Had an extra set of '59 wheel covers and this is something I've always wanted to try out. (Still have the originals).
What says the flock? ;)
Another...
...another...
*Can never seem to attach more than 1 pic per post...
To be honest Eric, those make the car look better than the originals. I like them! ... and what a gorgeous car!
This might help you when posting more pictures: once you attached the first picture have you tried clicking on '(more attachments)' which is right below the field displaying your file name? If you click on that before you post your message it will allow you to attach more pictures (I attached a screen shot and underlined it with red on the picture for you).
Also I downloaded one of your pictures and the size is 4.3MB, if you notice on the bottom of the screen it says 'Maximum total size 5000KB', which means maximum 5MB. Since each of your pictures are close to the limit it probably does not allow you to post more. Here is what you can do: if you have a Windows system find the original picture on your computer, right click on it with your mouse and select 'Edit'. This should open up your picture in the Windows Paint program. On the upper left hand corner you should see an option 'Resize', click on that. It will give you another small window which allows you to change the size of your image, here you'll see 'Horizontal: 100' and right below that 'Vertical: 100' highlight either '100' and change it to '25' - the other will change automatically. Click 'OK' then save your picture again and attach these new resized pictures with your posts. This will reduce the size to about 300KB and allow you to post many of images at once. Just make sure to do this with all the pictures you want to post. Once you do this a few times it will go like a '59 downhill. 8)
Looks good,don't know why it was'nt a option,like in 1960? Ken Perry
Eric -
They look very nice, but I'm in to originality. My first thought on seeing a car "modified," is what else has been modified and I would scrutinize the car; whereas, seeing the car with the factory silver hubcaps, my first thought would be what a beautiful car.
You did a very nice on the hubcaps, but I would hang those in the garage for conversation pieces. Also, I believe the paint will tend to get nicked from stones quickly as it's adhered to stainless steel.
JMHO
Speaking of that rare 1960 rarely seen option I will have something interesting to share next week.
Looks great Eric
Brian
It looks like a tasteful modification of a classy automobile, in my opinion. I really love that Woodrose color--and to think it is original paint---WOW!!! Fabulous car!
Quote from: Ken Perry on May 16, 2015, 12:49:02 PM
Looks good,don't know why it was'nt a option,like in 1960? Ken Perry
I agree, makes me want to do a set myself although I don't know how it would look on a Kensington green car.
Thanks fellas! :)
For some reason, I have always had an affinity for color keyed wheel covers. To my eyes, they help to integrate the styling theme of the wheels with the car itself much better than the plain generic "one-size-fits-all" polished stainless cover could ever hope to do.
The coloring also accentuates the vaned area which also helps highlight wheel cover styling features.
As I said, this is something I had spent much time thinking about. I have always been a stickler for originality however this minor modification looks very much something that the Cadillac Design Studio could well have done themselves.
Compared with appliance wire wheel wheels and chromed 60 Special taillamp bullets, I really believe these color keyed covers make a substantive & genuine improvement to the 1959 Cadillac as originally issued - authenticity issues notwithstanding.
By way of interest, 1960 wheel covers were originally supposed to be color keyed: According to Dave Holls, a miscommunication occurred somewhere between the Studio and production which resulted in only optional colors of white & black only with the vast majority being ordered in regular stainless. This is further evidenced by the artwork in the 1960 Catalog: If you look closely, you will see all models are depicted with color keyed wheel covers!
Thanks again for the kind words of support & reassurance! :)
Eric
**Here is the original for comparison.
You be the judge.
Quote from: Blade on May 16, 2015, 09:35:24 PM
I agree, makes me want to do a set myself although I don't know how it would look on a Kensington green car.
Tibor,
I think they make a tremendous improvement on any 1959 Cadillac* - regardless of color.
*Except Eldorado & 60 Special models. The wheel cover for these models does not lend itself for this treatment, IMO.
Thanks, Eric
Why would the paint get nicked any more than they would on 61/62 (color keyed) wheelcovers. ???
Stones flown by tires generally do not get thrown into the hubcaps. Maybe a bit more on the rears because of the forward motion of the car but wear caused in that way tends to hit the raised "hub" section of the wheel cover, not the recessed area where the painted surface is.
Very Handsome
Eric,
Great job with equally great looks.
I have often wanted to color match hub caps - but, the older I get the shakier the hands get...
Please, step by step - how did you get them to look so good.
Have fun,
Steve B.
Quote from: 59-in-pieces on May 17, 2015, 11:23:44 AM
Eric,
Great job with equally great looks.
I have often wanted to color match hub caps - but, the older I get the shakier the hands get...
Please, step by step - how did you get them to look so good.
Have fun,
Steve B.
Step One: Order 1 qt Woodrose Paint from TouchUpPaint.Com (?) or something similar. Their paints are SPOT ON match to color chip.
Step Two: Remove hubcaps from nails holding them to the wall in garage.
Step Three: Hand hubcaps and paint to my buddy who's got a body shop in Scranton.
Step Four: Write him a check for $200 when done! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Kidding aside, it's not as difficult as it is tedious and time consuming.
Years and years ago I once masked off a set of 1962 covers that needed to be redone. 1/4" width masking tape comes in VERY handy for this job!
The obvious other points are the prep/cleaning of the wheel covers, primer and paint. It's a pretty straightforward job.
The more I look at the effect, I am convinced - Cadillac should have done C-K wheel covers 59-62 - linking all "rocket years" together. (MY years too!) I'll bet they would have sold an additional 5,000 '59s if they did!
Thanks.
Without the paint, the raised "spokes" simply blend in and are barely noticeable.
With the paint, they stand out very well. And I get many positive comments about the painted wheel disks on my '61, so it was certainly a positive move by the stylists.
