yenko chevelle wheels

[Belair62]

Eastwood has stuff called Diamond clear for wheels.It comes in gloss or satin.This stuff works pretty good too but if there is staining in the aluminum .....

[Stefano]

Rat_Pak,
I have used "POR" cast iron gray exhaust manifold paint, with satisfactory results. While not correct for a judged car this works great for Cruisers and drivers. The POR is a bit lighter in color than current Torque Thrust "D"s but has the distinct advantage of heat resistance and durability. No clear coat necessary.
I'm sure you could figure out a way to add some gold tint for a more correct appearence.

[Rat_Pack]

Whitetop, I have never seen those ads for Torque Thrust wheels. There were a lot of owners that painted their wheels because it was easier to keep them clean or it complimented their car. As far as American offering such a service I have never heard or seen it. Now it is possible that some of the magnesium wheels were done that way.

Now wheels like the ET SUPER, Ansen Top Eliminator, Cragar G/T, Rocket RPM, and other similar wheels were offered in black or gold tone spokes and some even a dark gray matte finish. That was one thing American prided themselves on was unpainted wheels. I am not up on these brands as much as the Americans and some of them were offered in the "as cast" finish also.

Belair62, the gold/gray look was somehow done in the casting process. I have talked with guys that used to work for ARE in the sixties and early seventies and they are pretty quiet about the casting process. I gues they don't want the third world countries to know how we do things or something. From what I gather it was really not the metal they used but maybe something they added to the mold or possibly the casting itself. I do know that if the wheels are ever "bleached" with wire wheel cleaner or similar product they will turn white like most aluminum does from acid. There is no way to duplicate the look of an NOS wheel without painting them. Most of the time I just glass bead the wheel with new beads and then finish polish the rim with 180 emory cloth and then a coat of Mothers mag polish to make them shine a little.

If you get a chance to look at the back of a new Torque Thrust D, they don't always cover the backs of the spokes really well with paint. Look closely and you will notice that there is a pinkish gold tint to the aluminum on the spokes in the rough cast area. There has to be something in the casting process that does that, similar to the earlier wheels. Answer to your earlier question about the magnesium wheel finish, they do have a goldish grey tint at first and then over the years it turns more of a green/grey if they are not taken care of. I am not a big fan of those wheels for a restored street car or show car. But boy do those Halibrand Sprints look awesome when show polished! Looks almost like fine silver.

I too have used the Aluma blast paint on a set of those new wheels and it does look good. It beats having to try and glass bead that powder coating off of them...............RatPack................

[whitetop]

Sad to say most of the "casting jobs" have been moved to the third world countries. They may be able to teach us a thing or two nowdays. I would venture to say 30+ year old casting technology is a little outdated.
Dave

[Rat_Pack]

Whitetop, your right about the casting stuff going overseas. Even the diecast cars are being done over there. Ertl was supposed to move its operations to Peru or some other place like that. Not sure if they have made that move or not..............RatPack..........

[Jeff H]

I just picked up a set of 15x8-1/2 and 15x10 AR 200S wheels. I'm not sure if they're going to fit though and my car is at the shop so I can't do a trial fitting either. They have a 3.5" backspacing as well. RatPack, I just got them and tried to find the "American Racing Equip" cast into them, but I can't find it anywhere. I need to clean them up, but was there another manufacturer that made the 200S style wheel if these aren't AR? The guy claimed they were because he was the one that originally bought them way back when. I've heard from some other people that "American Racing Equip" wasn't always cast into their wheels and this is from people that bought wheels brand new in the box. Does anybody know if I can run 15x8-1/2 up front and 15x10 in the rear?

[Rat_Pack]

Jeff, every set of 200S ARE wheeels I have owned and have now, have American Racing Equipment cast into the backs. What you have are an exact copy made by Western sometime in the late 70's. I have never gotten the complete story on them but they seem to have come from the exact same mold. Unless you look at the backs of them you would never know. I have owned a few sets of those and a freind of mine has one on his car with the other 3 being true Americans.

I looked at a set of slot mags this weekend and they did not have any casting mfg name on the back except M.P.C AH-1 and they had ARE center caps. The centers came through from the back of the wheel which I do not believe that American ever did their slot mags this way. What is strange is that these wheels required use of the American small diameter lug nut. I passed on these wheels as I could not use them for my car but they were mint.

What year and type of car are you going to put these wheels on? I have had all types of combinations on just about all years of Camaro's and Chevelle's..................RatPack.............

[Rat_Pack]

Jeff, you are better off selling them. About the only ones that can use those are guys with the 70-73 Camaro's and 73-77 Chevelle's. Those slot's that I looked at buying were 15 x 10 and had 3-1/2" of backspacing and were on a 72 Camaro. They looked good on the back of it with 275/60 tires but they did rub a little, but not much.

The Blue Maxi (69 Car & Driver give-away car) had 15 x 8-1/2" 200S wheels on it with G60 tires but I do not know how they got them to clear on the front. The last time I saw the car it had 245/60 Goodyear Eagles all the way around. The rear wheelwell lips had been rolled under a little and a couple of the bolts holding the front wheelopening moldings on were removed. I could not tell if there was some "massaging" of the inner fenders for clearance. I sold a set of 4 8-1/2" rims to a friend and he put them on his 69 RS and he could not run the same size tire on the front as he did on the rear. He probably could have if he would have taken the time to do some measuring and test fitting. He is running a very short and narrow 75 series tire up front that really "balloons" the sidewall out, it does not look good at all. Try finding a pair of 15 x 7's to match the two 8-1/2's you already have and mix them up that way..................RatPack.................

[Jeff H]

I was going to put these wheels on my 69 JL8 Z28. I'm pretty sure the backspacing is wrong so I'll just sell them. They have push in center caps, not caps that mount from the rear. I've heard the ARE had other companies making wheels for them which did not have ARE on the back.

[Jeff H]

That's my plan. But the 15x8-1/2's have 3.5" backspacing as well and I'm thinking that might push them out too far. I'll see if they fit and if they do I'll keep them. I never realized how difficult it is to match up these older wheels with the right combination of size, backspacing, getting the correct lugnuts, center caps, etc. I guess this is part of what makes the restoration fun.