Over the years I’ve been finding it harder and harder to find OE hubcaps. Even harder is getting OE caps larger than 14”. That leaves the aftermarket as the only option. With the aftermarket you usually get hubcaps that are made of a thinner gauge metal which makes the subset able to bending when you take them off or they get rock dings. Case in point is the 57 Plymouth caps on my 52 Dodge which Igot from Speedway. I’ve seen the spun aluminum caps from Moon get rock dings. Upon taking them off I noticed I had a few rock dings. Fortunately I have spares Something I recently dug up from my memory banks is the use of bedlinner or undercoating. I would take the part, mask it off and spray several coats of undercoating on the back of the part. I usually put one coat of the undercoating since it seems to be thicker in consistency than bed liner. With the bedlinner, it Usually it takes two coats which will give you several mils of protection. One e you’ve finished you’ll notice the part a little heavier however it’s not heavy enough to throw the balance off the tire. This has helped me in the past and I hope it will work for you..
So the spray-on protoplasm adds some sturdiness to help dampen flying rock shock. I wouldn't be surprised if it dampened a bit of road noise too.
I had a 64 Dart convertible that I restored. Headlight rings impossible to find. I ended up getting repops from a Mopar vendor. Cheap ass sheet metal. Ended up getting bent. I was able to get the straighten out and used two coats of undercoating. Made a world of difference.
The Jalopy Journal
