Hub Caps

Browniepetersen

A short time back there was a thread talking about a hub cap that most on the forum thought that what was paid for the hub cap was way too much money. I am in the process, as many of you know, of building an Essex roadster pick up-restorod. I am using 1932 17 inch wire wheels. Hubcaps are tought to find and those I have need to be restored. So, I thought I would do my first one and report back the cost so here we go...
Cost to buy hubcap $40

This is a three part hubcap so it needs to be disassembled to have the skin replated. Tear down time one hour--cost in my labor we will not talk about right now.

Plating process--repair of dings, scratches ect. one and a half hour time--cost in my labor -- we will not talk about right now.

First plating is in brass and then sand it out--cost $30

Chrome plate process first coat and sand out-- cost $50

Final chrome plate process and buff and polish--cost $75

Reassemble plate time was one hour. Once again my labor will be discussed later.

Paint inset black.. cost $20

So with no labor included I am at $215. Standard labor cost for my plating shop is $60 per hour so standard labor would be Two and a half hours or $150. I would need to sell this hubcap for $365 if I was running this process for a profit. Since I am just working on my own hubcap I figure $215 is the cost of restoring the hub cap for my car.

If I remember right that hubcap that sold on ebay was a good deal?

RL Chilton

Fun hobby, ain't it?

PaulButler

I hear what you say Brownie but the hub caps in question were starting off at your end price and would need the remedial work on them as I recall

As Rick says if someone wants them that bad they will pay the price however there needs to be some sense in what is being sold and what that is actually worth

We all mostly have a limited budget to keep these cars on the road and sourcing parts will only become harder as time goes on

barrysweet52

I know a man who makes a mold from a good hub cap, then throws away the brass skin on the damaged ones, coats the damaged hubcaps with resin and presses it into the mold. He then chromes them. Very time consuming but does a beautiful job. I bought some NOS 1940 hubcaps 8 years ago - perfect chrome and painted center, never been on a car. I tried a few times to sell them for $100 each on Ebay but no one wanted them. I have seen a person at a big Aust swap meet selling the same 112 hubcaps for many years - also unsellable. Each year I look for him to see if he still has them. hetozhudson@gmail.com

Terraplane33

It adds up quickly for some parts, not easy to get a perfect restauration at an acceptable cost.
In some cases, the global restauration cost may exceed the value of the car but at the end we have the quality that we are willing to pay for. I think it mainly depends on how much we like our car...

PaulButler

@terraplane33

Not just how much we like our car but also how we want the car to be used I suppose as well.

I can't afford a concours restoration but appreciate that people can and will do that. I like looking at those cars and appreciate the time & effort put into it.

For me I will be happy to have my 112 as my daily driver and am working towards doing just that. I used to use my cars every day back in the 80's and loved every moment of it

Trevor J

Well all I can say is its no wonder young people are reluctant to get involved in the hobby when prices for parts are so exspensive. Most young people have familys and are struggling anyway and just dont have the extra cash. If we are not careful only folks in the older age bracket will be able to afford our cars
Trevor

RL Chilton

Trevor J-

I hate to be the devil's advocate, but that is precisely where we are headed with Hudson. It has all ready taken place with many of the other marques, even the common ones. A '32-'34 F*** is no longer a car for the average middle class individual. And take a look at the most desirable Hudsons out there, like the convertibles, the Italias, the one-offs, the dual cowls, the woodies . . . the average guy can't touch 'em. Whereas, 15-20 years ago, that was not the case.

When I was a kid, I knew as sure as I was breathing, I would one day own a Tucker. They typically sold for around 30-60K . . . expensive, but not out of the realm of possibility. Recently one sold for nearly 3Million. $3,000,000.00!! What's changed in 35 years? Nothing . . . except demand.

In the 60's and 70's Hudson were "give-away" cars, as only the truly die-hard wanted one. Keep in mind that EVERY SINGLE DAY, Hudson and Hudson parts get rarer. Demand keeps increasing, and as a lot of folks like to say, "They don't make them anymore". With more people wanting a Hudson, and less and less to go around, prices will skyrocket. I believe Hudson is headed the way of a plaything for only the very rich. How many Hudson guys do you know where they DON'T
know what their next Hudson is gonna be?

That's one reason it is so very important that those that have the capability to reproduce parts, should seriously consider doing so, if they are not all ready. When a rare, hard-to-find original part runs say, $1000 and someone starts re-popping the same part and selling for $400, then the price of that original part will decrease. It's just the way it works.