The hub caps that I have are "rough". I was telling a guy at the local Ford club that I was going to have the chromed stripped, do a little hammer work and have them re-chromed. He said that they should be stainless. I never even gave thought that they could be stainless. So I checked with a magnet. Some are and some are not. On one the chrome is chipping off and the cap has some rust.
So what is right for a 49' Merc Steel or Stainless steel?

 

If they are original Merc. hub caps they will be stainless steel .They polish very well as for dents it depends on the skill of the guy with the hammer and dolly.

 

Are you saying you have a full set of Mercury caps and some are stainless and some are not?

 

I actually have 6, 5 are stainless and 1 is chrome plated carbon steel. I was curious about the carbon steel hub cap

 

I know they made some in steel because of the korean war. I have an original set of 52s that are steel.

 

My understanding is in the states the Ford caps were stainless until 52 when they switched to chrome plate carbon steel. One can possibly assume Canada followed that form.

 

Did they go back to stainless after that? Were they all steel up to 56?

 

Hi Dave. You know how much I love these mercury hubcap discussions. I've got a set of the steel hubcaps that came down from the rafters of a garage. They still have the black paint on the mercury name.
So what year are they from ? Don't have a clue. I've discussed the colour of the lettering and what year the black, blue, or red fit but no real answer. Is stainless for the early years? Steel for the later run ? Did Henry Ford decide on the steel as a lower cost replacement of the stainless ? He was always looking to save a buck.
As a side I was at a swapmeet years ago and a guy had one steel mercury cap for sale. It was rotten except for the mercury name. Fifty bucks and it could have been mine. " Just cut the name out and weld it into a ford cap, chrome it and you got a hubcap." I passed
Greg M-47

 

Yes, they were steel and painted argent up to '56 with red letters. I do not know for sure about 57 and up? Number Dummy will know.

 

Greg, good to hear from you. As far as hub cap info goes I got nothing. I have had these for 3 years now and I didnt know they were stainless. That how much I know about Mercury hub caps.