steel wheels. I could not force the wheel covers on no matter how much I tried because the aluminum wheel's material is thicker, and so the clips also need to be shaped differently.

A friend sent me some stainless steel wheel covers and I noticed that they have a totally different profile than the plated steel ones. No wonder the clips won't interchange!


I was forced to paint a set of stainless steel wheel covers to match instead of reusing my plated steel ones.


I think that they most likely have clips for steel wheels that fit stainless steel wheel covers, as well as clips for aluminum wheels that fit stainless wheel covers. But, plated steel wheel covers have a totally different shape than stainless wheel covers, and I highly doubt that even stainless wheel covers with clips for steel wheels will fit an aluminum wheel unless they are shaped such that they install with much less spring tension. But, it is true that steel and aluminum wheels have different shapes--the aluminum wheels have a smaller inner diameter than the steel wheels at the clip surface.

The only conclusion I can come up with that would support both of our assertions is that there are different versions of the plated steel wheel covers--some which will accept clips from the stainless wheel covers, and some that won't. Also, the clips for steel wheels that fit stainless wheel covers may be more flexible and will bend enough that they can be forced onto an aluminum wheel, unlike the ones on plated steel wheel covers. However, there are indeed special clips (from the factory) for aluminum wheels, as they are made the fit the different shape of the aluminum wheel and also have nylon tips to prevent gouging of the material.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

UTn_boy

That makes no sense.  The books show only one part number for the clips used on the 14" chrome AND stainless wheel covers. There was an old part number for them when they first came out, 115-401-01-28, but was replaced by the later 123-401-01-28.  Both were the same exact clip. 

The clips you show in your picture are only for U.S. delivered W123 240D, 300D, and 280E cars.  They are not for a W116 or earlier cars.   The clips in your pictures are part number 123-400-00-27, which have the nylon pads on them, and are used only on the aluminum disc wheels. 

My commentary still holds ground regarding the chrome plated verses polished stainless wheel coverings.  There simply were not different clips for the two.  If you'll dig a little deeper you'll find that to be very factual.  I can only say so much to try to show you that what I'm stating is true.  If you found that the regular clips wouldn't fit on the chrome plated wheel coverings, then you likely had damaged wheel coverings or aftermarket ones which would often not take the factory clips. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

robertd

I don't think I've ever seen an "aluminium" wheel with hub caps
116   1978 450SEL 6.9 #  4848
116   1979 450SEL  6.9 # 5884
116   1979 450SEL  6.9 # 6225  SOLD
116   1978 450SEL  6.9 # 5128  SOLD
116   1979 450SEL  6.9 # 5884  SOLD
116   1974 450SEL  DJet