These wheels belong to me and my dad. I suspect them to be Americans, but I found some interesting castings on three of the spokes, and just thought I'd ask around and see if anyone has information on them. One spoke has a date, which is 8/31/65, another has a serial number which is 31540 and the other spoke has DOUBLE SOREEN cast into it. The wheels are 15x4 inches, and have a 4-3/4-inch bolt circle. They're in great shape--here are some pictures and close up shots of the castings.
sorry I can't get that first picture rotated right. It's supposed to be vertical. Knowing these are Americans would make me happy because they're in such good shape. They have the normal corrosion, but nothing that wouldn't polish out if someone wanted to really make them nice.
I have never heard of anyone but American making the style wheel in that size out of Magnesium. Have seen lots of wide rears made by a variety of different people, but only American did the skinny Mag 5-spokes.
I'd hazard a guess that the casting says "DOUBLE SCREEN". As in, "You better double screen the sand for these high-dollar Mag wheels because the bossman don't want no crappy castings!" Nice wheels.
That's kinda what I was thinking, but I just wanted to make sure. I'm a rookie wheel geek, but my dad and I are building a pretty cool collection of vintage race wheels and tires. We'd probably kick ourselves for selling these things, but everything has a price...
The number 31540 means they are American Racing Magnesium 15x4 wheels, according to a 1964 AR catalog. I just sold a pair that I'd owned for years. Mine did not have the double screen or any other numbers other than 31540.