Hot Rods LET'S CRITIQUE WHEELS - New Repro Wheels that do or don't

Reminds me of the first time I saw an old photo of those old go kart wheels that look like five spoke Americans.

 

I'll use this for a bump!
Will gladly delete if offensive.

 

I have a set of these as well, the issue will be, what to do if I ever damage one?

 

You will have to start searching on the net for a replacement....but if the the damage is a minor edge tweak you should be able to massage it back. The rim is rolled sheet, not cast like the center, so it can be worked cold.

I've been using "mag" wheels of one kind or another for over 50 years and have never bent one and I'm not gentle with my hot rods or daily drivers. I wouldn't worry about it a lot.

 

I got around to putting tires on my American Rodmasters after running the red wheels earlier this summer.

 

Let's keep this one going guys!

 

Those dandies in the window seem to like your shiny red truck.

 

I think it was one of the South East Gasser guys who said these wheels weren't period correct because the windows were too big. When was this ad published?

 

May 1969 Hot Rod according to the bottom of the page


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Had a guy tell me the other day that there are these 10 spoke front runner wheels that I just HAD to have for my gasser project. I told him thanks, but no thanks, I will stick with my Ansen Sprints.

 

Stand your ground against evil and bolt-on "spindle mounts".

 

I wonder if someone could help me tell the difference between the original Cragar SS wheel, and what they are shipping now. I have read that they now have a flatter spoke profile. I would like to see a picture of old and new side by side. I've tried searching for photos, but I'm not really sure how to spot the new one.


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My Henry J has too much engine set back to be a gasser technically and I like the look that 10 spokes had on this type of car but I am not willing to sacrifice my front brakes to run spindle mounts on the street. If the car was a museum piece or had a history I'd be more concerned with period correctness. And cars of the day did have disc brakes. Not real common but they were out there.

 

I like my "modern" ET Classic 5's.
I think the key to traditional looks is as deep offset (minimal backspacing) as possible on the rear wheels.
Painted or as-cast centers and polished or machined lips helps too.

BTW, the fronts are 45-year-old 15x3.5" Fenton Gyros.

 

There are at least 3 companies selling Sprint (Halibrand) style wheels. Real Rodders Wheels, American Rebel and Radir all look exactly the same. Is one manufacturer making these wheels for these companies??

 

Radir is a dealer for and sells the American Rebel, Real Rodders are the original Real Wheels originally manufactured and sold by Eric Vaughn.

Steve

 

I know they are not Halibrand, but I think that the Cragar look-a-like's are close from a distance. I ended up taking the spinners off and putting the small caps on just to make them a little more custom.
Jim

 

Maybe I'm old school, or maybe I'm just old but, I much prefer the original look of the "rounder" spoke Cragars. Not sure why they chose to change them when they re-released them when they could have just as easily created a new "classic" wheel by simply emulating (read that: copying) the look of the original.

 

Thanks Moriarity! That makes it obvious. I bought a set in 1979. They surely were original spoke. Anyone have an idea when they made the change?

The likelihood of me buying a new set just went down. Maybe the price of originals went up.


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At some point in the past they went to the uni-lug configuration, not sure when. I had a set on a '72 Chevelle back in the mid-seventies that were drilled car model specific. The switch to uni-lug might help date production if we only knew when that took place.

 

There's a fair amount of info on Cragar online about it. I remember doing some research on it when I wound up with a single 14x6 - 4.5 Cragar. There are a few wheel companies that will make single hole drilled Cragars for you if you don't like the uni-lugs, but they're (obviously) more expensive.

 

Because of the various ownership and source changes for Cragar, it's highly likely that both flat and rounded styles were made concurrently. For what it's worth somewhere I have an ad (not for Cragar, I think for a oil additive) from the late '60s early '70s that has a T bucket with some super wide, super deep (probably like 15x14 wheels with Indy tires) that had a very flat spoke.

Also I had a pair of the flat spoke Cragars that were direct bolt pattern as well just to confuse matters. (pictured below - if someone cared to zoom in on the back you might be able to pick up a manufacture date)

 

Anyone ever have a set of Cragars that didn't rust after a few months?
I bought a set for my '66 Fairlane (my very first new car) back in the day. Man, was I disappointed.
Course my original Emberglow paint job didn't last long either........so, it went silver.

 

They were very prone to rusting if you didn't keep 'em clean and waxed all of the time.

 

Mine also had the chrome peel off the spokes.