1966 Wheel Cover center color?

[Marc W]

I am a new owner spending a lot of time cleaning up a 66 that has been neglected. I took apart a wheel cover to clean it up and found a gray tarnish that cleaned up easily with Brillo to uncover a fully chromed dish. I can't figure out what color the center section should be - let's call it the riser that holds the t bird medallion. It was gray also, but with some scrubbing I found red underneath. I found this in an article about a Landau Hard top like mine. "New Pentastar wheel covers with a “mag” wheel look and color-coordinated sections that matched the body color were used on some new models. " My car's body is white, but these covers might have come from a red car. So, do I paint the riser up as white or is meant to be gray - I've looked at a lot of pics but have seen one with this section matching the car color.

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[biddle]

4 Digit model year in the subject, please. Works better for searches.

 

[6T6 Fan]

I am a new owner spending a lot of time cleaning up a 66 that has been neglected. I took apart a wheel cover to clean it up and found a gray tarnish that cleaned up easily with Brillo to uncover a fully chromed dish. I can't figure out what color the center section should be - let's call it the riser that holds the t bird medallion. It was gray also, but with some scrubbing I found red underneath. I found this in an article about a Landau Hard top like mine. "New Pentastar wheel covers with a “mag” wheel look and color-coordinated sections that matched the body color were used on some new models. " My car's body is white, but these covers might have come from a red car. So, do I paint the riser up as white or is meant to be gray - I've looked at a lot of pics but have seen one with this section matching the car color.

Sounds like you are referring to the '66 Thunderbird DELUXE wheel covers. Those were never color coordinated to the body color. All deluxe wheel covers had the center section painted in a near flat finish charcoal metallic paint. This paint is typically available from many of the Thunderbird parts vendors in an aerosol can. This same paint was also used in the recesses of the '65 - 67 Mustang/Fairlane styled steel wheels. That paint is carried by most of the Mustang vendors as well. I'm including this shot of an NOS deluxe wheel cover for reference.

 

[Marc W]

Thanks for the complete explanation and photo