Bad News....I somehow lost one of the center caps for my AMG Pentas on my 76 SL.

I had no idea how hard they would be to replace. Been striking out everywhere.

Does anyone know where I might find a suitable replacement. What I have appear to be chrome generics of some sort. They are a blank chrome cap that screws on to a stud in the dust cap. They measure 2.75 inces or 70 mm in diameter.

Any ideas anyone?

Mad Mike

OK, I am only posting this for the benefit of others.

This was very frustrating. Called at least 40 places around the country. Nobody was willing to try to help. If you are not going to buy new wheels--NOBODY will lift a finger to even make a suggestion.

I cannot believe that nobody had a single idea. A center cap is not that hard to come up with-----this is not brain surgery or rocket science.

It just so happens that the emblem on the hood matches the diameter of the cap EXACTLY. Get four new caps from Phil for about $16 each. Bolt them to a 2" strip of metal from any hardware store. Bolt that strip to the bolt in the center of the hup----PROBLEM SOLVED. The center cap is now a MERCEDES emblem instead of a plain chrome plastic piece.

Again, I cannot believe that nobody was smart enough to figure it out.....So if you need caps for your PENTAs or are going to install some old ones that is all you need to do, and it looks bettter than when they were new

Thanks to all those tire and wheel retailers for NOTHING. Your refusal to help did NOT result in more sales. You showed me how worthless you really are.

NOTE---the fellow at tire rack did sincerely try to help me here. He is the only one. I am not putting him down at all. I can recommend him.

Mike, sometime in the future I plan to have a mold taken from my AMG centers so I can duplicate them at will, since they now seem to qualify for "endangered species" protection.

I thought the center caps are available at the dealership?

__________________
With best regards

Al

US dealerships are virtually useless for any pre-merger AMG parts, and since the ATS made AMG Penta wheels are from the 80's, they are pretty scarce.

It's too bad that sales people often look at things from a transactional point of view. What I mean is that I look at every interraction with customers (I'm a salesman BTW) as a possible relationship-starter. We do have a lot of pressure on us to produce $ results everyday. However, I've always found the best customers to have are the ones the remember when you helped them out of a jam. Not everybody will show their appreciation by giving you their future business, but the best folks usually do.

At the risk of asking something blatantly obvious, did you look on Ebay? I was looking for the little lug caps for an MB. I couldn't find them anywhere except on Ebay.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I did check on EBAY. Both the US and German sites---no dice.

I also work in transactional sales. I know what it is like to be on the other side. However, I NEVER treat people the way I was treated. I will not sell things only to sell them. I actually try to help people. That is why I posted the resolution here. Hoped it could save some other people what I had just been through.

Dealer would be no help. Mercedes had no part in these wheels. AMG was aftermarket at that time.

I do actually have three black plastic AMG caps. They came with the car, but were not on it. Surprisingly, they do NOT fit. They are a bit too small. What came with car were just plain chrome caps that screwed on and were perfectly smooth. Can't believe that nobody could come up with either one of those, or four new ones. I KNOW they are out there.

No more--now I am just going with the Mercedes emblem on th hood. Looks good and fits perfectly.

Good luck, Mike. It's amazing the things one can find and NOT find on the Internet, isn't it? BTW, what's your SL look like?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

How much are those rims worth, I have two in excellent condition that I what to sell on EBay.
thanks.

Mine is a 76 450s Sl. It came from the LA area and still has licence plate frames from WI Simonson of Santa Monica. (That is a big deal and pretty rare in Wisconsin.)

It is all stock save for the wheels and the paint. It was repainted with a bright red Porsche color and the wheels were painted to match. Kind of looks like the "Bobby Ewing Special" only with AMG Pentas.

I have done a lot of work on it, and now runs better than new.

Thanks for the info. Sorry about your problems finding caps. What a nightmare.

MB dealers never sold AMG before the MB merger, and MB USA dealers never seemed to like the early AMG cars because they were also "gray market". I could never take mine near a dealer in LA in the late 80s. It's a bit different now, but they don't have a clue about the AMG parts...it was "aftermarket" and that was a bad thing for MB USA back in the 80's, although they were happy to put gold plated emblems all over people's cars =P (lol).

I have an black/black AMG "stage 1" (AMG spoilers and suspension) R 107 1985 500SL and always had 16x8J Centras..they were really evil looking and all black powdercoated in Germany in '85. But time took its toll on them. I finally ordered some used AMG 16" Penta with the original caps for way too much money that I found in Germany a month ago. I always thought if I lost a cap I could try laminating a new foil ///AMG decal and cutting off the /// from the ///AMG then mounting it on caps to fit the rim. But it's not the same...

I have always wondered what would happen if the caps are lost. It seems all the Pentas for sale that I usually find are without the AMG caps. And no ///AMG is going on my car.

I still debate between these and restoring a set of AMG Aero 1 , as they came out in 1986 so it could almost be "correct" on my car. The AMG OZ Aero 1 3 piece (I just missed an auction where a used set of the OZ Aero 1 sold for $350 for a whole set..."MADE IN WEST GERMANY"...those rims were close to 1k each in 1988 at BHMA, I think) is amazing, but it may be a bit much on a 107....they made them in 16" by 8 too.

I love the Pentas as they are the orginal AMG rim and fit the 107, but that is my favorite rim from the 80's, the AMG OZ Aero 1 . It's wild.