Customs What looks better I’m confused ! Now with pics of wire rims I’m thinking of buying .. whew !

Wires.

 

Polls closed.......The wires have it!

And, the wires shown in post #27 are replicas of the Buick Factory wires.....are what would have been on the car when new if they had been ordered at the time.

Ray

 

Wires with whitewalls like the convertible. Lowering it
makes it look too much like a "Low Rider".

 

If you plan on driving it you are going to love cleaning those wires! Just sayn.

 

Wires with no rake....slightly lowered if you like, but not extreme.
Change or modify the center caps

 

I think 54 Buick or even the stock 55 Buick wheel covers without the side pipes and the heavy rake and rear lowering would look great but what do I know, I'm just a hub cap guy.. Cool Buick whatever you decide...

 

If it was mine it would have the correct small caps but since you asked wires or the wheels the wires look better in my opinion.

 

The wires look the best the other wheels just don't look correct on a 4 door.

 

I want to see it without the white walls.

I'm digging the salt flats wheels most right now

 

I like the coke bottles. Looks tuff.

 

IMO Buick is a wirewheel car

 

Mags and large sidepipes, like "Cubik"

 

I don't care for the wires or the coke-bottles to be truthful. I REALLY like the deep Buick rims with their center caps. It's a great look IMHO.

 

I played with chopping it a few inches but it looked better unchopped. Does look better with more meat on the back to compliment the rake though.

 

Hello,

Back in 1952, our dad rolled up to our house in a big giant 4 door two toned, Buick sedan. It did not look like his old black 1949 4 door Roadmaster, but he was 1 year early in his 4 year plan to buy Buicks as they came out. He never explained, other than, he liked the new two toned version. Again, it was a big car. The two small brothers still had plenty of room in the back seat to mess around and store our stuff on trips.

(this Buick got stuck in a 2 foot deep ditch 150 miles south of the Baja/USA border on a fishing trip.)

My brother and I were into reading every car magazine we could get our hands on by this time. We liked the hot rods and early customs. We were trying to find out how to make our dad’s big Buick better looking. We immediately thought of chrome reversed rims, but my dad was not into customizing his daily driver.

In 1953, we took another route and show our mom pictures of the new 53 Buick Skylark that just came out and was in the local Buick dealer’s showroom floor. She immediately liked that car, including those custom Kelsey Hayes wire wheels. She kept the brochure as we walked around the beautiful car in the showroom display. We never had a convertible, but my mom fell in love with this Skylark.

My dad was looking, but declined to get the Skylark. His excuse was he just bought the 1953 two toned sedan and the Skylark was not under the 4 year plan for more Buick purchases. We all left, not happy.

Jnaki

Jump up to 1964 and we were finished with drag racing the 58 Impala and our thoughts were to do some changes as money would allow. My first thought was the car was fast enough, so some outside custom touches would put a cap on the look of this black sedan. A friend had a set of 5 Buick Skylark Wire Wheels for sale. The price was too good to pass up. I knew that I had to change over the axle bolts and pattern from stock (Chevy to Buick) to make these wires fit the Impala.

So, they were changed over and the chromed Buick wires were mounted, balanced and aligned to roll smoothly. Custom balancing was difficult as the wires had to be tightened down and the tires trued to make it roll correctly. As difficult as the makeover was, the car was beautiful with the new Buick Skylark Wire Wheels. I was very happy and the car made a huge hit at the local drive-in cruises.
Thanks to HAMB’s “themoose” for the great make over on our old 58 Impala with the Buick Wire Wheels. We had no camera documentation from back in 1963-64.

So, the moral of the story was that these Buick Skylark wire wheels by Kelsey Hayes can and will make any car look its best. There was no other option for our Impala. But, to make your Buick look better, there is no other choice…IMHO. With your changes, it is a custom Buick, after all.

We recently saw a beautiful 53 Buick Skylark in Newport Beach and instantly brought those “wire wheels as custom memories” back in a rush. This was one beautiful Buick Skylark built for cruising So Cal in all of its glory. (Top down driving at its best.) At the time of the photos, it was one of those 85 degree days down by the beach.


HEY V: BUY THEM !!!

 

Wires!

 

I'd put wire wheels, but I wouldn't put wire rims.

 

Wires

 

Of the two, the wires work better. I think it would look really outstanding with a set of cheap plastic hubcaps from Walmart.

 

BINGO! It drives me up a tree when I hear someone (usually a younger type) refer to wheels as rims! To me (an admittedly old fart) they are WHEELS! The rim is the edge of the wheel, dammit! Do we have steering RIMS?

 

I think it would look better if it was a Pontiac..........
and if it had 2 doors.........
no posts, or better yet, no top..........
and wasn't on a flatbed.


But I had to vote for wires because the other choices weren't on the ballot.
.

 

Of the two, wires. The Americans are for competition type cars and don't suit a large 4 dr.

I'd wager www's with full wheel covers would also look good on the car.

 

Thanks for all the advise
Driving the car now and loving it so smooth enough power for me ( for now)
Going to park it for the winter take care of some tranny leaks lower it and think about wheels
I like the wire wheels suits the car
But still on the fence

If I could find a set of steel wheels and caps I would be happy with that also

The 5x5 bolt pattern and big front hubs limits me somewhat

 

WIRE WHEELS

Buy the wires and hang on to them,you can always sell them later,nice ones don't come up every day.

There is also the option of having them powder coated. HRP

 

Wire rims sounds a bit sketchy to me. I would be sure the rims are solid material. The spokes can be made from wire

 

What color is the Buick convertible? I'm looking for a color for my A.

 

What color of red do you have on your Buick? Looks nice.

 

I think a nice set of gray Torque Thrust D’s would look

 

Hello,
We did not have a Buick Convertible, but a long line of Buick Sedans. The 1953 4 door sedan looked similar to this one: His mantra was every 4 years, it is time for a new car. The last one was a huge 1949 4 door Roadmaster. So, in 1953, he bought this two tone sedan.

When our dad took us to see the Buick Skylark Convertible when it came out, he liked the wire wheels. But, did not like the idea that he would be driving the convertible with its wind noise everyday and in storms. So, he waited until 1957 to buy a dark blue 2 door Roadmaster Sedan.
1957 blue Buick 2 door Roadmaster

We did all we could to convince our dad to buy a set of Buick Skylark Wire Wheels for this new 1957 Buick. At least, he would be driving a mild custom as his daily driver. But, he was told of the balancing problems of the wire wheels.

Jnaki

My brother and I have always liked the Skylark Wire Wheels as an addition. In 1963-64, I had the whole front wheel pattern and rear axle bolt pattern re-drilled by Henry’s Machine Works in Long Beach on the 58 Impala. I had just purchased a 5 Buick Skylark wire wheels from a friend. No, they were not stolen or on the most wanted theft list. But, they did cause problems with balancing, leaks, alignment, etc. despite the cool looks.

Thanks, @theMoose…

If you are looking for convertibles and Skylark Wire Wheels, here is a good example from So Cal.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...rods-and-customs.1149819/page-3#post-13105504

 

Wires, but you'll regret it in a year after you get tired of cleaning them and they start to rust. Bob