Guys, we're coming down to crunch time and I have not been able to find any of the original gray valve stem caps. I got a month left till the TA Nats, anyone have any that they may want to sell me?

Thanks
Mark

 

No luck at tire centers, etc? You may have to try and match up some spray paint and go to work.... good luck to you.

Please let us know how the TA Nats goes....

 

Now that's hardcore! Have a pic of the exact ones you need?

 

Here's a pic of the style. There are a number of newer styles out there, for tire press monitor sensors, I have access to tons of those but mine all say made in Germany...I work for an MB dealer.

 

Potenza? That's not original.

I threw out my valve stems about 3 years ago. I wanted the car to look all pretty for a car show and swapped them all to black valve stems.

 

Are you worried about losing points, or is this just for you so you know it's original? I say if it isn't for points; just got black!

 

Even if it is for points, you won't get docked for having black caps as most judges are unaware of these minor details at this point. As was mentioned in the old post, many cars left the dealer with the caps changed.

 

No not worried about points, just kinda like the way that the gray ones looks as opposed to the black ones. It's one of those things that at least in my mind would make me think, hmmmm that's cool, if I saw them. You're right most people and the judges would not know anything about it.

 

Look at the spare tires in the salvage yards. The spares are usually untouched and still have the original gray caps.

Larry

 

On the topic of tires and car shows, I've been to some shows where the judges look for show-mounted tires. That's when every tire is mounted to the wheel and lined up the same way. Example would be having the d in Goodyear lined up over the valvestem on all the wheels, and then for extra brownie points, having all the wheels lined up in the same position (say Goodyear at the top for example)!

 

Nice! My kind of show, now I need to demount my tires and align all the Gs over the valve stems!!!!

 

Be sure that's what they're looking for, it's a bit of work. Most shows don't look for that kind of detail.
Personally, I think it's kind'a cool to see that attention to detail.

 

That's a waste for the kind of shows that a driven car would go to. If you have gold plated rotors and Riddler Award $120k street rod, then that attention to detail is expected. If the car is driven, you are going to drive yourself nuts trying to get it to that point.

As a judge for years in 1000 point judged shows, the cars with that kind of detail get scrutinized more. If a judge sees next to perfection and then sees a slight stone chip, he'll take off a point for paint issues. That same judge will look at another vehicle that is very clean and nice, but will probably overlook minor imperfections because he wasn't looking so carefully for something to be wrong.

I judged a 67 Camaro years ago that next to perfect. I judged that car last. I had to go back and rejudge the other cars I did because I took points off on the perfect car that hurt it more than the not so perfect cars. I decided that judging needs to be a triage event. I scope out each car, determine which one is the best and worst by an overall evaluation. I can then judge the class accordingly. If the best car in the class scores a 989, then each of the other cars better be less.

 

When the tires were mounted at the factory, there was a dot on the sidewall that was to be positioned next to the valve stem. This alignment allowed the high spot on the tire to be aligned with the low spot on the wheel. The valve stem hole was strategically drilled after the runout was determined. This produced the best possible smooth ride.

If the car's tires still have that dot on them and then are mounted like the factory, that would be some worthy brownie points. Not some arbitrarily conceived idea from a judge on how the tires "should" be mounted.

Larry

 

those look just like the ones on my (dare i say it) 03 mustang GT,,,,i got my car before it was run through PDI in the service dept so i know the grey caps are correct..I would say got to any ford dealer and you might buy these through the parts dept...

 

I'm just glad I didn't have to say it! You are absolutely correct though. I remember the last gen Mustangs having these. Trying to buy them from the parts dept I think will be an impossibility. I work at a dealer and I know our parts dept, and if all parts depts are the same then trying to explain that I want the gray valve caps from an 03 GT will probably cause me to spontaneously combust.
But what the hell, I'll call a few dealers on Monday.
Thanks for then idea.

 

True. But it can depend on the show and the type of judging. They are almost as individual as the cars themselves.
My father-in-law beat out the 2nd place car in his class at this years Powerama Edmonton show. He won by a close margin of <15 points. That was also roughly the same amount of points the judges awarded for show-mounted tires. And his car isn't a trailer quenn. While he won't take it to the store for groceries or to work, it does get driven to the shows and for fun.

Of coarse I've also been to some shows (most shows) where going into that much detail is truely worthless. At that point, it just becomes a totally individual thing. I know some car owners who are totally nuts to detail for there own personal reasons.

For myself, I don't bother with show-mounting tires to the wheels. However, I can't understand for the life of me, why on god's green earth would somebody with a beutiful set of original wheels or great aftermarket wheels allow the shop the mount ugly wheels weights to the outside!!! That's what drives me nuts!
Rough example . . .

 

i totaly agree, i tell the tire place 10 times DO NOT PUT WEIGHTS ON THE OUTSIDE, and thats on everything i own!!!!!



oh yea BTW here is your valve caps on E-Bay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-....c0.m245.l1318

and again
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-...4506.m20.l1116

 

Both are incorrect for our cars, I have the second set you mentioned on hand, they are the wrong ones. The first set is not GN specific, those are actually from modern tire press monitor cars.

 

That's quite common. The wheels are not just show wheels. Just ask for your tires to be on the rim the way you want. You might end up with more weight than if the tire was placed on the rim a different way. For shows, it's just that extra detail that sets apart one ride from another or at least shows the person takes the time for the extra prep.

Next time your at a show, and you see interior screws like in an older car, see if they lined up the philips + all the same way. :-)

Mark.

 

I've always liked to have the screws lined up. Whether it's in a car or on a light switch in the living room.

