STEEL WHEEL Pic thread: (These puppies get pricey in a hurry)

Any of these
Smoothies- http://www.rallyamerica.com/Smoothie_Bare.html
Gennie- http://www.rallyamerica.com/Gennie.html
OE Style- http://www.rallyamerica.com/OE_Style_Bare.html

 

You're absoulutly right, that's why I got what I did. It's like anything, if you want to have that it's gonna cost more. My point is that you can have nice stuff at a decent price.

 

Thanks---I would rather have the inner nubs,so I can still use my 42 hubcaps
Summit has Wheel Vintiques in 16x4 1/2 and 16x6,but no 16x5. But they are $120 each!!!

 

Steel Chevy rims with spider caps and ribbed trim rings. Yeah, The fancy stuff does add up quick! haha Especially the Wheel Vintique stuff!

 

This is why i keep a place for the old steel rims .Trading material.

 

ModelAPunk, your ride looks great and the red steelies really set the car off nice. The Wheels Vintique is worth it.

 

Cool thread, I took the rally rims of my c-10 when I purchased it and put the stock wheels on. My brother I bought it from lives in the 70's with slots, mags, and things of that era, but I still love him! I buy the 15" and 16' singles for $5.00 when I see them. Looks like a good move. ~sololobo~

 

Thanks man! Yeah i think it works pretty well with a quick spot prime to get it her the road! haha Hopefully paint this winter!
And i agree, Wheel Vintiques seems to be the best High Quality place to go for Steel Rims. I'll be getting a set of Chrome Reverse from them for my Model A when the time comes.
My Buddy has 16 inch Ford Rims from them on his 26 Phaeton. Only bad thing I have heard is that the original Ford Dog Dish style Hubcaps dont fit on the repop rims, you have to buy the repop hubcaps for them. Anyone else have this problem?

 

I used a set of sixties vintage Ford hubcaps on these steelies. 14s on the front 15s on the back. Real low buck, easy to mount and balance. Like the looks.

 

Buzznut, going back to your original post, I feel your pain.

In the early '90s, I bought this '60 Catalina, hoping to flip it and make a few bucks:


It was a pretty clean car, but I hated the wheels, tires, and nosebleed stance. I thought, "Well, I'll just get some dog dish hubcaps, skinnier whitewalls, and drop it a couple of inches. Done deal."

The first surprise came when I took off the full wheel covers. To mount dog dish caps, it needed clips on the wheels, and it didn't have a single one. I shopped and shopped, and finally found that the clips were unobtainable as separate parts. I finally found an all-Pontiac junkyard in AZ who had a set of four original wheels with clips, so I bought them. I may have also bought the small caps from them. They were about 900 miles from me, so I had to have them shipped.

Now I had the wheels, clips, and caps. The wheels were scroungy and rusty, though, so they needed to be painted. I thought that they would look best in body color, so I had a body shop match the paint and spray the wheels.

I bought some beauty rings, and found some narrower whitewall tires that looked good. I installed all of that.

Lowering the front was duck soup: I just cut 1 1/2 coils, and it looked fine. But the rear springs were the dreaded tapered kind, so I had some shorter springs made up and installed.

When I was all done, it looked like this, and I was pleased with the result:


I didn't keep track of the costs, because they were spread out over a few years, but in the end I'm sure that the decorated wheels, tires, and lowering cost me at least $1500.
Overall, it took me seven years to sell my "flipper", and I think I took a net loss of something like $6000. Live and learn.

 

Well, I painted the inside of the wheels today. Have any of you shot steel wheels in two stage pearlescent paint before? Man, it is a damn undertaking. I'll shoot the front side tomorrow (learning from the few mistakes I made on the backside) and then I'll wait for the paint to harden enough for the tires to be mounted.

Got a QUESTION: when you use spider caps, do you use lug nuts, or can you/should you use acorn nuts (the type that cover/hide the wheel stud)? I don't want to spend on nice chromed acorn nuts if I won't be using them once I get spider caps.

 

I wouldnt use acorn nuts.
1. they most likely wont fit under the spider caps, too tall
2. they cost more than just plain steel lug nuts
3. no one will see them anyway, thats the beauty of spiders

Also, you said part of your cost was to put on a locking nut on each wheel. You wont need to worry about that with spidercaps. You can attach the cap with alternating hardware. Use square head and allen head. No young punk theif today even knows how to take spiders off anyway!

