Wheel guys: Are these aluminum or magnesium?

I would bet my ET's they are aluminum .........................

 

they look like aluminum to me ..

 

Aluminum. Old corroded aluminum gets that white corrosion also and that dark look as well

 

Aluminum Jim.....and for the guy to get mad is wrong.

 

Hey Shakey P The way your Talkin' to everybody else in this thread I can see you're a regular bundle of sunshine. it was probably your approach that got the guys ******* in a bunch. that's just my 2 cents................and those 2 cents are made of copper, just in case you felt the need to correct me.

 

I would say Aluminum, but it all depends on where they have been sitting for all these years. If they were in a pile of highly acidic leaves aluminum will take on the darkness of the acids or tannens. If they stayed wet then the stagnant rotting matter will act like a dye. Same reason aluminum will take on a red tinge when stored outside in Oklahoma or West Texas. If they were Magnesium the weight will be the tell tale after all these years. They look stained. Good luck Puddin' some people don't like to be questioned. I'd buy 'em if the price was right they are cool wheels.


Tim

 

Excuse me if my ******* got bunched up after the guy flamed me.

Here is my exact quote after getting a picture of the wheels:

"I've been collecting magnesium wheels for many years. In my opinion those are aluminum Ansen Sprint wheels.
I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive. Let me know what others say.
Thanks"

I did not correct him. I gave my opinion and backed it up that I wasn't positive. He 100% insisted they were magnesium, and called me a few unpleasant things.

 

I had a pair of Keystone slots that looked crusty like that and were aluminum. I wish I could have gotten $1200.00.

 

well they are deffently not steel my magnet slide right off the picture on the screen.

 

Believe me, flamed55...ShakeyPuddin55 is "really interested in aluminum vs. magnesium".

Genious there. He said he thought they might be, and wanted some opinions...about the wheels.

What about the way they're talkin' to him??? I'd probably "correct" someone too, if they stuck their know-nothing smarty-pants nose in. He can say what he wants...just like the quoted posters did.


Sorry, ShakeyPuddin55...sometimes...


Tell ya what, Jim. Maybe just p*** on those. Probably aluminum anyway. If the guy was confident that they're mags, he probably wouldn't get upset so easy...unless you did get a little pissy with him. You wouldn't do that, would you? lol. Regardless of the cause, the guy's pissed, so ta heck with it...too much trouble. You know...if it's not enjoyable, blah blah blah. You don't need all the mags, anyway...do you? lol.

 

I asked him what kind they were and how did he know that they were magnesium and not aluminum. This is the message he sent back. So from the message I received there is nothing on the back except "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY".


Don't know what brand as they have nothing on the back of them but for off road use only and since I've drag raced myself for 38 years I know the difference in aluminum wheels and these ain't aluminum!...Thanks

 

You couldn't use em on a real race car anyway, they have lug holes.

 

RB, Just callin' like I see it....re read the first page.

The way I see it they're post 64 so..........................

 

As far as I know, there were never any slots like these made in magnesium. I have seen Halibrands where the lips were ground off the windows but they had much more rounded edges everywhere (and who the hell would ruin a pair of Halibrands that way??!!). These look way to much like the standard aluminum "slot mags" of the 70's to be mag.
Of course, what do I know...

Steve

 

Then just ask. Their ******* match has nothing to do with what they are made of.

 

Spent the last 16 years working with aluminum and magnesium castings.. Those are definitly magnesium!.. I've also seen where the stuff turns dark if left in a tub of hot water for 2-3 minutes...

 

My dad has a set of magnesium ET's that he got as a graduation present from high school, all 14x7's if I remember right. Only set of magnesium I've seen, but I do believe others could exist. I haven't looked at them for a long time, but I believe they had bolt on center caps, and looked like regular old slot mags otherwise.

