chrome smoothies/blackwalls

Any opinions on chrome smoothies with bullet caps and blackwalls before i spend a grand and regret it? I like the way the old girl looks with the 5-spokes, but they just dont fit correctly up front and I dont wanna lose one on the highway.

 

I have them on both of my cars. I like them and mine were alot less than 1k and are holding up great. I think they would look great on your car.

 

I think the wheels are 150 a piece and the tires (goodyear) are 100 ea... maybe 25 for the caps. The guy at the local speed shop usually gets me pretty good stuff, but a grand one shot is tough. Once I get em mounted Im beat so thanks for the advice!

 

how about chrome reverse and blackwall. no cap or maybe just a small





a nice center cone on the front and flat plate in the rear....

 

What is the problem with the 5 spokes and why can't you fix the problem? I really think what you have looks better than smoothies.... Save the grand and see if you can fix what you have.....

 

???

 

If the rims are not centering correctly and vibrating on the front, jegs sells plastic centering rings to correct that. Also a good torque wrench helps too.

 

theres really no vibration, but something just seems funky. The rears went on pretty good over the drums, but the fronts wouldnt go over the cone on the rotor. I filed and filed and eventually got them to fit, but on the old rotors. The new rotors (which is a whole other story of mismatched parts) are larger and I dont want to keep filing, and have no room for spacers. The chev has a 78 28 clip but apparently different spindles... Im running outta patience fighting with these wheels but im dying to drive my car without fear of losing one.

 

Filing on wheels is not a good idea.

I like em with a small factory cap or no cap at all. Not a fan of cones.

 

I like the chrome reverse with NO center cap and maybe paint the axel to match a color on the car you used .
Honestly I wouldn't grind away on a new wheel . Send it back for the correct one .
I still don't understand what is wrong with the really nice looking 5 spoke mags you have now . They do look really good .

Retro Jim

 

thanks guys... what i meant was i have been filing the spoked wheels. didnt order the smoothies yet.

 

Could you use spacers to get them out a 1/8" or so from the drums for center clearance?

 

if you shop around bet you can find chrome wheels like the 15 X 6 Us Wheels 52 series through Summit Racing for $68 each. Then hit a couple of discount tire places and likely can find some 205/75/15 tires in the $75 range keeping your cost closer to $600.
if the spoke rims on car now are 14" that would explain the problem with clearing disc brakes. not all 14" were designed to fit disc brakes. of course there are the ads here for sale/wanted, craigslist, etc. black steel rims with beauty rings and chrome lug nuts or small caps would look good too.

 

I ordered the chromies and goodyears from unlimited motorsports... as usual it was a f#ck it moment. If I dont use em on the 53 they wont go to waste. Thanks again for the info.

 

I got it and it's still a bad idea. The smoothies will make it drive like a new car... Post pic's when you get them...

 

Im not a fan of blackwalls unless its a hot rod, but then again i think youre shotin for a street racer vibe, so its all good.

 

I see you already order the new rims. I hope they fit well for you with no h***les.

With those lake pipes, in my opinion, you had the right rim with the spokes.

From what I understand, you had to file out the hub centric part to get it to fit over the center part that houses the bearings and holds the dust cap. I’m ***uming you filed them by hand, so its probably uneven.

You stated the rears went on, so we will ***ume they fit well, just close to the drum, which is fine.

You state spacers are not an option, and apparently the fronts are actually on the rotor.

You could pull the front tires off wheels, take the rim to a machine shop and have them clean up where you filed it on the lathe just to open it up evenly, taking the material off evenly to where you filed it, so it will balance up. Obviously, you would want them to take off the absolute bare minimum so it would just be cleaning up the roughness. They should then be able to balance up and fit onto your rotor. Will probably charge you the minimum one-hour shop labor which would be anywhere from $50-90 depending on the shop.

Good luck man.

 

Opinion's are like ***hole's, everybody's got one! Here's mine. Chrome wheels w/ blackwalls will look great. I had that setup on my '50 Pontiac (see my albums) and I have them on my '46 Coupe. O.b.t.w., I would get rid of those side pipes...

 

Those look like the centers are nicely polished. Who makes those wheels?

 

see wheelkid for a set of the nicest chrome reverse wheels on the market.

 

OK... Thanks. I was wondering where they came from because the centers look much more polished than many of the chrome OE wheels you see. Chrome just looks deeper or something. I like that!

 

I'm with you novadude.Mags don't look right on an old car! we used to reverse centres,chrome and paint hub red. Then someone invented metal spinning and we put chrome bullets on.
RodL

 

Haha yeah damn those sidepipes! they are hooked up for now but are restricting my exhaust. Im looking into getting duals and nice chrome lakes, but for now it is what it is. At least I can drive the damn thing, and even with those hooked up its got enough get up and go.

 

think it would look great!