Also, my spider caps mounting base wouldnt tighten securely to the wheel with just the lug nuts. The base would never come off, but it was loose enough that the spiders would make clanking sounds as I drove.
I ended up putting red rubber garden hose gaskets inbetween the wheel and the base. The lug nuts still tightened against the wheel, metal to metal, just as before, but the slack was taken up between the wheel with the rubber hose gaskets. Works like a charm!

Lastly, Ive found great luck in posting wanted ads for hard to find items, or items that are unpopular. I would gather that many people would think of it a waste of time to post old stock steel wheels for sale. They may think, who would ever want these crappy wheels?? I post ads on craigslist for unpopular, yet common things. I get excellent feedback!! Good luck!

 

I've never used Spider caps or looked close enough to see how they mount, so thanks for the feedback.

 

wow ... then my deal them is great !!!!!!!!! still have them .

 

like many things, the prices for steel wheels are all over the place, but you can find deals if you look.

not long ago I bough some vintage chevy 6 lug steel wheels, with caps AND tires, on CL.....total price for three matching wheels/tires/caps = $40 !

 

Here's a better picture of how mine came out. There is still the issue of whether or not the paint will stick long term since I didn't have any clue that I should have scuffed them. If the paint does last, I'm happy with how they turned out.

 

Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

stock 56 chevy front, with spiders, 56 chevy rear center,Wheel kid stuffed into an 8" hoop with 4 3/4 b.s, with spider caps. blasted and powder coated at Les Schwab for $25 a wheel

 

I ran 40 ford steelies for a time while hunting these,..ended up buying eight, one at a time from various places to end up with five good ones....all are 16x4.5 with 5.5 bolt pattern, I fit them with 40 deluxe caps...they are heavy though!

 

Here is a pic of my 56 F100 in progress. I am running 16X6 steel wheels with hubcap adapters and 34 Ford Caps.

 

Cool thread, I love the various looks of steel wheels. Here's mine- stock 15" truck rims from a later model, dog-dish caps, rattle can red, and some trim rings I found on Amazon (no, really!) that didn't fit for beans so I cut all the retainer clips off and stuck them on with clear silicone! Been on there for over a year, no problems.

 

I have a set of '59 Ford station wagon 14", '55 Buick 15", '65 Chevy truck six-lug 15", a pair of 15X9 Chevy rallys, and some nice chromed steel 15" wires off of a Cadillac dated 1974 and didn't give a dime for any of them.

 

That's a nice collection of original artillery wheels...love the way they look on a traditional hot rod. I have 2 from an old 30's stude that still wear the original pinstriped paint job - wish I could find 2 more that match.

 

They add up fast if you want a certain look, $1200 before caps with blasting/powdercoating, etc. Cokers are pricey...I just hope they are round.

 

THIS IS funny . I dabble in road race and 900 PER wheel is on the cheap side when you get into larger diameters and 3pc construction.

DO agree, steelies are noted as being cheap thus spending coin on them seems oxymoron.

 

15x5 from Stockton Wheels with Firestone 6.40's

15x8 from Stockton Wheels with Firestone 8.20 Dragsters

15x8 from Stockton Wheels with Firestone Indy 500's

 

Krylon Blue then clear coated. They have been on here 8+ years now and still look good.

 

5 steel wheels from local Mustang shop ------------------------------ 150.00
5 wheels powdercoated red -------------------------------------------- 241.43
5 tires from Sears, 5/8" whitewall ------------------------------------- 328.41
buffing/grind whitewalls to 1 1/4" ------------------------------------- free
5 wheels mounted and balanced --------------------------------------- 103.10
4 NOS '57 T-bird wheel covers ------------------------------------------ 300.00
4 red Crown valve stem caps -------------------------------------------- 20.00
Total (excluding shipping costs on wheel covers) ------------------- 1142.94

 

Money adds up quickly...Had to laugh when a guy at a cruise in told me I should "get rid of those "cheap skinny tires and steel wheels, and get some shiny chrome ones"...Really?

 

I thought this was a picture thread...not a bitch about something thread. Here is a pic of the '35 wearing her new shoes. Steelies from Rally America, chrome spiders, and wide whites from Coker. God bless the alliance discount!