Removing Dents from Wheel Covers (Updated w/Pics)

[Evan Wojtkiewicz]

You know those days where you can't believe how well things are going until some innocent observation ruins your day? I pulled the DeVille out of winter storage earlier this week and had to have it towed back due to the fact there's still a gaping hole where the instrument panel should be. That was the surprisingly easy part: adding roadside assistance to my insurance policy was the best $12 I ever spent. I don't know why, but afterwords I quickly glanced at the rear wheel covers and noticed that they had been beaten with a mallet in the flat center area.

Looking at photos from late last year, I've determined the shop that caused the damage. Since it's been about eight months since I was there, I assume calling them about it wouldn't be productive other than to blow off some steam. I'm just kicking myself for thinking that a shop conveniently located near my house with good reviews could put a wheel cover back on without ruining it. They also screwed me out of $50 for the rear "brake adjustment".

Is there a place in the Metro Detroit area that can get the dents out? Would a good ding and dent shop do the job? Replacements from eBay aren't too expensive, but I'd like to keep my original factory set. If I've learned one thing from my dashboard restoration fiasco, it's that my imperfect parts are better than 95% of the used parts out there.

[Scot Minesinger]

The only way to fix those is to replace them, as otherwise the cost would be very prohibitive.  You should be able to find them on e-bay for reasonable prices.

I thought that every horror story of extreme stupidity had been told until I read your thread about a shop hammering on stainless spun caps at the center, like they were 1/4" plate.  You gave me an idea for a new post.

[CR Patton II]

Hello Evan

Glad to read you are improving your Cadillac.

The cost to repair a 1967 Deville hubcap is prohibitive.  If you join the Cadillac & LaSalle Club Motor City Region I will give you a 1967 Deville hubcap.  Our next scheduled meeting is June 2, 2016 at the Plymouth Historical Museum.  We display our cars at 6:30pm, with the business portion starting at 7:30pm.  I look forward to meeting you.

[caddydaddy1960]

Hindsight is golden.  Whenever I have any work done on either of my classic vehicles, I always remove the wheel covers before I take the car in.  I also do a walk around to check for any damage before paying for the work.  Sadly I had to start this procedure with my family vehicles when the idiots at the dealership snapped off several decorative wheel nuts on my Impala and tried to convince me that it came in that way.

Hope you find the wheel covers you need.

Michael

[Evan Wojtkiewicz]

CR, that would be fantastic. I actually am a member of the MCR. The last meeting I was at was the April meeting in Dexter.

Scott, I've got more where that came from. I'll post this weekend.

Michael, I know all about the phony plastic lug nuts. Usually, I'll take pictures of the car before leaving it at the shop and check it out afterword closely. Funny how I let my guard down that time.

I kind of figured that it probably wouldn't make sense to repair them It just angers me that those hubcaps were on the car since new and 49 years later they're now junk. I can't believe I didn't notice it until this week.

In defense of my poor judgment in choosing the shop, I asked if they were able to brake work on a car like mine and based on the information at hand (good reviews online, family had been there before, well maintained facility) I had no reason to doubt them. My car was still having brake issues after having some things done and doing some myself. I didn't want to do any more on my own, and the closest shop seemed worth the leap of faith.

The upside to this story is that I did learn how to replace my master cylinder and wheel cylinders after turning down their exorbitant quote.

[Scot Minesinger]

Evan,

Your post gave me the inspiration to start another about why we do our work.  Even if you had never seen a hub cap before, it is obvious it would easily dent from a hammer blow to the center.  Only a complete idiot with no mechanical aptitude would not realize this. 

One of my friends owns a 1967 Cadillac and a local shop "restored" the suspension and it was an improvement until it came apart and the wheel fell off because the pin thru castle nut was omitted on driver side lower ball joint.

Mechanics tell stories when they fail:  "it was like that when you brought it in", "that is how it is with these old cars", and one of my favorites on a 76 Cadillac a/c repair that did not work "We are all done, pay us even though it does not work yet, you have to take it to a Cadillac Dealer and have it programmed".

Please do add to thread on why you do your own work.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Anyone who does repair work at a Chrome Plater will be able to repair damaged Stainless steel caps.

Down here, we are lucky to have an older gentleman that retired from running his own body shop and he is expert in repairing damaged stainless steel trim.   I have seen him at work, and he made up his own "special" tools to do the re-forming, and one would never know that the piece was trash.

Bruce.

PS.   Don't send anything to me to get done, as he has enough to do with locals bringing him stuff.

[76eldo]

You know, the scary part of this story is that some young kid was probably given the job of putting the wheels and caps back on and may never have seen or dealt with hubcaps before!

If you think about it, virtually all cars have alloy wheels with center caps and have been made that way for many years.  When was the last time you saw a full wheel cover on a newer car?

My daughter has a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire with steel wheels and grey plastic caps that are held on with 5 black plastic fake lug nuts that stay on the cap when you unscrew them.

She had a flat last year and the friend that "helped" her pulled out the fake lugs from the cap because he didn't know how they came off.

Brian

[JoeKarasinski]

Hi Ed, Probably replacing the cap is easier and cheaper but if you want to check into fixing it you could try Mc Nichols Polishing/Anodizing on Woodbine in Redford.

[Evan Wojtkiewicz]

Joe, it's funny you mention McNichols Polishing. I've already been there once. I had them re-surface a piece of brushed aluminum trim for my dashboard. I was somewhat nonplussed with the job they did, and probably won't go back.

[dochawk]

Years ago, my father brought his '83 Cougar in for tires or rotation.

He warned the kids "no, stop!"; they replied "we know what we're doing," and they promptly took air hammers to the "lugnuts"--on the plastic inserts with faux lugnuts that covered the real ones  . . .

the owner was not happy with them, and replaced both hubcaps (I still wonder if he replaced the morons . . .)

[Evan Wojtkiewicz]

Update: I was going to call the shop that did the damage and looked the number up on my phone to find that Google says that they're "Permanently Closed". I dialed the number anyway, and the man who picked up said that they're just there clearing out the shop. Apparently they lost their lease on the building. Believe me when I say that I didn't shed a tear for any of them. I'm sure they'll be just fine- I've seen other cockroaches survive worse.

It looks like they ran it over.

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

Ouch... sorry man.
Jeff