Trim ring restoration

Does anyone have a lead on who can restore a set of wheel trim rings-these are the 1969 style with steel ring inside the lip. Want only the best quality!
Thanks in advance
Moparnut@twc.com

Rick Miller rkmiller@infowest.com


It's pretty much a standard price to remove the stainless grippers from the back
side of the ring and to get at dents or dings out, reinstall, and polish. Cost
is roughly $100 per ring. Can do them to shiny show finish, or like factory
original finish.

Thanks Scott!!!

Brian Kapral, restores those

Yes, Brian has a set for my car also that I got at a swap meet that needs to be restored. He did advise me that he does not do it full time and on his days off from his regular job and he has had some house issues to deal with also. I know he has had some health issues lately which has held up progress on other people’s stuff that was in front of mine but at his labor rate and the work I’ve seen he turns out, I’m willing to wait the time.

And how does one contact him?

I contacted Rick Miller and he immediately got back to me and I have already been impressed by his knowledge and promptness. He's getting mine Monday!

Nothing against Brian But he had mine for 2 years and never got to them. He did tell me it would be awhile and came highly recommended. I just had him send them back to me Friday. He has way to much going on with a house he bought and other things so I will try Miller.

Hey Paul, Mike Wilkins here. I had mine restored several years ago and put them on my original road wheels. Drove to a cruise in and on the way home at about 35 mph one came flying off and rolled down the street. It came to rest in somebody's yard. So don't drive with them, DAMHIK!

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Which year trim ring ?

With the continuous retention tab ring or the earlier interrupted retention tabs?

The correct 1969 trim rings that only have the four attaching points like Paul has in the original post.

Mike thanks! I don’t plan to drive this car anyway it’s an OE restoration.

Not sure where I saw it but someone said the change from the retention tabs to the continuous retention ring design was because people were loosing their rings.

Interesting. Ive had multiple 1969 cars with them and never had one come off

One of mine was loose when I tried it on my car. It didn't take much for it to come off. Maybe due to the tabs being bent? In my opinion, its a poor design since they have a chance of coming in contact with a wheel weight. I prefer the 70 style also that has the clips that go all the way around the inner part of the rim, but they don't look correct for a 69.

Emailed Rick last weekend about doing some 15 x 7 polishes rings, he said $120 ea. and 2 month lead time. What I've read is that it always takes longer and that he sends them out for both crimping processes. I've only ever read about afew complaints, like split seams because of thin metal, etc. FYI

Rick did the trim rings on my Superbird and '69 Barracuda. Excellent quality.
I did have a problem with 2 of the trim rings for my Cuda. (Deluxe Wheel Covers) He used newspaper to pack between the rings for shipping, but the tangs went through the paper and scratched 2 of the rings. I e-mailed him and he replied right away to send them back and he will pay the shipping.
He said he has been shipping trim rings for years using newspaper without any problem. Unfortunately, the trim rings on the Cuda Deluxe Covers are in a different location and can easily scratch another one if packed together.

Old thread revival effort. I've acquired a nice buffer. And an Eastwood trim anvil and hammer. I also have a set of dinged up polished trim rings on my car.
I don't know if the crimp is the hard part, or just drill the spot weld and tack it on reassembly.

Anyone know who had tools/knowledge to recrimp? I may sacrifice a trim ring for science.

The crimp is the b!tc#

Sliced my finger pretty good. That was a couple years ago. Haven’t touched it since....

Getting it crimped back again WITHOUT denting or dinging it, is going to be really tricky. IMHO it needs some type tooling. I worked in manufacturing small electrical connectors that were mostly crimped. It’s not like setting up a CNC to knock things out.

Lots of people and places can restore stainless. That will be the easy part of this I think. And if it’s smashed on the crimped (they often are), it’s tough to get inside that crimp lip to do repairs.

Took 8 to a local polishing shop, 3 should have been a slam dunk and needed 1 of the remaining 5 to be salvageable. Received back 3 very mediocre, 2 destroyed, and 3 untouched, and charged $350. He cut windows out of the back in an effort to get behind to knock out dings (destroyed those).
Found out about Rick Miller, sent all rings to him, he asked if I wanted to do all 8, explained 3 would be driver quality but the remaining could be restored. Rick didn’t let out too many secrets but did explain to me he is partnered with someone and removes the back ring during the restoration.

All polishing shops are not created equal
As noted, getting the backs off is key to doing a good job, and a trick to do correctly.

Only know of one other fella that does these and as I remember he did it for his own projects and was pretty backlogged with friends rings. Been years since I’ve heard if he does this anymore.

Did you have to pry the crimp up to remove the backing ring? Is that a spot weld that is cut?
I was wondering if the spotweld can be cut, and the backing ring worked out of the crimp, then straighten and polish the presentation surface, work the backing ring back in, spread it in tension, clamp, and tack it.
Since I've never take one apart... this is all speculation on my part.
And I understand Rick keeping his secrets close, but with no new supply in sight, and he can't meet current market demand, I'd love to see someone else that can do it.

I restored all the trim rings on my Duster. I didn't do anything with the spot weld. I carefully loosened the pinch around the perimeter on the inside. The inner mounting portion flexed enough that I was able to gradually work it out of the outer portion in a manner like the reverse of installing a tire over the bead of a rim. After the two pieces are separated, you will have access to remove dings from the back surface. I put the 2 halves back together in reverse order and carefully closed the pinch seam.
This was my first attempt at working on Rallye wheels and I was very happy with how they turned out. Like all stainless steel work, it is a slow tedious process to get it to looking right but it can be done by the home car enthusiast.

It’s been a while, so going off memory...

I believe I un-crimped, couldn’t get retainer out, then broke spot weld. Now, I may have not un-crimped as aggressive as FJRdoc did and that’s why I struggled.

I do notice a ridge in the 15” retainer that isn’t on the 14” retainer. That might prevent retainer from sliding out of the outer trim ring as easy as a 14”?

I haven’t disassembled a 14” to compare

Probably more important; the crimp lip is half the size on the 14” I have.

Some pics...

Retainer

Thanks guys! These posts are why I love this forum!

Hope it helps.

Sorta tough to explain. So I took pics last night.

435-668-7062 One month turn around time is very optimistic in these times we are in. I am sure Ric will get them to you.

Number worked and talked to RM and he's checking into my progress. Thanks GTX for the number. Great guy to talk to 👍

I used Rick as well. The job took way longer then expected and communication was spotty. Price was $160 for 1 15x7 but the job was perfect.