Technical old mag wheel id help

I was able to score these wheels last week, wondering what they might be

 

Looks like someone modified it to use on a front axle .

 

Or, true knock off spinner?

 

The little white specks and the dark grey color makes me think they're magnesium..

 

I never saw a center hub arrangement like that, I'm very curious about this. Seems like there wouldn't be clearance for lug nuts with this setup, which makes me consider the knockoff idea (with 5 locating pins instead of studs) although it kind of looks like the 5 holes were slightly countersunk for a lug nut shank, which would be pointless if they were just for locating pins, I would think. I'm really not sure. Interesting though.

 

What size are the wheels. What is the bolt pattern for the lug area, might help determine what they were used on. I agree they have been made to use a knock off. American Racing made a similar knock off wheel but I believe the center was cast to be machined for the center lock spinner

 

Yep, like everyone has said, they are magnesium. The shape of the webs on the backside looks exactly like American, and they didn't have any name cast into them during the magnesium era. The weird thing is the steel ring on the front side which I've never seen before. I too think that it was added later to turn a wheel into a knockoff. Notice the front face around the lug holes has no sign of nuts ever being tightened against it.

 

Be real interesting to see what they were on!!

 

Would they be a true knock off with a bolt pattern? HRP

 

Looks to me like an aftermarket piece installed on this wheel....Used as a knockoff and located on the lugnut studs....

 

Narrow whitewall suggests something

 

That makes sense, thank you. HRP

 

Do wheel standers beef up the fronts for more protection from a hard landing? just a thought.

 

I wonder ... were Cobras pin or spline? It just has that Cobra look to me for some reason ...

Edit: pic added

 

^^^^^ I’ll have to peek at the Cobra that goes to Burbank Bob’s on Friday night’s.

 

Well the owner of the Cobra didn’t bring it out.

 

American Racing Equipment made multiple designs of magnesium racing wheels for sports cars. They included steel adapters front and rear to work with Rudge Whitworth design splined hubs and British center lock nuts from the cars wheels were going into. One of the popular designs was based on the Torq Thrust D™ pattern including wheels made for Shelby American as a street and race option for new Cobras.






The light green Cobra shown in the posted picture is CSX2493.


In the five spoke design, there were two versions. Cobras started getting these optional wheels in the original design with no exposed lug nuts. In the original design large bolts threaded directly into the magnesium. This arrangement worked for street and road race Cobras but when people started drag racing Cobras the bolts in the rear wheels would wallow the magnesium out and get loose. I talked with an owner that removed the rear wheels and tightened the bolts before every track event.


The solution was the second design with bolts passing through the web of the wheel hub and lug nuts. This design worked well in rear wheels for drag racing. There was a revision somewhere in time to add rib inside the backs of spokes. Shelby’s second team drag racer used this second design wheels.


American Racing put 6.5” wide through 8.5” wide wheels of the second design in their catalog. Shelby American could get 6.0” wide wheels for Cobras with stock wheel arches. A popular Cobra arrangement was 6.0” wheels front and 7.0” wheels rear depending on chassis range as early cars would not accept 7.0” wide rear wheels without widening wheel arches.


CSX2493 has had the second design wheels for a long time.


Ken Miles, of Shelby American, had two sets of “pin drive” wheels made to fit a race Cobra for his factory test car CSX2431. He raced with one set but they started developing cracks so they were disposed of. The second set was eventually obtained by a privateer Cobra racer and those wheels still exist (at least they did when the car was sold a few years ago).


Original design, no exposed lug nuts. In this case, 8.5” wide once used on a Cobra.





Second design, exposed lug nuts. In this case a new old stock Cobra specific 6.0” wide wheel.





Typical adapter and bolts. In this case, this wheel was a later model with the rib added to the back of each spoke. These wheels were not light, they had almost the same weight as the stock steel 15 X 6 steel wire wheels.



The next weakest drive line parts in Cobras that were raced were the rear hubs (axles) and half shafts. Shelby's works prepared racers received revised rear hubs provided Ted Halibrand's company. Half shaft assembly strength and fatigue resistance issues were not taken care of customer street car wise until the third 427 Cobra contract. Next to fail, the T10 transmissions only rated to a little over 300 ft/lb of torque.


Dan

 

If you can pull a production date code off the tire(s), it could give a time period to search for information details.

 

Educated guess. Someone took bolt on wheels and modified them to work with five "pin drive" hubs or hub adpaters, something done for many years. The steel addition appears to have a tapered seat of the early sprint car style center lock nuts. A few decades ago there was a shop in California converting almost any kind of bolt on custom aluminum or magnesium wheels into whatever configuration was necessary to make them work with five or six pin drive setups with customer's vehicle.

 

I am pretty sure the wheels were on this ride, I think I have a better picture, if it can be found?