Jim
It's not bad but I think it's too much on a '59. Maybe on a darker sedan (NOT a 60 Special even as an option to the standard Fleetwood wheelcovers.)
The '59 has enough going on that painted wheelcovers are over the top. Sometimes less is more...
Quote from: quadfins on May 17, 2015, 02:55:23 PM
Without the paint, the raised "spokes" simply blend in and are barely noticeable.
With the paint, they stand out very well. And I get many positive comments about the painted wheel disks on my '61, so it was certainly a positive move by the stylists.
Jim
Agreed 110%. They
make the 61/62 and provided the inspiration for this exercise.
Quote from: Walter Youshock on May 17, 2015, 02:56:22 PM
It's not bad but I think it's too much on a '59. Maybe on a darker sedan (NOT a 60 Special even as an option to the standard Fleetwood wheelcovers.)
The '59 has enough going on that painted wheelcovers are over the top. Sometimes less is more...
Hmmm...
I see 53/54 wire wheels & chromed 60 Special taillamp bullets as being far more "over the top" adornments on a '59 compared to a subtle coloration of the hubcaps - which the factory themselves offered the very next year (depending on how you look at it) or at least by '61.
Furthermore, the body
sides of 59/60 Cadillac are considerably more conservative than those of the 61/62 gen - or even 57/58 for that matter therefore I don't see much of a conflict there either, at least to my eyes. All "goings on" in a '59 are chiefly at front and rear ends. The 1959 was really the first dechromed Cadillac model.
Still have not seen the case made why C-K wheel covers should looks so good on a 61/62 (or even '60 in black or white) yet so completely & utterly out of place on a '59. ???
All the same, interesting discussion... :)
Wow. A '59 is a "man" car and a '60 is a "woman"? There's a discussion for the Supreme Court...
I think every Cadillac wheelcover lent itself to the color coded idea for many years. The '56 is a perfect example. The '57 wheelcovers -- no. Those nobody messes with.
Given the fact tthat '58 and '59 used the same cover with different centers, maybe a color coding would (on a dark car) tone down the ostentatious '59. On a light car, it draws more attention to the overall car.
On a dark car, you notice the painted cover. Your eye is drawn down to the color and whitewall, away from the fin. It brings the car into a different perspective. On a light car, it doesn't work as well.
A white car should not have white caps. A black car can have black caps.
I wanted to do it with my black '59 CdV but it got sold before I got the chance.
So you're saying a black wheel cover looks good on a black 61/62 but not a white cover on a white 61/62? ???
Well, eric just brought the car to my house to see. It's truly incredible. The wheelcovers look great but I know they're incorrect. Yet they do "belong". They actually DETRACT from the over-the-top '59 style and draw your vision Down.
As an owner of a Mountain Laurel '57, I was derided for the color choice. It wasn't my first. I wanted a 2-tone Thebes and glade green coupe but this car came up with 24,510 miles so I bought it.
The car is what it is. Color, style and all. It represents a time in America when Cadillac was the plus-ultimate of all things quality. We'll never see that again. So, yes, it's iconic and it now represents the best of the best in automotive excellence and the height of what was popular at the time.
Imagine throwing away a 2 or 3 year old car because the COLOR no longer was popular. That's what happened with mine in 1960 or '61.
Eric,
You joker, I LOL on your description of how YOU got your caps painted.
You can see from the pic I attached, both the 59 and 60 Eldo caps are moving towards painted caps.
The Hub part of both years caps shared the black paint between the vertical ribs.
However, the 59 did not have painted rings around the center medallions, while the 60 did have black rings around the center medallions.
So the 60 was further moving in the direction of painted accents, as Ken says on the optional regular caps.
I still think your caps are stunning.
Have fun,
Steve B.
Thanks fellas.
As far as I'm concerned, GM really dropped the ball on this one.
Here are a few more. I changed the camera settings to help with the attachments. (Must be set to the smallest size to attach more than one.)
*Watch out letting Wally drive your car! He loves testing the trans kick down! ;D
I like the way it looks.
Changing hubcaps for show is simple and easy.
BR
I was making sure those hubcaps weren't going to fly off the wheels!
Quote from: Walter Youshock on May 18, 2015, 12:06:03 PM
I was making sure those hubcaps weren't going to fly off the wheels!
You were checking the hubcaps while I was checking my pulse. :o
I know these would look terrible in Versailles Green. 1958's wouldn't cut the color coordinated theme IMHO
57/58 have a lot of trim that 59/60 do not and while the latter is a transition generation, 1958 is solidly a 1950s design.
While painted 1958 caps might look okay by themselves, they probably would not work on car - particularly due to the sheer quantity of brightwork on the 1958 Cadillac.
As 1959 was arguably the first year a Cadillac had less chrome than the year preceding - is all the more reason the painted covers seem to work very well on the '59.
Quote from: ericdev on May 19, 2015, 01:39:13 PM
57/58 have a lot of trim that 59/60 do not and while the latter is a transition generation, 1958 is still solidly a 1950s design.
While painted 1958 caps might look okay by themselves, they probably would not work on car - particularly due to the sheer quantity of brightwork on the 1958 Cadillac.
As 1959 was arguably the first year a Cadillac had less chrome than the year preceding - is all the more reason the painted covers seem to work very well on the '59.
Eric - I agree - That is what I was trying to say . . . 1959 - yes; 1958 - no. (but I'm still into authenticity).
Yours look great!
Thanks Jon.
As a side note - very few realize the standard wheel cover on 1980- 1985 Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance was also painted.
It was the same as the standard Brougham cap except the vaned area was color keyed to body color. Kind of a hat tip to 61/62.
Since d'Elegance buyers tended to order wire wheel covers or wire wheels, rarely were standard d'Elegance covers seen then, much less today.