I don't see the point in having the wheel balancer on the inside of the tire. The original factory wheel had them on the outside. I suppose with aftermarket, it would be alright. But the wheel balancers today are much smaller than they were in the past.

Here are a few pics of my original from the factory, never rotated, never rebalanced Goodyear Gatorbacks and GTA wheels. This was after I exchanged the gray valve caps for the black ones. To me, gold and black is good. But gold, black, and gray just never looked right.....Oddly enough, I replaced the gray with black valve caps right before entering my first car show. Go figure.

If I ever see some gray caps that are the correct ones, I'll give you a shout.

I finally retired the Gatorbacks in 2007 and bought a set of Goodyear GS-D3's. (I didn't keep the old Gatorbacks. I let the tire store dispose of them. They were at 4/32nds and 5/32nds of tread left)










----------
I don't remember there being a dot on mine.

 

IIRC the Gray Caps are correct, I get all of mine at junkyards off of 80's Spare tires.... One Yard I go to has a pile of Spare tires on poles... I go from one tire to the next looking for the Gray Caps... Right now I have 7

John
----------
Actually as I consider one persons post about how Judges look at where the "G" is on the tire in relationship to the Valve stem... Thats insane, there is nothing that I know of that pertains to where the "G" is an the relationship to the valve stem from the factory... Matter of fact it may be bad for the car as there are some balance issues with tires and the "G" may not be the best spot when its on the Valve stem... The Dots which were put on tires are for location... I thought it indicated the Heaviest point on the tire, if you spin the Rim first to find a heavy point ( it is usually opposite of the valve stem) then mount the tire opposite to the heavy point on the rim in theory you should require less weight...

As for the idea that weights are smaller today... BS... Lead still weighs the same today as it did 20 years ago...

John

 

Hi Okfoz. I had a post above which brought up the tire vs wheel mounting alignment. In it, I mentioned that only for example you might have the d in Goodyear ligned up with the valve stem. However, this was only used as an example to help describe to readers what a show mount is. And that's to take a common reference point that is the same on all four tires and use that point to line-up the tire to the valve stem. This is done for visual reasons as some tires have truly pronounced inscriptions or patterns on them. Some that when mounted randomely, the differences between each wheel/tire combo can be clearly seen. That reference point could also be the dot as described above (but the dot may not be consistant on all four tires). I didn't however, mentioned nor did I mean it to say, that this is the only way or best way.
The judges do not look specifically for the G in Goodyear. How would they possibly know, or care, what is what for every single type of tire out there, nor is there a list. Now that would be insane.

I agree regarding the weights. You can't make a lead weight smaller and still be the same weight. It is what it is, and what weight size your tire requires for balance is what it requires.

 

I do prefer the weights on the inside of the rim instead of the outer lip... it may not be technically correct, BUT I have noticed that where the Lead weight contacts the lip of the rim often gets corroded... I suspect that the reason is the Aluminum is sacrificial when in contact with Steel which is a part of the lead weight where it attaches to the rim... So I have them use the Sticker weights on the inside of my rims for better appearance...

John

 

The grey air stem caps are correct. Years ago I saw a picture of an RS wheel assembly in Michael Lamm's excellent [I]Camarro: The Third Generation. There were nice up close shots of an V-6 RS including the wheel assembly. What I noticed were the grey air stem caps, I guess because my Firebird still had them. Before the tires were all replaced I took all of the grey caps off and put them in my tool box to save. This thread caused them to come back to mind and their still where I put them for safe keeping.

 

I remember my 83 came from the factory with the weights just on the inside with no sticker weights.

Larry

 

Would these be acceptable, they are slightly different but only gray plastic ones I can get my hands on? Input needed before I order some.

 

Sir you have a PM!

Those are the right ones. More info needed please!!!
Mark

 

yea where can i get my hands on some??

 

Ok so I can confirm I got some on the way but there's limited quantities available, they are slightly different from what GM used back in the 80's. Attached is a photo of the GM OEM cap (this came off a 89 GTA many years ago but is used so the grey color is probably not what it used to be from the factory).

Compare this one (used GM OEM cap) with the one I posted above (brand new current style; not GM) and if you are happy getting them I can get 10 of them (new ones per above post) for $10 USD to your door.

My source is away for a couple of weeks so I wont be able to send them out until around September 6th and as I'm in the UK it normaly takes 5-8 business days across the pond.

You can paypal me the $10 USD (make sure your address details are correct) and I will send them out as soon as I can (around Sept 6th) and I will do this on a first come first served basis. My PayPal id is jlarsson@london.com

Pictured here is the GM OEM cap (this is NOT what you are buying)

 

Ok I now have the gray caps in my possession!!! If you need some, not only very limited quantities, send me a PM or e-mail jlarsson@london.com

 

These are as close as you can get to the originals, got mine today, very pleased, thanks Jan.
Mark

 

Old thread...

Is there still a chance to grab any of the original gray valve caps?

Is there a good source?

 

I still search junkyards for 80s-90s gm cars with spare tires

 

I remember a couple years back maybe even right before Covid being in the auto parts store or might have been Walmart. I was looking for a tire pressure gauge or something related and either saw by itself or maybe with a tire pressure gauge a package that had Grey valve stem caps. I bought it and gave the grey caps to my friend for the cars in his 3rd gen collection. The weren't a 100% exact match to the originals but they were super close.

 

Probably not OEM correct but:


I ordered these for the Infiniti daily driver, since they use grey instead of black..

 

Found these caps on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155588826...Bk9SR56Uq7WXZA

Looks like a good alternative...

 

Installed…

 

Those look pretty darn close! Those the ebay units?

 

Correct - from ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155588826...Bk9SR56Uq7WXZA