Grant 500,Covico,steering wheel history ?

I had a black Covico in my blown Chrys. powered '46 Coupe, 1962. Then I was gifted a REAL 3-spoke Bell, 15", and hastily put that on there.
The hangarounds at the R-J drive in hated it, "Too plain...Where's the cool black Covico with the drilled spokes?"
They also critiqued my new American Torq-Thrusts. "Why the 'truck wheels'? Where's your Mercs with the ash cans???"
Sheesh!

 

Real Americans and Covico ‘s are both iconic in my book!

 

Of all the 'non Bell', Covico was always my choice. The grip was perfect, even spaced spokes and chrome finish was excellent.
I put one in my '56 Ford convert (the 'fast' one) then in my black '56 Chev with chrome dash (!) (bought that car to sell, owner had the dash chromed, but the disconnected wires drove him to sell the car! Covico wheel and some rewiring made a sharp interior!
Had to sell it at night...that dash would BLIND you! Got me wearing my 'trademark' shades...LOL
My F100 always had a 3 spoke Bell.
Limeworks NOW sells a 3 spoke 'Bell'...with a leather covered rim. Just for your added info...

 

Covico 16.5"...

 

Genuine Covico blackie :

 

Early Covico installed in Harry Costa's '41 Ford convertible Kustom in 1961.

 

Covico wheel visible in this 1962 shot of Harry's Ford.

 

I think they are all knock-offs and variants of the original Bell wheels. I got my flat three equal spaced spoke Bell wheel from Vic Hubbard Speed and Marine in Hayward about 1960 before all the repos took over the market.
Off the topic, but does anyone remember what year 50's Olds had this bubbled instrument pod, I forget.
My high school hot rod in 1963-4.

 

Hi Russ, Marcus here. Looks almost like a '60 Chrysler Instrument panel. Hard to see. I don't recall an Olds having that Instrument panel..

 

Thanks. Might be, but I don't think I could have afforded anything that new, back then. It would have been a junkyard find in remote Siskiyou County, next to the Oregon border.

 

Here's a '60 Chrysler unit

 

Not that, too much of a bubble. Memory of some things fade after 55+ years.

 

49/50 Olds?

 

Yes, yes, yes. Thanks, that is what I had.

 

Looking at the Grant history timeline http://www.grantproducts.com/about-us
They started making steering wheels for Go Karts in 1960 then came out with custom wheels in 62 with dune buggy wheels mixed in there somewhere.
I can't say when I saw the first custom wheel in a street car but they were few and far between in my area before I got drafted in 1967. Steering wheels didn't make your car go faster and what few car bucks the guys I knew got spent on stuff to go faster.

 

I believe the facts of the matter , is as Dean Lowe and hotroddon said earlier in this thread; Grant is playing on the buyout of Covico. Their own style of wheels came out well after (4-5 years), the original Covico product. Pictured are an early Covico gocart wheel and the later Grant style woodrim production.

 

Bowie, any tips on restoring the rim of an original Covico? I have a handful of them, one probably spent some time kicking around swap meets. It has some scuffs I'd like to try to polish out and one cut. I toyed with the idea of trying some plastidip with a brush to fill the split but I'm open to suggestions.

 

Automotive Stud: I have had luck using progressively finer sandpaper on scuffs, then using a jewelers type of polish. Have never dealt with a cut on any of mine. I would be interested in hearing your results on a plastidip fix. Would love to see pictures of your wheels. What colors and sizes do you have?

 

I have three at the moment. The first is the white one I posted earlier, my dad bought it new around 1964 and it's lived in his model A ever since, it's a 14". I have another 14" that's black with what appears to be factory grey spokes. The latest that I was asking about repairing is a 15 1/2". It doesn't have perfect chrome either but it's good for a driver. I had an early keyway adapter I put on there just to complete it.

 

I had a Grant 500 when I first built my roadster in 1968.

 

Thanks, guys, for resurrecting this thread.

Left: 12" Grant. Right: 9" Superior 500. Both are mint and came from Craigslist. Dish soap & armorall cleaned up the Grant's foam. Fine rubbing compound, then toothpaste cleaned the Superior's plastic nicely.

I tried the tiny Superior wheel on my '28 Tudor but the steering effort was too "arm-strong", so switched to the Grant.


Silver 'flake Moon/Grant in my '55:

 

Thanks to Hot Rod posting all of their magazines online I found this Covico ad in the September 61 issue.

 

Silver flake something or other in my OT something or other. I slapped on the moon center cap.

 

Anyone ever see a four spoke like this? My buddy found it at a swap meet recently. It's little at 13" and has a slight dish to it. I'm thinking a kart accessory? The grip reminds me of my Covicos but the spokes aren't bent the same way to form the dish, and the spokes are brushed on the back side not polished like most.

 

That's a 49, they were chrome, even under the paint. 50's were all painted, no chrome.

 

I would like to think this is a Covico.[

 

Anyone have any info on this wheel?? Plastic rim ,finger grip on back of rim ,hexagon lighting holes

 

Recently, I saw one like that and wondered the same thing.
Also, I'm not the only one here who photographs his own feet! Lol.

 

I think at one time Moon used to offer that plastic woody with the hexagon holes. I believe the 4 spoke white wheel is a Covico , that was one of their later offerings, with a fatty style rim, like about 1967. That is a real nice white Covico, you have there Marty!