 

Why are you guys busting Jim's chops? He asked for your opinion if they're alum or mag, NOTHING ELSE! If you don't know the answer, keep your opinions to yourselves... geez! Wouldn't any of you be asking questions too before shelling out big $$? Jim, if this seller is getting so pissy over your question before shelling out your hard earned $$, I'd say he has something to hide and very insecure so lose him!!! Vic

 

Jim:

I can also say I've never seen slots made in mag before, but the coloring and oxidation on that pair sure does look convincing. It also wasn't uncommon for some of these old wheel companies to produce very limited runs of certain wheels. For instance, I've seen what appears to be a 16x13 Halibrand on the back of 2 or 3 cars over the years, but it's not the more common Sprint style window. It's the big round oval window with the bead all the way around, like on the 16x10 & 11's. Probably the easiest place to find this wheel was on the back of the old Yellow Submarine AA/FA. I've also seen them on late 60's shots of Ted Brown's trend setting T-bucket, and on the back of a Deuce 5-window years ago. The point is that there's some obscure stuff out there, and there's always exceptions to the rule.

If the seller knew anything about these old wheels, he should have known going into it that he would have many doubters (me included). For him to get angry over being questioned is just childish. At this point, I think a good comparison would be to weigh them, and compare against several known aluminum wheels of the same size and style. I'm sure there's a bunch of HAMBers out there that have similar 15x4 to 4.5 wheels that wouldn't mind weighing them for comparison.

 

Aluminum will turn that dark color when exposed to muriatic acid, and form the white oxidation...I've tried it with a couple intake manifolds, and it's very convincing!

 

If the date is 1983 or later on your 2 cents, it is made of 97.5% zinc and plated with a thin copper coating.

Not doubting you or making an opinion, excpet I'm amazed that ANYONE can make a 100% sure determination from looking at that picture.

 

Oh common I need my drama fix, I'm jonsen man.

They look like Ansen Sprints to me also, I have a pair in the ba*****t I guess I could get a closer look at them and come back.

They are discolored funny I wonder of someone made a magnesuim wheel that looked like an Ansen. I know that some acids will make aluminum discolor about like that but still??? This is just a '****** question I still think they are Ansens.

On a side note I gave 150 for my 15x5s. I'll bet those are pricey????

Mr G***er I didn't catch your post before posting myself. I have some billet/cast rocker covers that we treated that way back in the '90s that give a magnesium appearance but I couldn't remember what we treated them with.

 

Try oven cleaner.... made a bowtie intake look all kinds of mag looking...and not on purpose...

 

Wow, Shakey, some of these guys are kinda HOPING to make some drama outta this. Funny.
FWIW, I have NEVER seen a generic, Fenton style slot wheel that was made outta mag. AND, I HAVE seen aluminum so grungy and dirty that they APPEAR to be mag. I'm witch'u pal.....99.9% sure they are grungy old, regular aluminum wheels. .....but I don't have my "*****in' old Hot Rod Wheels" certificate either.

 

I don't know nottin but offer something anyway. The metal that was covered by the caps where they were screwed down is still shiney. I doubt that any place on a mag would still be shiney. I vote aluminum.

 

-----------------
Yeah, right. Sure he does. I call Total Bull
**** on this. 'Back in the day', E.T. made
*inexpensive*, 'look-a-like-only' knock-offs
of American and Halibrand-style wheels
- in aluminum only. E.T. never made any
wheels out of magnesium....ever!

Mart3406
=======================

 

If a seller of questionable "magnesium" wheels won't go to the trouble to test the material to confirm that they are magnesium he deserves whatever wrath is visited upon him by a buyer who buys magnesium based on the sellers word but receives aluminum.

Although I don't have a magnesium wheel around at the moment to test with white vinegar, which should fizz on magnesium and not react at all with aluminum, some people I trust tell me that the white vinegar test is completely valid. If that is so, why would a seller skip that step?

I've get a pair of magnesium American 5 spokes coming in a few days from a pal. I'll test them, see what happens, and get back with the results.

Charlie

 

Good God Man!!! I just went to Shakey's profile and looked at his extensive wheel collection!!!! Why would anyone argue with him,and where is this gentleman that owns these wheels in question... I think the inside of the rim looks mag,but the surface area looks like dirty *** aluminum!!!! Why hasn't this person weighed the wheels?? Seems fishy to me!!! my (pre 1983) $.02