Hello, When the American Racing Corp, Torq Thrust Wheels came on the market, they were out of reach of most hot rod guys/girls. Unless, of course, the time honored thing of deep pocketbooks of parents or grandparents and sponsors. The problem with painting real Torq Thrust Wheels is that no one in our hot rod world would spend that kind of money and then ruin it by painting it to match anything. These were/are the epitome of the hot rod look that came from drag racing. This is as close to looking like a race car as you can get without robbing a bank to get real Halibrand Magnesium wheels. But, those mag wheels for the street were in its infancy just because of the super high cost. Plus, they weren’t made for long distance, daily grind of bumps, curbs, and dips of everyday driving. In our Bixby Knolls hot rod central area, those Torq Thrust wheels did show up eventually, but they were not on all of the hot rods and definitely not painted. Now, those odd occurences could have been done elsewhere in the USA, during those drug crazed 70s, but the styles change and not always for the better. It was the race car look that highlighted the classiest of hot rods and sedans Our new set made the stock car look like a show/race car, just by adding 4 new American Racing Torq Thrust Wheels. It would have looked awful painted a matching blue. Jnaki On our early hot rods, we definitely wanted American Racing Torq Thrust Wheels. But the cost out weighed the needs elsewhere in our builds. We were saving as much as we could in 1960 for a set of those or Halibrands to top off our final finishing touches in our Willys Coupe in C/Gas. If being PERIOD CORRECT is high on your list, don’t do it. If you want to show how far one will go to get comments on the looks, go for it. There is no need to add anything to a classic and keep the stylish look that was the mag wheel of its time. “The early Torq-Thrusts could be considered to be the definitive aluminum hot rod wheel. Early Torq-Thrusts are easily the most widely-copied aftermarket wheel in history. Versions of it have been produced by many companies.”
Had a black off topic SUV with a dove gray valance and had the factory mags powder painted to match the valance. Subtle, but effective.
Tommy Ivo painted his T.T. spokes black on his Chrys Hemi powered digger. He said it kept it 'business like'. I got my first Torque Thrusts in 1962, brand new, $62 each. (magnesium) My nice Washington Blue '46 Ford club coupe deserved 'em. Opening the boxes on Grandma's living room carpet, I was aghast at the note in the second box. "If used on streets and roads, these wheels must be removed every 60 days and X-rayed for cracks." Worse yet was the reaction of all the guys at the drive in. "Ugh! What's with the 'truck wheels'? Put the dumped Mercs and caps back on..." I had lusted for these wheels, only other guy with American Torque Thrusts was Sam the Barber, on his red '62 409. Ran Firestone Darlington race tires, all around. Took awhile for my critics to warm up to them, I just loved 'em. Someone said I should paint the spokes to match the car! I asked him if he was silly.
I painted mine gold , I love the T/t on yours ! .. what did you do with the wires ???? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I have early Appliance 5 spokes with painted matt black centres, I like them Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
The only wheel I can think of that is normally body color is the Olds super stock wheels. I like the look of them and I think they look odd when painted black or silver. I realize these are like apples to oranges as comparisons. But I wonder what a torque thrust wheel would look like in body color, don't think I've ever seen it done before. Can someone photo shop a pic?
I'll ask this because no one else has. Show us a photos of: yellow, blue, red, brown, white, green, etc cars with them painted to match you will see why.. Black, gray, gold, cars don't count.
I have a set vintage Sprints (just like Torque Thrusts. Thinking I will put my M/T spinners on. Maybe you could do similar.
I remember a few body color spokes on different cars, when done right I don't think it looks bad ? The two I can think of are some kind of muscle car (GTO, Chevelle, ?) that was dark maroon with matched spokes and nice chrome lugnuts and caps, sitting low, looked good! and I remember something that was bright turquoise but I cant' remember what kind of car? It's only paint, if you decide to, do one side and if you don't like it blast it back off ! I have factory black spokes on my 65 Mustang, and had raw spokes on my last 32. My favorite wheels for the last 30 years !
Just an fyi- Jegs has Torque Thrust II wheels on sale. They have a curved spoke- don't know if they are considered trad. 14 & 15's also. Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Based on how you worded this (14" & 15" also) I'm gonna say no, not traditional. Those large diameter wheels with the curved spoke always looked odd to me.
https://www.jegs.com/i/American+Rac...dyvDYFZMp_7rvdBrF3zKhBc_-8pof4IMaArkxEALw_wcB Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Torque Thrust IIs are American's modernized version of the curved spoke Torque Thrust D wheel. (modern, not traditional) Their Torque Thrust Originals are like the old, original strait spoke Torque Thrust wheel.(traditional) Their Torque Thrust Ds are the curved spoke Torque Thrust wheel introduced in the mid '60s to clear Corvette disc brakes. (traditional depending on what era you are going for)
I wouldn't, but maybe try some Plasti-Dip and see how you like them in color. That stuff peels off pretty easily if you don't like it.
Not a fan of painted. Torque Thrusts look good on almost anything just like they came out. Love the wheel!