 

Hello,

Our introduction to custom steering wheels started with one found in a trash heap by the side of the sidewalk trash collection days. Everyone put tons of old stuff in boxes and cans for anyone else to pick up and take away. Yes, there was a city pickup weekly, but if one walked the night before or early in the morning, there was competition from the cruising at low speed, “sneaky junkyard guys…”

But, if it was on the sidewalk median or on the curb, it was fair game for anyone. We scored a small rusty steering wheel and used it on our homemade go kart. It was black rimmed and rusty chrome.

Since those times, we bought a new four spoke steering wheel for our 1940 Willys Coupe build. That was the first official purchase for our build. Covico? Grant? Moon? All I can remember is a metal steering wheel with no rubber on it and the raw metal was covered in white fire extinguisher spray. That was a sad way to see our first custom steering wheel that was once shiny and black rimmed in 1960.

But we moved on and it was the last one for any of our hot rods.

Jnaki

My wife had her things to do inside of the house and it was time to "spend with dad" our toddler. Those times were interesting, but he needed something near me so I could watch and get my projects finished. I decided to get some steering wheels to add to the lower front doors of our garage cabinets.

We went to the L.B. Vets Stadium Swap Meet in those old days to pick up some steering wheels. Back in those days, most of the vendors were people who cleared out their garages and not the get rich, quick, commercial vendors.

So, my wife and I decided to use a wooden storage cabinet for part of his play toys, while dad worked on cars or built skateboard scooters on his workbench. The steering wheels were mounted and the acceleration or sound of motors was “kid” provided.

A small 8 inch deep dish wheel was mounted on each right side door. A normal 10 inch wheel on the left side. They were in good condition from the swap meet and cost so much less than at Pep Boys.

Being safety conscious, the wheels were not going to pinch little fingers while spinning. They also did not hinder passage in front of the cabinet walkway. So if he had friends over to play, they could each have a steering wheel. My work counter was just steps away.

As much as a rubber/vinyl covered steering wheel with holes looks good on any hot rod, our next purchase was for our toddler son and the climbing fort I made for his extended imagination pleasure.

Our backyard was large and one side was a slope to the level sidewalk.

The tallest tower had different plumbing parts to be whatever it gets to be. A swiveling fire hose, or machine gun or telescope were the main uses. Finally, below the tallest tower, was the main ship communication area. A real old wall phone, a shift lever and an old Moon Steering Wheel for those fast getaways…

When he was little, he wanted to be out in the garage with dad, doing what dad’s do out in the garage. I mounted some steering wheels on the two adjacent doors. One made it to the newly structured fort and the other ones stayed on the cabinet. It was an 8 inch deep dish “lowrider wheel” that I tried attaching it to some scooters I made.

In order to clean off years of little kid greasy hands turning the large steering wheel for his pretend racing, I tried plain soap and car leather cleaner, to no avail. The built-in grease was tough and it took usage of this product called Amway L.O.C. (Liquid Organic Cleaner ). It is a liquid soap, but works like lacquer thinner as it gets just about anything clean.

It is so safe that it was once advertised as being able to wash dishes and use as a toothpaste. We did not use it as a toothpaste, but a thoroughly useful product for cleaning off oil blobs off of feet when we went to Santa Barbara beaches.

The old Moon Steering Wheel was now shiny and clean. (and not sticky) Good for the fort usage and miles of driving fun for our little toddler in his dreams. Something to remember, each old rubber steering wheel has seen plenty of action, with plenty of different hand compounds and different oils. So, once may not be enough. We used it at full strength. Others have used it diluted and it still cleans just about anything. YRMV.

When I built this all-smooth, finished cedar/redwood backyard fort/climber for my son, he enjoyed it to no end. It was hard to keep him from staying outside all day and only coming in for lunch or snacks. Once he figured out he could take his snacks in a little cooler, he was in 7th heaven out there.

The structure was a multi-story climber. It had a top viewing level, a short ladder platform half way down and a bench in the shade for his snack area. It was built into a small hill/slope, so there was one more level as the slope reached the sidewalk. To get to the lower sloping ground for a feel of being in a cave, I built in a short ladder and a trap door on the platform.

But, it was the miles of unlimited driving using that old black rubber rimmed steering wheel. He even got good at using my car polish to keep that chrome center piece shiny. It must have worked, when he got his license, he put on 24000 miles on my station wagon in two summers and one school year prior to getting his own car.

When he was little, he wanted to be out in the garage with dad, doing what dad’s do out in the garage. I mounted two steering wheels on the two adjacent doors. One made it to the newly structured fort and the other one stayed on the cabinet. It was an 8 inch deep dish lowrider wheel that I tried attaching it to some scooters I made.

In order to clean off years of little kid greasy hands turning the large steering wheel for his pretend racing, I tried plain soap and car leather cleaner, to no avail. The built-in grease was tough and it took usage of this product called Amway L.O.C. It is a liquid soap, but works like lacquer thinner as it gets just about anything clean.

The old Moon Steering Wheel was now shiny and clean. Good for the fort usage and miles of driving fun for our little toddler in his dreams. Something to remember, each old rubber steering wheel has seen plenty of action, with plenty of different hand compounds and different oils. So, once may not be enough. We used it at full strength. Others have used it diluted and it still cleans just about anything. YRMV.

Me to my son? He had every available “car” influence: (wooden cars, plastic cars, Hot Wheels, models, Tonkas, pedal cars, R/C cars, scooters, bikes…etc.)

He even loved turning two steering wheels I bolted to my garage cabinet doors to pretend driving while I was working in the garage. A small 3 spoke mini wheel and a larger 4 spoke wheel I had from back in the early days.


But his generation as teens and college age must have skipped getting involved in cars. He does confer with me when his family is looking for another family car. To this day, he still remembers those two steering wheels in the garage. Well, that is something.