History Halibrand - In pursuit of history & stories

I bought a set of 15x14's and 14x6's from Halibrand back in '84 when they were still in California. If my memory serves me correctly (rare for me now) I was told they were heading to Kansas to set up shop. By the way, my wheels have never been on the road and are 100% original.

One of the 15x14's was porous in 2 places due to machining and with a little dab of JB Weld it's now 'good to go'. I have ancient '0' mileage Pro Tracs mounted on them now but will likely go with a Hoosier radial when the time comes to getting the car on the road.

 

I was told that it was Ted Halibrand who chose the 6 pin on 5" bolt pattern for the midgets and sprint cars. Anyone know if this is true? Were there other 6 pin on 5" hubs prior to Halibrand's knock offs?

 

Don't know but glad you bumped this.

 

Great thread-glad it,s been bumped as well......
I am lucky enough to own a couple of Ted,s offerings- a 101 midget with side bells and six pin hubs and a 201 that's been adapted for the street under my 35 pick up project.
These things are n,t easy to find down here in little Tasmania!
They are both Torrance manufacture-they can t get much further from where they were built!
Great info and history session-keep up the good work guy,s

 

I ‘m glad to see this thread resurface as well. Always have been intrigued by the Halibrand mistique. I’d love to see that timeline defining magnesium 4 to 5 small windows, medium windows, speedways and sprints.

 

BTTT
Been trying to get back on my Quickchange book and was looking for some history. Came across this thread (again).
discovered this post and tried to follow it up with no success.

Anyone have these magazines? If so, could you scan and post?

Sounds like there might be some additional information there.

Thanx,

Bruce

 

The pictures went missing. anyone have this magazine? Can you scan and post?

Thanx,

Bruce

 

Rootie,
Can you post any Quickchange stuff from this catalog?

 

Can't help on the ARC catalog, but I have a 1973 CAE that has the driveline stuff for the rear engine sprinter Culbert tried.

Let me know if you have any interest.

 

Sure post 'em up.
All things Quickchange

 

I have a basket-case midget with the 6 on 5" hubs, for which I needed wheels. Thinking I could save a few dollars, I figured I could find some standard steel wheel centers, cut down the outside diameter, and weld them into some 12" outer rims. After much research, I concluded that this pattern is rare or non-existent on wheels you're apt to find in the local junk yard. At one point, I ran across a Model "T" wooden spoke wheel. Voila! There were six bolts holding the spokes to the hub (one for each pair of the 12 spokes), on 6" centers. I am convinced this is the genesis of that bolt pattern, which is in nearly ubiquitous use to this day on oval track, lug and pin drive wheels. (Of course, the "wide-five" '36 Ford pattern also became common for a while.)

 

The early midgets used the Model T hubs, Halibrand just made the wheels to fit what everyone was running. Just like the early smooth wheels with the splines. It was to replace the Rudge wires that the Indy and sprint cars were running.

 

Desmo, the midget Halibrand wheels are usually affordable. Especially compared to big car wheels. Then you'd have the real thing.

 

Thanks! Unable to come up with an alternative, I have managed to put together a real set from swap meets.

 

I have 4-1/2 x 18s on the back of my sedan. I've assumed (silly me) that they were Indy front wheels. Are they? About when were they made?

 

See Zach Suhr here on the HAMB. He took over THE ALTERNATE from the original publisher and should have the archives.

 

BTTT
Just 'cuz!

 

I'm looking for info on my 201 rear. I've tried on here before, but had no luck. Its an IRS with much wider side covers for a late model diff, and note how much material ther is on the bottom under the snout. Does this look firmiliar to anyone? Here's some pics

 

Yeah, that's not regular. Must be a special casting so the builder could mount the center solid to the frame. Thicker bottom to tap into for mounts, maybe?

 

Are there any other markings on the castings? Normally Halibrand had his name on the center with the part number (201 in this case). Also, does the other one say 'Calif' ? The side bells don't look like any Halibrands I've seen before. They remind me of an Allard. Based on your location that would make some sense.

Ted made many special parts but I'm thinking that this could be an Allard copy with mods for the IRS. Strictly a SWAG on my part.

 

Yep, if you look at the first pic, you will see there's both 201 and calif cast in the center. I've looked at the Allard possibility before, but they're nothing like this. The mystery continues.....

 

I built this midget about 1971. Ted had just come out with his very compact in/out box and was way behind on orders. Also I ordered the QC with 1" offset. I think midgets were all straight up at that time. Everyone was saying Ted moved me back on the order list because I was a no one. As pictured here I had the car done without the Halibrand parts. My own design Hollywood spring front , SPACE FRAME, cross torsion rear. Long radius rods. Cage outside the body to not look like an Edmunds. John Hartwig B M R A champ. 5 Features in a row. A record at that time.