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Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:04 am

I was lookin at Cipi1.com and checkin out their beauty rings (made by empi... i suppose :-k ) and thought It might be fun to pick up a set for my smoothies. Has anyone ever fit them on a set of stock smoothies and would they just snap in?? Any pics or info would be appreciated.

Pictures From Website:

Link to Rings ----> https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C13%2D10%2D1069

Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:22 am

Kabriolett models came standard with beauty rings installed on their smoothie wheels

Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:28 am

RareAir wrote: Kabriolett models came standard with beauty rings installed on their smoothie wheels

Well I guess more importantly, I wanted to see if anyone has fitted these actual rings?

Fri Mar 12, 2010 11:46 am

I purchased a set, put them on the rims, almost threw up, removed them and sold them. They look like crap and do not even come close to what the original profile was.

The closest to original rings are available from House of Ghia. I believe they are rings for an old ford.

Karmann Ghia, Karmann Kabriolett, and Deluxe buses used the same trim ring

NOS rings

Original

HOG

Here is a link to a ford supplier which are the same rings sold at HOG

http://store.bobdrake.com/19forsmootco2.html

Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:49 pm

derluftwagen wrote: I purchased a set, put them on the rims, almost threw up, removed them and sold them. They look like crap and do not even come close to what the original profile was.

The closest to original rings are available from House of Ghia. I believe they are rings for an old ford.

Those look great man. The one thing is a significant price difference. Are those aftermarket ones really that crappy?? I just kinda want to throw them on and off for fun. Obviously, I'm aware that you get what you pay for but are the differences that big?
Thanks,
-Rob

Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:09 pm

I used to work in a parts store and they would always shoot off the car so people would want to buy one. Since they only came in a set they would have to buy all 4. It was so common I broke up a set just to keep the customers happy.

The other thing I didnt like about them was the profile. A 1 inch flat spot at the edge with a HUGE radius on the inside. They are also pretty thin, so when putting them on if you dont put equal pressure they bend quite easily. One customer bought one, went to put it on his bug, the ring taco'd and he walked right back in to buy another. By the time you give up on them and have purchased a few "replacements" you could have had a quality piece that looked correct in first place.

Here is a pic from the gallery of the aftermarket ring.

If you look closely you can see the waves/dents in the outer ring, that is not from a curb that is from installation.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:36 pm

What about the ones sold by Wolfsburg West for $65/set

Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:49 pm

derluftwagen wrote: I purchased a set, put them on the rims, almost threw up, removed them and sold them. They look like crap and do not even come close to what the original profile was.

The closest to original rings are available from House of Ghia. I believe they are rings for an old ford.

Karmann Ghia, Karmann Kabriolett, and Deluxe buses used the same trim ring

NOS rings

Original

HOG

Here is a link to a ford supplier which are the same rings sold at HOG

http://store.bobdrake.com/19forsmootco2.html

Let me ask you, these ford beauty rings, would they fit on a 66 beetle (stock rim)? $35.00 is not bad for 4

Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:30 pm

Not the best fit in the world but I like them.

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Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:08 pm

carlostam wrote: Let me ask you, these ford beauty rings, would they fit on a 66 beetle (stock rim)? $35.00 is not bad for 4

That is $35 EACH. I think House Of Ghia is cheaper than the ford site.

I have only used them on stock 15 inch bus rims and 65 and earlier smoothie rims. If you have the correct slotted 66-67 rim you should use the slotted beauty rings. I think Vintage Parts in Canyon Country CA has some nice slotted rings for sale.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:43 pm

I have those from CIP1 on a set of stock smoothies and I really like them. I had to bend the tabs a bit to get a good fit though.

Fri Oct 07, 2011 3:58 pm

I know this topic is a bit old now, but I was wondering about these particular trim or beauty rings. I'm looking for rings for my rims that are like the original smoothie rings that do not come all the way to the edge of the rim. The reason why is because I'd like the very edge of the rim to be painted a different color than the center as in the picture below. Also, to add another twist, if these rings are available somewhere, would they fit a stock 15" 4-lug rim from 72? I'm trying to paint my rims and dress them up with a retro look.

Many thanks,
Martin---

Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:23 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=832832 check these out, I got the first set and they are dead on exact

Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:45 pm

I was also looking for some trim rings that did not cover the whole outer rim. I had tried some that a local VW shop sells and hated them, they wouldn't even seat all the way in a stock wide 5 smoothie, covered the whole outer and were really hard to get on at all.

So I bought some trim rings from Amazon, $90 for the set, chrome plated stainless. I am very happy with them, they fit really nice.

http://www.amazon.com/Style-Smooth-Beauty-Trim-Rin...amp;sr=1-1

These that I got from Amazon don't have the same profile as the stock VW rings, but aren't as expensive as the new repops. I guess it depends on what you are after and how much you want to spend; they were perfect for my criteria, not too expensive and still showed the outer lip of the rim. I apologize that I can't take a photo, but the car is tucked away and I am out of town for a week.

Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:56 pm

DO NOT buy the ones on the very top of the post!!! I bought them a few years ago (from EIsparts, I believe) and the sharp tabs on the back DESTROYED my newly painted smoothies. They are a very poor design and work nothing like stock. I couldnt even get them to seat into the wheel all the way. They are not worth 1/4 of the money they cost. The ones Mike gets are far better and actually look nice.

Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:44 pm

Finally able to update this old thread with some nice weather. These are the beauty rings I bought from an Amazon vendor, while not like the originals they do let the outer part of the rim be seen. Had the rims been the original colors I wouldn't have bothered, but I like the way they break up the all-red rims. And please forgive the crappy iPhone pics (original iPhone).

Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:58 pm

TateG wrote: Finally able to update this old thread with some nice weather. These are the beauty rings I bought from an Amazon vendor, while not like the originals they do let the outer part of the rim be seen. Had the rims been the original colors I wouldn't have bothered, but I like the way they break up the all-red rims. And please forgive the crappy iPhone pics (original iPhone).

Do you have the info for who you purchased them from?

Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:26 pm

There is a link in my earlier post just a few posts above, hopefully it stil works.

Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:39 pm

15" Xer's,perfect for smoothies

Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:42 pm

Hi!

Old volvo cars had those. There was a model that were called volvo amason and volvo pv that had them on. People in Sweden use them alot on their cars.
They use to be priced about 50 dollars for 4 pieces.

Hakan from sweden