Features Vintage front wheels, post pic's here.

WOW Dad bought a 64 Polara new Before I was born. He had it till about 69 or 70. Lots of the older guys that knew him talked about it being the fastest thing around for a lot of years. It had a 426 Wedge and a 4 speed and I can still remember that beast

 

I have some weirdos I've never seen or heard of before, skinny Bart brand aluminum slots. I know Bart made steel stock car rims but never anything this skinny and lightweight !
15 x 3.75 (measured the correct way between the lips) not much backspace either. The aluminum itself is a lighter shade too, a similar shade to the 15 x 11 Shelby's I plan on running with them.

 

A couple to add, from my high school buddy's collection who has been collecting real Halibrands since 1970.
This is only a small part of it. I'm still jealous....

 

I love these old threads. I wasn't around back in the early days here, so it's always interesting to go back and see posts from guys who aren't active around here any longer. The character of the HAMB has changed over time. Plus this thread has some great information in it.

 

Here are my pair of early 60s US Indy Torq Thrusts with the Hurst Cheater slicks.

I need some skinny fronts

 

Bob, don't let your buddy make you too jealous, those Halibrand lookalikes on the front of his three-window are new wheels. Not vintage.

 

I got this funny package from a friend in Australia. 15-3.5's, never had the bearing races installed or the valve stem holes drilled.

 

T

 

Winter wheels

 

Hello,

Our hot rod/drag race/custom car adventures were wide and varied. But as the high school years were leaving us, thoughts of making the 58 Impala unique and fast was becoming an option. It was already fast and we could have modified the motor for more horsepower, but the custom approach was something different, so the new path started.

For some reason, I had started saving money and there was enough to modify my Impala or get something to instantly add on for a real custom car look. A friend had a set of Buick Skylark Wire Wheels he purchased for his own hot rod. There were 5 pristine wire wheels sitting in his garage, so I made an offer. He did not want to modify his own car, so, I bought them for the Impala. I knew a local machine shop that could make the modifications to the hubs and axles, so that started the project.

In 1962-63, there were a few 1958 Impalas cruising around and my black 58 Impala was part of that group, but I felt it just needed something else to make it stand out more. With the new 62-63 Chevy sedans in the mix, style was primary and after the conversion, the 58 Impala stood out like a show car that was very fast.

No other 58 Impala had a C&O Stick Hydro transmission, a modified 300 + HP motor and a solid trailer hitch on the back for the daily cruising around. Now, to add a set of Buick Skylark Wire Wheels put my old 58 Impala over the top.

Jnaki

Over the year, it was very cool and drew attention everywhere we went on our weekend jaunts. But, tragedy struck one summer and the Impala got stolen. It took us several hours of frantic searching all over our Long Beach/Lakewood neighborhood and found it sitting on 4 milk crates in a dark portion of a local playground. It was partially hidden by some tall bushes and that made it a black on black or dark area, which made identifying and finding difficult.

So, the last months of driving the 58 Impala was black on black regular steel Buick rims and blackwall tires. A dark mode in late 1964.

The Buick Skylark wire wheels are classic and have a following in the hot rod/custom world. Once finely tuned and balanced, they ran straight and never had wobbles. They stayed in alignment and balance until they were no longer on the Impala.

When I found this 1958 Impala photo years back in an old Impala research project, it looked like what our Black, 1958 Impala would have looked like if I had taken a photo prior to the Skylark Wire Wheels being stolen. (not including the Purple top)

But, upon discovery of the Levi Ponce artwork in Pacoima, now I can see it may have been a tribute build for a Ritchie Valens Memorial. Ritchie Valens was born in Pacoima in 1941, but tragedy works itself into the picture and 17 years later, we all know what happened in Rock and Roll history.

My black 1958 Impala with red interior had this look, thanks to @themoose, great job!

 

The absolute pinnacle of badass front runners.

 

15x4 and 15x8 polished rim American Racing

 

Not a mag wheel, just a vintage rambler wheel me and my dad recently finished

 

My 15x4 mag Americans - Anglia spindle. Polished lip and custom blended goldish green paint with flattened clear. Have new M&H Racemaster front runners for them that are yet to be mounted.

 

Feb 1959

Hello,

In drag racing high powered FED race cars, every little bit helps. The early dragsters used steel wheels as there was nothing on the market to use for lighter weight wheels. Most of the frames were big and huge, with little taken in to compensate to make the front end lighter. So, the normal size tires and rims were used.

As we all know, progress in all aspects of racing takes place in warehouses all across the USA. The Westcoast contingent was already using lighter wheels on other forms of racing, so, in 1958-59, things started to change for the current, sleek powerful FED race cars.

Jnaki

“New Magnesium wheels have bearing races in. Fits on stock Ford spindles with stock bearings. NO HUBS necessary. TOTAL WEIGHT 11 POUNDS. USE light and inexpensive 2 ply tires found on Renaults and other small foreign cars. SAVE 35 lbs. on each tire, wheel and hub. JUST LIKE TAKING 70 LBS. OFF THE FLYWHEEL.”

Halibrand Engineering, Inc. Culver City, Calif.


Cagle Herbert FED record holder in 1959-60.
Lion's Dragstrip 1959-60
SOUND:

Cagle-Herbert Yellow FED SOUND… THANKS, Troy @FuelRoadster

 

Another friend had a pair of these in his stash, we are doing some trading, so now I need 2 racecars .....

 

Believe it or not, I still have these tires and rims, one still has some original air in it. I do add a little from time to time. The other on went really south, must have been exposed the elements more.

 

Bet that rolled right through the customs control

 

I have a set of these on my 67 Chevelle SS drag car

 

A fellow in California produced a limited number of sets of Willys Gasser front wheels. I snapped up a set. They are almost exact replicas of the Halibrands with a thicker web and made of aluminum instead of magnesium. Rear wheels are Appliance rip-offs of American TorqThrust design. I bought these new in about '66.

 

Fixed it!....

 

Thanx. I forgot to hit the enlarge button. My advanced Partsheimer's.