Lancia Kappa Hub Cover Problems

Lancia Kappa coupe hub cover problems (and solutions!)

BEAUTIFUL SPEEDLINES LANCIA KAPPA COUPE
If you own a Lancia Kappa Coupe, it is almost certain that you have the original beautiful rims below with part number 46473235 or 60658759 or 60657814 on your car

Like so many Fiat and Lancia rims from the 1990s, they are equipped with a center cap (part number 46473237) with an internal clamping system, and even a lug that allows them to be mounted only in one way. You may not have known, but if your lug is still attached, and your hood is mounted correctly, you can find the valve cap right above the lancia logo! clever!

So much for enjoying a beautiful design! In practice, the system with the lugs is very error-prone. Many tire farmers and universal garages have no knowledge of this fragile design and ram the wheel centers with a bang on it. The slack cam breaks, and from that moment on the wheel center can rotate freely. And that's ugly, because the shape of the spokes continues in the design of the center hood....

In the years up to 2010, a center cap cost less than 10 euros and was easily available. So every once in a time, you'd buy a new one and you could. From 2015 it became more difficult, Lancia no longer supplied new caps.... In the meantime, it is almost impossible to get a new cap for a normal price. Advice is therefore; Be very careful. Don't let someone unfamiliar with the design assemble or disassemble them (I always took the caps off myself when I had to go to a tire farmer and put them separately) and always disassemble them with policy. If you have them in hand and the parts seem to come loose, quickly put a little kit in between so you don't lose anything. Cherish them!

THE PROBLEMS!
Despite our care with the caps, you can increasingly see that not only the positioning cam breaks off, but also other problems with the wheel centers arise.

A few sample issues:

Broken positioning cam. Often caused by incorrect mounting of the hood.

Broken clamp(s) for the hub hole and missing spring. Often caused by improper disassembly of the hood.

Losing the Chrome center part of the center cap. often caused by age of the material causing the compound product to fall apart.

Lose or get ugly from the Lancia logo in the Chrome center hood. Caused by the moderate design of the hard plastic exterior, which eventually causes moisture to affect the fragile coating.

Completely losing the center cover. Often caused by continuing to drive with broken hub hole clamps.

afgebroken naafgat klem voorbeeld.jpeg
kappa coupe wheel center zonder chromen plaat.jpg

kappa coupe wheel center zonder lancia logo.jpg

THE SOLUTIONS!

So much for the possible problems. It seemed such a simple part... ;-)
But fortunately, there are now solutions! Not all of them developed by us, by the way, but we try to make them available to our customers via the webshop!
Solutions:

No suitable solution is yet known for this. Did you find anything? Email us! info@delenkorf.nl
A number of people have developed a solution for this. The solution requires some dexterity, but gives a durable end result and is invisible from the outside. The Chrome center cover must be removed by loosening the pins on the back. After that, the remainder of the old ridges can be ground away to create a flat back. The kits are equipped with a plastic or metal rosette with new lugs. By drilling a hole in the middle of the hood and using a special included clamping screw, you place the new lugs. The dimensions of the design take into account the correct depth of the lugs to compensate for a slightly thicker top of the rosette. Fortunately, in the original design, a recess is already available where the screw head disappears behind. So after this operation, the chrome cap can be glued or fused again with the two pins. Ridges restored! Here you can find in the shop: LINK to product
If the Chrome part is released from the plastic part of the wheel center, it is often damaged or lost and no longer usable. For this we have a solution in the form of a plastic center plate and a chrome gel dome sticker for the finish as much as possible according to original. Our solution makes the central part of the hub cover flat instead of bulbous. Due to the chrome effect, this hardly stands out in practice, but only on a flat surface does the sticker work optimally. For assembly it is actually very simple. Put 4 caps of kit in the trench all around, sand the supplied flat plate a little at the level of where the kit will come from and glue the plate in the center. This fits exactly in diameter and is adjusted in thickness in such a way that a good connection is created with the outer edge of the wheel center. If the kit is dry properly, and you have made sure that the plate will not just fall out of the center then it is time to remove the sticker

on the plate for the final finish. A beautiful end result. Should the sticker ever fade or get ugly, they are in stock and available in our shop. Here you can find in the shop: LINK to product

There are also cases where the chrome hood stays neatly, but the Lancia logo falls out or becomes faded and ugly due to moisture entry. A simple solution has also been developed by us for this. We have a separate gel dome sticker that can replace the old one. Take out the old logo (it is stuck with a foam sticker, and can stick quite a bit) possibly by drilling a few holes in the middle of the logo so that you can put a small hook or allen key behind it. When the logo is removed, remove the remains of the foam sticker and place the new self-adhesive logo in the resulting space. ready! Here you can find in the shop: LINK to product

Replacing a completely lost center cover is not yet a good solution on the market. Did you come across anything? Or do you have damaged wheel centers of this type in stock that can be used to make a good center again? Report to us! info@delenkorf.nl

SOLUTIONS AFTER ASSEMBLY

Here's an overview of what the different solutions look like after they've been applied. We always keep the same numbering to keep it organized. In the meantime, have you become interested in applying the solutions? Below is a link to each of the products in our webshop:

2. DN00100189

3. DN00100166

4. DN00100186

reparatie kappa coupe centerkap speedline.jpg

PREVENTION POSSIBILITIES

To prevent the breaking down of ridges, handy hub cover tools are available.

In fact, a hook that can be inserted into the recess of the hood in order to be able to pull the lid freely from the back instead of deforming the hood or damaging the rim with a screwdriver.
Unfortunately, I don't have them in stock anymore. In the absence of affordable supply, I want them to be produced and brought back to the market. Hopefully more about that later in this place!
Hopefully sharing this knowledge will help a number of Kappa riders keep their cherished possessions in top condition!