I’m interested in making a pair. I’ve got 15” and 16” Buick wheels but currently only have 16” Ford wheels for the centres. When did Ford produce the 15” wheels that will take the early style hubcaps? Or is that not possible?
Yep. 'Some fifties and maybe later Ford pickups (plus the famous '48 Merc wheels). IIRC, it's not really that easy. Back in the early sixties, I made reversed wheels for my friends. We usually just reversed the stock rims, but I saw some Buick wheels and really liked the look. I bought a couple of them, and removed the rims from the centers. When I tried to put the Ford centers in them they didn't fit as they were too large. Not having a lathe to turn the centers down, I tried to force them in. When they finally went in, the centers kinked, making the wheels unusable.
I know there are some Buick wheels that will take the F-100 centers, cause I’ve done it. But I don’t know what year or model Buick the wheels came from. It was about 40 years ago.
Save yourself a whole lot of trouble - find a pair (or 4) big Chrysler or Imperial wheels from late '40s thru mid '50s & reverse them. You can use Mopar clips to attach caps, or drill & tap for dome head 1/4 x 20 screws in same pattern as the Ford bumps.
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