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Hot Rods LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM - LET'S SEE CARS WITH MOON DISC

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Dec 22, 2020.

  1. verde742
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 6,267

    verde742
    Member

  2. verde742
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 6,267

    verde742
    Member

  3. verde742
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 6,267

    verde742
    Member

  4. verde742
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 6,267

    verde742
    Member

  5. verde742
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 6,267

    verde742
    Member

  6. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

  7. Dave G in Gansevoort
    Joined: Mar 28, 2019
    Posts: 2,598

    Dave G in Gansevoort
    Member
    from Upstate NY

    Not HAMB material vehicle, my mom's 88 T'Bird, bone stock v6 14 inch steel wheels. Lost a hubcap one winter, couldn't easily get a stock replacement for reasonable cost. Bought snap on Moon discs. Absolutely transformed the looks of the car, even tho it was a stock brown base model. And way cheaper than getting 1 replacement hubcap. Go figure...
     
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  8. I have some clip ons, but generally not a fan. It seems they work well with orange and baby blue.
     
  9. the37thstreet
    Joined: Apr 12, 2012
    Posts: 108

    the37thstreet
    Member

    1936 3 window. SLC. UT. 20170821_160845.jpg
     
    Deuces, Jim Bouchard and akoutlaw like this.
  10. A Huntsville Alabama car from back in the day.
     
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  11. Rramjet1
    Joined: Mar 13, 2018
    Posts: 226

    Rramjet1

    [​IMG]


    My 3rd 36 1/2 ton. Let it go a few years back. Just too big for it now days. 69, 327, Muncie 4 sod.


    Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  12. NINE INCH
    Joined: Dec 26, 2005
    Posts: 1,020

    NINE INCH
    Member

    Agreed. If they are anything but fastened with Duez fasteners...It ain't right.
     
  13. TrailerTrashToo
    Joined: Jun 20, 2018
    Posts: 1,289

    TrailerTrashToo
    Member

    I drill and tap my rims (a.k.a wheels, hoops, etc) and use the holes that come on the disks.
     
  14. My old 53 ford pu 53truck.jpg
     
    Deuces, Rick & Jan, akoutlaw and 4 others like this.
  15. gbones32coupe
    Joined: Jan 1, 2007
    Posts: 733

    gbones32coupe
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    Deuces and Jim Bouchard like this.
  16. Todd553
    Joined: Feb 16, 2005
    Posts: 534

    Todd553
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  17. Jalopy Joker
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 31,179

    Jalopy Joker
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  18. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki

    upload_2021-3-7_3-18-23.png

    Hello,

    Moon Discs from the original Moon Equipment Company were spun on giant lathes using a wooden mold. The spinning aluminum disc was placed on a stand in front of the mold and using a smoothed iron spoon, shaped the disc out of raw aluminum sheets. It was a process and they had the skills and patent in the market. Soon, automation replaced the machinists to make runs of 1000s of discs for the world wide market. But, the racers and hot rod guys/girls needed to drill into the steel wheels to screw in the aluminum discs.

    All of the variations were molded over time, including those snap in discs like real hubcaps…which they were. The racers still used the screw in discs and sometimes to speed up the tire changing process, left the moon disc on the truck. Now, the general public could buy those hubcaps and snap them in place to get the look of the real racers.

    Art Chrisman


    Jnaki
    upload_2021-3-7_3-18-42.png
    In 1958-59, we saw plenty of drag racing vehicles using Moon Discs for looks and anything that would create some sort of streamlining on the body or open wheels. (Art Chrisman’s Hustler 2 was a great example, above Did they work? More recent wind tunnel tests showed that yes, they do work, but for the 8-9 seconds in the quarter mile, probably had little to do with streamlining, but, dang, they sure looked impressive.

    Those same wind tunnel tests did prove that in long distance races, like the full throttle acceleration runs at Bonneville or El Mirage, they did work to channel the wind around the open wheels. So, for short races, maybe not so much. For longer runs, it did help. The drag racer with using the long run acceleration runs for world records was the Cortopassi Brothers from Northern California in their famous “Glass Slipper” dragster.
    upload_2021-3-7_3-19-22.png
    https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/friday-art-show-11-9-18.1128721/#post-12814638
     
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  19. Ned Ludd
    Joined: May 15, 2009
    Posts: 5,025

    Ned Ludd
    Member

    Here's where we see the boundary between Moon-type discs, whose connotations are aerodynamics/dry lakes/etc., and the wheels discs fitted to wire-spoke wheels in the tears between the World Wars, as much for ease of maintenance and for aerodynamics. The use of these on early LSR cars must have been a factor in their popularity on hot rods —and subsequently on customs— after WWII.
    [​IMG]
    These are LmaRR discs, no longer available since the passing of Mike Rabin in 2019.

    [​IMG]
    Popular on high-end cars like this Springfield Rolls-Royce by Brewster.

    [​IMG][​IMG]
    Use on cars like the 1929 Golden Arrow and 1931 Bluebird must have done much to associate wheel discs with performance.
     
  20. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki

    upload_2021-10-8_3-50-25.png
    Hello,

    Having a lot of vintage clothing from the “old” days, my saying to my wife has always been “what goes around comes around.” I have a small closet for clothes…standard procedure in our household. But, my jacket closet is full of cool jackets going back many years. I still wear them during the year for cold weather and beach walks.

    It is the vintage clothing that is making a come back, too. It is not just us old folks, but the new crop of teenagers are scouring the vintage clothing stores, swap meets, and used clothing stores. Tie dyes… not so much, but the other vintage clothes and jewelry are hot topics for these current teens.


    So, it is no contest for us old guys that loved Moon Discs, we had them in 1956 and loved to draw them on most of our early drawings and even into the new age art. So, if I had a cool old sedan, like a 40 Ford sedan, it would have Moon Discs to go with the style of an aerodynamic design in cars and the flow it creates.
    upload_2021-10-8_3-52-58.png
    A lowered Cal Rake style big Oldsmobile Sedan specifically for teenage shenanigans in Long Beach, CA. It was wishful thinking, but at the time, I was looking ahead to the future of my teenage driving era. I did not have too look far to see what I was going to learn to drive in three years.
    51 Oldsmobile Sedan
    check out :09 for instant teenage cruising style…

    upload_2021-10-8_3-58-37.png
    My brother was one of the first teenagers that had Moon Discs in 1956. After many weekends of teenage car gatherings in our driveway to swap hubcaps, chrome wheels and such, the Moon Discs were the ones that my brother decided to get. If the big 51 Oldsmobile was a plodder, (it was not) at least it would look fast…

    Jnaki

    As far as a smooth flow of air around and past the wheels, it has to have some effect of smooth air flow. But, originally for the high speed dry lakes hot rods for an added advantage, perhaps for a 9-10 second run in the quarter mile, the advantage is negligible. But, they do look cool. On the street and the freeway/open highway speeds, perhaps there is a gain in smooth air flow for those early boxy hot rods. Anything functional and stylish for an advantage is the call of the day.
    upload_2021-10-8_3-59-43.png
    I thought, after seeing some old hot rods in our current short coastal driving tours, that they still looked cool. But, when I saw this 1932 custom Ford Flatbed truck, it was just a stand out build. There are still some guys/girls that make anything looking stylish with the addition of those Moon Discs, in this modern time period of hot rods. Oversized wheels and water jet mags were not made for these old hot rods or trucks… YRMV
    upload_2021-10-8_4-1-5.png
    2021 digital camera photos while dodging passing cars and delivery trucks.

    https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...your-rear-mirror.1181058/page-2#post-14190644 32 flatbed pickup







     
    Jim Bouchard likes this.

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