[T3] Beauty Rings

[Dave Hall]

Certainly we had mostly basic trim models from around '68, with rubber
flooring and no waist trim, while the FI models had waist trim and carpets,
so it may be a reason for the difference, though I've not noticed silver
centres before '72 models.  

I've never seen a rear centring ring, and suspect the front discs were not
supplied through VW with a centring ring either.  

Dave
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
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-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: 02 July 2013 13:58
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Beauty Rings

On 2 Jul 2013 at 11:35, Dave Hall wrote:

> My '71 had black backs to the wheels, and the black centres with 
> slight silver overspray.  Obviously the factory painted them black 
> then the outside visible rim was painted aluminium.

That's how I believe they were all done from '70-on.

> However my '72 appeared to have had silver all over, and didn't have 
> evidence of the black at all.  I suspect that the factory may have 
> changed their process from mid '71, but obviously it's hard to be 
> definite.  I think it unlikely that anyone would have cleaned off the 
> wheel back if they had repainted the outer part, as they hadn't rusted 
> away much even after 20 years.

I've owned all years '71, '72, & '73, plus many other cars which have passes
thru my hands for service. They all had wheels painted black overall
originally. This is especially easy to see with the tires removed. The
original paint is most commonly found on the spares.

I've never seen a wheel that appeared to be factory silver all over, but I
suppose it's possible that VW had different suppliers for wheels and
different vendors could have done this differently. If so, the overall
silver must have been in the minority.

Or could the overall silver have been a "feature" of a lower price trim line
that we never saw in the US?

> The centre part of the wheel also appears to have changed around then 
> from a rolled edge on the centre hole to an angled flange, maybe to 
> make it a bit easier to centre the wheel when replacing it.

I see those in '73. They must have been $.02 cheaper to make that way,
because that design actually centers less well. OTOH, I don't think our cars
were ever supplied new with rotors with the centering ring. Those rotors
appear to be aftermarket, and they are much nicer.

I've never seen any kind of centering ring on the rear hubs. Has anyone
else?

--
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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