Wheel trim rings - what's legit?

[Paul In Ireland]

A local man here has a couple of bags of 13 inch trim rings from the 50's & early 60's. Most are alloy and would be essentially held on by the hub cap. There seem to be several different patterns but he has them in his attic and will get them down for me shortly. They are out of a motor parts shop that closed down a long time ago and most are new.

I have chrome trim rings on the FE and he took one look at them and said there is no way they are period - is he correct? He says they would be more like 70's style and one even had made in Taiwan on the back on one of the clips. I can find nothing here to contradict him, although there are lots of photos of cars with these same trim rings. Remember where I am located but he may have a point as these rings he has are english and a lot of english stuff would have been around Oz in the 50's.

Is there a particular pattern that is hard to find that may have been in england at the time I should look out for? I don't think he wants money - he'll just let me pick out a set or 2 for myself.

Cheers.

[zulu]

Paul, not sure if you can open this but you are looking for something like these, courtesy of Alex

http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,8213.0.html

or for even more info here

http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,7856.0.html

There were also a lot of other aftermarket options, some aluminium, chrome over copper / brass & even plastic!

Wheel trims are a favourite of mine as they help dress a car up, take a wheel with you when choosing yours as the profile may need to be taken into consideration.

[Spinner]

Paul,

Here are a couple of pictures of different trims rings available in Oz.



HR Premier Dress Rims.  Chromium plated mild steel.  There is another version made from aluminium.  These would not fit the FE wheels but would fit your Ute's wheels.



Karinna Dress Rims.  Made by (or sold by) Karinna, pressed from aluminium.  These come in different sizes to suit different offsets.  As with most dress rims, the side (part that fits against the rim band) is what varies.  You want to find ones with something approaching 1" depth.



I call these basket dress rims.  There might be a better name.  As per the Karinnas, they come in different sizes (depths) to suit different offsets.  The one pictures suits FE to EH rims.  The HD/HR/Cortina/Falcon version looks a little different in that the basket section is wider whilst the side is shallower.





EH Premier Dress Rims.  Pressed aluminium (I think).

It may pay you to take the spare from both the Ute and the sedan, with a hubcap, to try them out for fit.  The shallower offset version will not fit the FE's wheels without a lot of bother as the offset is different.  I've got a pair of the basket type, shallow offset, that were forced by a previous owner onto FE-EH rims.  As a result, they have splits & tears.  I've got a set of the same in the deeper offset, as said above, they do look a little different, which fit poifectly.   

Cheers

Brett

[Paul In Ireland]

Thanks Brett. He had the exact Karinna aluminium you have shown!! Now, it was only 1 and damaged but he was just showing the type he has. I think it will be an interesting exercise. Maybe I'll bring the bags home and try out a few and decide then.

Maybe put a few on, take some pics and post them up and see what the great unwashed think suits best.

Cheers.