I talked to a guy with a 63 Grand prix today and at the end of the conversation I brought up the 8 lug wheels. He told me he took them off because he always had a problem with warping the drums. Is this really a problem? I am also curious as to what sort of spindles and backing plates you need for an interchange. I've been looking into a Willy's phaeton and some big Pontiac wheels sound mighty nice.
Should've clarified, they are poncho wheels and drums. The willys is on a 31 ford frame and unknown drums. I am also wondering if they would work out on my 59 Caddy.
I had a set on a old '65 Bonney. I sold them and traded a guy that wanted them on a '63 he had. We did a swap at a automotive shop. That was 30 years ago, all I remember was that the 8 lug wheels had special brake shoes on them. They were different then the stock drum brake shoes. As far as warpage, I have never heard that. I got a ton of bud's with poncho's and I will ask and PM ya. Joel
and them drums aint cheap (at least that is what i was told), i sold a brand new OEM one about 5yrs ago at a swap meet for $150 just to get it out of my garage & they guy was happy to pay it, but then i thought the guy who paid me $75 for a 4 clylinder willy's head was crazy too .......joe
I put a set on a 63 Chevy a few years ago. Had to machine the front hubs for new bearings, and redrill the rear axles.
My '63 Grand Prix has them on it. The only drawback I can see is when it's time for a rebuild they are expensive. A little history, They were made for Pontiac by Kelsey Hayes to get a heavier right front hub and better brakes for the stock car boys. Back then, if you ran it on Sunday it had to be available across the counter at your local dealer, that is how a ton of the hi-performance stuff got added as options to production vehicles. I kept them on my Poncho just because they are different. I believe they were available from '59 to '68 but dont quote me on that.
I never heard of 'em warping the drumbs. You can't get tires mounted at just any tire shop as I remember. We pulled a bunch of 'em when I was a kid to swap on Americans and chromies and the like and just threw them away. Last one's I saw for sale were about 600 a wheel complete (backing plate to rim). That was a couple of years ago.
Might be wrong here, but if you use the 8 lugs you have to use the matching wheels which are 14" only. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Mart.
Hey check out Chief8lug.com we offer restoration services and also sell complete sets of restored 8 lug wheels and drums for all years they were offered - C8L
The "warping" is probably corrosion buildup between the pressed in steel liner and the aluminum drum, which is a fairly common occurence, 40 to 45 years after the fact.
This is the only 63 Tempest known to ever have a set of 8-lugs. SIMPLE to do but nobody ever took the time to engineer it. Still have the stuff...
Yeah, but it's relevant and they do a good job.They can re-line drums, and that's a hard service to find. typically, I would hand out an equal ration of shit, but they're alright guys in a niche market.
Ran 8 lugs on several cars(pontiacs) over the years. Never had a problem with warping. The liners can be replaced but it is not cheap. There are places that will build wheels in other than 14" sizes. I am using 16" on the rear of the roadster that is in process now. Trim rings are available in several sizes. There are 3 styles of wheels59-60 flanged, very desirable spelled really, that much?. 61-66 plain. cheap available 67-68 ribbed Only seen one set. Drums come in short fin59-62, two types, Alcoa (59-early 60) and K-H and longfin 63-67 all KH. All can be installed on the standard Pontiac backing plate. shoes and hubs. The correct shoes are wider by a quarter inch. cylinders are the same. The assemblies are heavier than a steel wheel. Sets can be had for around 600 for a set of long fins and 7 for short. A set of Alcoas with the flanged wheels are almost unobtainium. I have a one wheel set that I have been offer 500 for. Any thing else you want to know? I think they are cool as a puppy with a sock.
There is a Bonneville with the 8-lug parts (brakes and wheels) at a wrecking yard in Fort Worth, I'm sure the whole car would cost less than a grand.
The drums are aluminum with an iron liner. I suppose if the liner got too thin, they can warp. But, I've head em on lots of cars with no issues at all. As far as interchange, I don't know. But, if you wanna put em on a Pontiac of the correct year that has stock drums its very easy. On the rear, just slide off the orig drum, slide on the 8-lug drum and secure it to the axle with 5 stock lugnuts. On the front, remove the dust cap, cotter pin, and spindle nut, and remove the stock drum. Then install the 8-lug drum, wheel brngs, spindle nut, cotter pin, and dust cap. Now your 8-lug wheels will bolt on to the new drums. PS-you can readjust your brakes at this point, but the right way would be fresh shoes at this time
I had a '65 Catalina with them. I never had any problem with any of it. No warping problems, don't remember any big deal with workin' on 'em ..
It's good to see someone step up to the plate on this, there's definitely a market out there. I'm sure you're aware of Roger Riehl who used to do this work until he passed away - my understanding is when he started out the quality was very good but towards the end there were a lot of problems with his parts. And, more recently Arrowhead Components is manufacturing all new 8 lug drums. As I recall, the liners on the drums that Roger was doing were going out of round and in some cases even coming loose altogether from the aluminum, Do you have a foolproof method for installing the new cast iron liners and getting them to stay in place?
Stuart, I checked out his website but I didn't see anywhere that he was actually relining the drums. Maybe I just missed it, but all I could find was just 'turning, and refinishing'.
Maybe 4 years ago this was true, 15" wheels are available from 15 x 5 to 15 x 10 from BOP Engineering
We are not actually offering relining services. We found someone who would do it for a starting price of $500 a drum as long as they don't run into any problems. We offer sets of Restored 8 Lugs that are turned within legal limits, and powder coated wheels. These sets start complete minus trim rings and caps at $1,750. The fins have mirror finishes, the studs are chased, bearings and races replaced, as well as a new set of brake shoes arced to each set. We have two sets on eBay right now and many more on the shelf. Check us out Chief8Lug.com Email: [email protected]
Who relines pontiac 8 lug drums? I have a set on a 66 GP and want to get them relined. Chief8lugs only turns them according to their adds. There was a company called Custom Circuits that used to do them. A guy in Ill. said some machine shop in Moline did them but could not remember the name. Any info you might have would be appricated.
I am looking for someone who will reline my pontiac 8 lug drums. Any information would be appricated. I know you can buy new ones but $350.00 a piece is more than I can afford.
If you find out, let me know. I heard the only guy that did em died, and no-one he knew wanted to take over the job
My '67 bonny had these 8 lug wheels when I bought it. They were warped a bit and even in L.A. it was difficult to find someone who could turn them. Not too many places could balance the fronts, either! One place did an OK job with one of those "on the car" systems, but I ended up finding another place that had a "wide 5 lug" VW adapter that also accommodated the 8 lug Pontiac rim (divorced from the brake drum/hub of course). As another poster noted, the stock drums are completely interchangeable. I found a low mile '67 Catalina in an L.A. "u picka part" junkyard (damn I miss going to those yards!) and just yanked the drums and popped them on. The swap was partially prompted by the drum warpage, and a neighbor who sold me a set of Cragars for $50... --Ken
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