Did I just buy the wrong hubcaps?

[jocko]

hop sing, I personally would not trim a caliper. Strength issue if you grind too much - the material there is built to absorb the pressure felt when clamped by the fluid - mechanically, the top curve - starting at the inner crotch between the top and side - would be the weak point - and you'd be grinding on the outer side of that exact spot, narrowing the cross-sectional area. Might not be a big deal if you only grind a very little bit, but I wouldn't, again - just me.

The interference occurs between the taper on the inside of the pre-71 6 lug wheels and the caliper. The 71+ K10 wheels have a more direct drop from rim edge back to wheel center vice the 45-ish degree taper of the wheel. Sorry, but I don't know how extreme the interference is - so not really able to let you know how much you'd need to grind off a caliper if you chose to do that. Could always experiment with a junkyard version of the same caliper on and see how it goes with fitment, but it might just be easier to get the 71+ wheels. Another option is to get a 5 lug conversion and then you can use stock 71+ 5 lug C10 wheels which are MUCH more plentiful than the K10 wheels. Keep in mind, if you do the 5 lug conversion, you can probably absorb the front wheel converison cost by buying a 5-lug conversion disk brake kit (if you're installing drop spindles in the process) but don't forget to consider the rear axle 5 lug conversion kit as well - would suck to have to carry around both a 5 and 6 lug spare tire....

simplest solution is to start a search for some 71+ K5/10 wheels. Or could perhaps experiment with a junk caliper for a grinding experiment if you're using factory parts and your stock 15x5.5 steelies.

Markeb01 posted a great pic on here somewhere that showed exactly the interference spot on the rim - and the taper is obvious. Also - someone else on here may know how much interference there is between a stock pre-71 6 lug wheel and a caliper, that would help you decide which way to go.