Day 2 parts discussion

**olredalert** · #1 08-10-2011, 04:25 PM

----Im curious as to weather the whole Crager wheel was made in Mexico or only the part you saw that was stamped "made in Mexico"???......Bill S

whitetop · #2 08-10-2011, 05:48 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: olredalert</div><div class="ubbcode-body">----Im curious as to weather the whole Crager wheel was made in Mexico or only the part you saw that was stamped "made in Mexico"???......Bill S </div></div>

The whole wheel was made in Mexico. Cragar made them in both the US and Mexico. I have a bunch of nos Cragars and some of the boxes say made in Mexico and some made in USA. I don't necessarily think they made them in Mexico to save money as some of the wheels I have are made in the US after the Mexican ones. Maybe they used Mexico at the time to meet demand??

Chrome is also way different than early Cragars. New ones are more shinier/deep and use a
darker chrome if you compare them side by side. Early ones used a "white" hexevelant chrome which I believe has been banned in the US for some time but a version of hexevelant chrome is still available IIR. I can't remember the official name of the chrome they used so that term might be incorrect but it is no longer available in the US. White hexevelant chrome was an industrial chrome they used on sink fixtures and curtain rods etc.

I learned about white hexevelant chrome the hard way = $$$. Had Pauls Chrome and also Stockton wheel replate some wheels-the color comparison was like an Oreo cookie versus the nos wheels I had. The new replated chrome was shinier and better but it would have been noticable on the car if I used my NOS rears. If you have all four replated most people would not notice or not know there was a difference from the originals anyway

**mockingbird812** · #3 08-10-2011, 07:02 PM

Good info whitetop! Much appreciated.

whitetop · #4 08-10-2011, 10:10 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mockingbird812</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good info whitetop! Much appreciated. </div></div>

Valuable lesson learned. $800 plating fee from Pauls for 2 wheels( I wanted the best show chrome) $175 welding fee from Stockton and $60.00 shipping. Wheels returned from Stockton and I was happy with them. Couple years later placed them on a sunny day on my back deck along with mrecently acquired NOS 15 x 10 rears and it was Ohhh fudge....

Had another set replated by Stockton who said the chrome would be correct..it was not but more correct than Paul's but still off. Took my nos ones to Custom Chrome in Medina Oh and said" Can you match this chrome?" and the platers said "yeah but I would have to send them out to a 3rd world country whose frogs have 3 eyes" and he gave me a short lesson on banned chrome in the developed world

So disgusted ended up selling them to a guy dirt cheap and he had his used rears replated to match the fronts. I probably should have done the same thing but just didn't care anymore. Out of site out of mind.

**olredalert** · #5 08-11-2011, 03:04 AM

----Thanks Whitetop! Thats interesting stuff. What part of Ohio are you from? Im from Medina and dont remember Custom Chrome, but have been gone from that area for many years. Actually I dont remember any chrome platers from that area, but then at my age the memory does slip just a bit......Bill S

Plowman · #6 08-10-2011, 09:08 PM

x2 on that whitetop.

six-corners · #7 08-11-2011, 03:46 AM

Thank you VERY much. Just this past weekend I was talking to a friend about older Cragars vs. the newer ones. I had no proof on my observations, now I have something to send him regarding this subject. Thank you again!!

68l30 · #8 08-11-2011, 12:14 PM

Bill, Custom Chrome is on Rt. 57 in Grafton...Best platers around hands down!

Steve

**black69** · #9 08-11-2011, 05:53 PM

whitetop, I bow in your general direction. Man you know your stuff. I had no idea there was the potential for different looking chrome out there. wow.
that really helped as one would think some nos wheels up front would blend with new wheels in back.

on a side note, for cragar lovers, cragar STILL will make custom offets for any SS wheel. If the 80s/90s 15x12's do not fit perfectly when I test fit them here soon, I will be on the path of a custom offet. Only $50 per wheel charge. new chrome.

whitetop · #10 08-11-2011, 09:26 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: black69</div><div class="ubbcode-body">whitetop, I bow in your general direction. Man you know your stuff. I had no idea there was the potential for different looking chrome out there. wow.
that really helped as one would think some nos wheels up front would blend with new wheels in back.

on a side note, for cragar lovers, cragar STILL will make custom offets for any SS wheel. If the 80s/90s 15x12's do not fit perfectly when I test fit them here soon, I will be on the path of a custom offet. Only $50 per wheel charge. new chrome.

</div></div>

Couple of years ago Cragar changed their wheel mold and went to a flat spoke on the SS. You can see it in this pic. Kinda looks like the old AMT model kits that had Cragars, that while called Cragars you knew they where not right. The originals had a curved spoke. Besides coloring the new ones are not even close to the originals. If yuo are a stickler for original, very good used and new ones with the curved spoke are still on the 'bay every so often but you have to be patient.

Here is an old set..you can see the curvature on the spokes. Of course 99 percent of the people out there don't know there is a difference and to be honest don't care.

http://cgi.ebay.com/set-vintage-Cragar-S...=item4cf950510e

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