Hubcaps - Removing

Removing a Beetle hubcap is easy provided you have the right tool! The first time I tried to
take off one of the hubcaps, it was clear this was not going to be easy if I wanted to avoid scraping
the painted wheels and damaging/warping the metal cap.

After scraping the the paintwork a number of times on all of the wheels trying to work out how to remove
the hubcaps, I decided to type in 'Beetle Hubcaps' in the search box on Ebay UK and up popped the key
'Remover Tool' I had been looking for.

As you can see, the tool is very small, in fact I was quite surprised how tiny it was but in actual fact, it makes
perfect sense as we go on to how the tool works in practice.

Here is how the hubcap remover tool works; You find the two tiny holes that are located along the
rim of the hubcap and then attach the tool to them. Now as you can see from the image above, there
was only one hole in each cap!

This is one of those occasions, I'm sure where the German/Brazilian quality stock raises its nasty head.
I'm all for saving a few pounds but in this case, where ever the hubcaps originally came from, they were
either faulty stock or produced by a company who clearly did not spend enough on researching their
products for the replacement Classic VW parts market.

I must admit, I sat back and did wonder where I went next until a casual chat with my neighbour of 10 years
Who had driven 3 Classic Beetles many years ago (but has no mechanical skills) suggested drilling an extra hole in
to the hubcap. As you can see, thats what I did and it worked very well.

Once I had the two holes now in place, I set about findinging the best way to use the tool. I wedged a small screwdriver in to it.

Finally, I just lifted my hand under the metal end of the screwdriver and the plastic end against the wheel rim and then
just pulled. The hubcap lifted off nice and smoothly!
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