So I've got two 14x6 vintage American Torq Thrust wheels I bought for my '37 Ford Flatback. I need to know if the new TTO Americans are close, direct match or forget about it jack. Any help is appreciated! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
There are several small changes between the old and the new TTO's. Put them side by side to see. Also the photo of the wheel you are showing looks questionabl. To me the spoke's look to round on the face. Real Americans have the name in the casting on the back side. Does that wheel say American Torque thrust Racing on it? The Wizzard
Close enough match for the front and the rear of a car. Note you will need some old center caps for the front wheels as the new ones won't fit.
The easy way to spot the New old ones is they use tapered lug nuts, not the shank and washer ones. The face the center cap sits on is totally different. The steps in the rim from bead surface to flat center is different. I think there was one other change but can't remember what it was. The Wizzard
both of these are early wheels I was told that the early round spokes were coveted by collectors. It's pure hearsay. both are 14" It's been too long for me to remember the exact details but I believe that the round spokes are early aluminum Americans. The Torque thrust Ds came along in 1965 to work on the new Corvette "D" disc brakes.
Identical, no, like HRP says, but if you paint the spokes on the old ones to match the new ones, probably 99% of the people who see them on the finished car won't notice. If it winds up driving you crazy down the road, you can always spend the money for two more TTOs to match. Like Pist-n-Broke, I'm a little skeptical about the older ones being Americans, but that said, they're a nice looking wheel that should clean up and paint up nicely.
Pist-on-broke yes. That was verified by longtime friend and American Torq Thrust collector Skot Ingram here in Texas. This picture may not show it but they do say American on them. Thanks! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Does that Round Spoke wheel actually say American Racing in the casting on the back? I was around when they first came out. In fact they were cast in a foundry in my home town. They all said American Racing on them even the magnieseum ones. The Wizzard
We used the Torque Thrust Ds on a 65 Comet, but not sure how much different they were from the originals. One issue is the center caps. Got ahold of some earlier ones (not sure how early!) that are metal, the new ones were plastic.
IMHO, there's too many differences to mix/match new Americans with the old ones on a car and if you're building a vintage 60's era traditional Rod, original Americans will look best as the newer ones will look a bit out of place. There's also no reason to mix/match as they sold millions of them over the decades and they're still relatively easy to find in a large variety of sizes. Pick up another pair of vintage Torque Thrusts or sell your pair and order a new set of 4.
I think the ETs are a closer match than the new TTO is. These are 4-1/2 and the 7" will be deeper with bigger lip.
Any idea what they might be worth then? 14x6 zero offset 4 3/4" Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Good to know for sure. My advice is not to mix them up. The New old repo's are close and in a set of 4 look pretty darn good. Depends on what you doing but I'd keep shopping for a correct pair. Maybe buy a new set to get you by till you find the missing 2. The Wizzard
Depends on how nice they are of course. In the pas 5 years I've bought them from $20.00 each to $100.00 each. Old beat up ones take a lot of work to turn around. They see to be what yo find the most of.
Might just buy a new set then. I don't make swap meets anymore. Thanks for y'all's help! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I was in the same boat as you regarding Americans for my sedan delivery. It always bugged me that my front wheels [American round spokes] didn't match my rear wheels which were American "pointy spokes". I looked for some round spokes for the back and eventually gave up. I scored a pair of later American "pointy spokes" for the front and swap meeted the old round spokes. I didn't care for their look anyway.
An aticle I read awhile back on another site had an in depth bank of infor on most all popular alloy wheels. Not too sure I could find it again, but it stated that all the original American Racing wheels had the name cast into the back side, but that when the foundry that cast them burned down and they started casting elsewhere the name wasn't cast into them anymore.
From my travels with American Torq-Thrusts, I feel the only aluminum round spoke style they produced were the 14"x6". All aluminum ones have the name cast in. The only magnesium ones I have ever come across with the name cast on back, are late style 15"x4" spindle mounts and certain 16" rear wheels;with American Racing cast on the front.
I have found the name cast on every aluminum American, and on none of the magnesium Americans. But, I have not seen all the wheels American ever made.
I was having trouble finding a pair of narrow wheels for the front of my Chevy II, so I ordered a pair of TTO 15x5 wheels. Between the time I ordered them, and they showed up, a friend got me a pair of old slots. When I saw the boxes with the new wheels said "made in china", I decided right then to just send them back, unopened.
alchemy : I've not seen them all either; but I have the pair of spindle mounts,I'm referring to. The pair of 16" rears I was referring to ended up on the back of Steve Hendricsons resto of the Maz '61 vette drag car.
Back in the 90's I ran 14x6 American's on the front and some Torque Thrust copy 15x7's on the rear. All were bought at swap meets and I had them polished as you could not get them new at the time. The copy wheels were a good match for the front round spoke Americans. I think the copies were Ansen wheels??
That's the site I was thinking of. It says in one place that all AR aluminum Torque Thrusts are cast with name in the back. Further down in a section on other AR wheels where it is talking about 202S, or "daisy" wheels is where it talks about the original foundry burning down and that subsequent wheels were cast by, IIRC, Rockwell without the name. Non too clear whether they're writing about all AR alum. wheels, or just the "Daisy" pattern.
There are tons of vintage five spokes that would match, when I said the ET vintage fives were the best match, I meant of wheels that are currently available new, as it sounds like that is what the op wants.
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