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why you should NOT run fenton mags!!!

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by yorgatron, Nov 4, 2004.

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  1. yorgatron
    Joined: Jan 25, 2002
    Posts: 4,228

    yorgatron
    Member Emeritus

    got this at a machine shop forum that i visit; I've got a friend here who spent about 35 years in CA working in the aluminum foundries, primarily ones who made aluminum wheels. He spent a long time at American Racing and then another long stretch with Superior Industries, but between those two he worked for a while for Fenton. I guess most of us who are screaming toward geezer-hood remember Fenton mags from years ago. Anyway, John said he was used to the way things were done at American, and when a tandem from a scrapyard pulled up at Fenton when he'd been there only a couple days, he assumed it was picking up, but soon found out it was delivering. He says the guy who owned Fenton was worse than any carnival huckster you'd ever find, and that they melted anything and everything from aluminum cookware to aluminum siding to scrap castings from local machining operations to make wheels. He said the nearest thing to QC at Fenton was when the scrappers happened to have a few busted mags of other brands, as that was the nearest their chemistry ever got to 356. Fenton operated on the stated principle that "aluminum is aluminum". At that time they turned the wheels with tracers and there was one full time guy whose job was to shuttle all the chips AND the wheels that flew apart during machining back to the foundry area. John left Fenton after a few months and went to Superior where they made both aftermarket wheels and castings for the aircraft industry. He said it was nice to once again leave work knowing you probably didn't make anything that day which might contribute to someone's death. So, if any of you guys are building a retro hot rod, make sure you don't end up with a set of Fenton wheels on it
     
  2. Aushotrods
    Joined: Jun 19, 2003
    Posts: 619

    Aushotrods
    Member

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]...are they allowed to do that kinda shit?
     
    Hitchhiker likes this.
  3. slammed
    Joined: Jun 10, 2004
    Posts: 8,150

    slammed
    Member

    So, use 'em for hose reel's and wall hanging's.
     
    kiwijeff likes this.
  4. Flexicoker
    Joined: Apr 17, 2004
    Posts: 1,416

    Flexicoker
    Member

    What's wrong with that? I'm a male nurse and I've reused syringes on different patients to save money. I don't see what the big deal is.



    [​IMG]
    Not really

    That is pretty lame of Fenton, not to mention dangerous. Maybe I'll make some Fenton knock offs one day, and I'll make them out of melted coke cans so they're genuine. genuinly CRAPPY [​IMG]
     
    Clay Belt likes this.

  5. Crosley
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 1,099

    Crosley
    Member
    from Aridzona

    I have a set of old 15x3 Fenton mags for years. I've been thinking about selling them
     
  6. Blownolds
    Joined: Mar 31, 2001
    Posts: 2,335

    Blownolds
    Member
    from So Cal

    Good luck, Yorgi just killed the market. [​IMG]

    They'll still sell very easily on gassermadness or eBay. I've never seen any busted ones-- maybe the flawed ones broke decades ago, and now the ones that are left are OK to use? [​IMG]
     
    Atwater Mike and kidcampbell71 like this.
  7. Like most names in the 60s, FENTON was a marketing name only. They didnt produce real goods. If you guys want safe, buy a fuckin Volvo...pussies
     
  8. ray
    Joined: Jun 25, 2001
    Posts: 3,791

    ray
    Member
    from colorado

    i'm not at home right now, but i think the fentons i have have a foundry name on them, "shore calvernating"(sp?) or something like that, and i have others that are different, different castings from another foundry, point is, not all the wheels called fentons are fentons, but i'll be damned if i know which companys sold similar wheels, i'm not talking of the slots, but the "hawk" and the others with alum centers and steel rims.
     
  9. In the 70's, I worked in the salvage business and saw many, many wrecked cars with 2 piece aluminum/chromed steel wheels. Radirs and Fentons were common to see with only the center or sometimes just pieces of the center bolted to the car's hub. I always wondered if the broken wheel caused the crash or if the crash caused the busted wheel?
    Funny, didn't see many broken Cragar SS's there. Thank God! I ran Cragars on about everything I drove in the 70's..
     
    Clay Belt likes this.
  10. willowbilly3
    Joined: Jun 18, 2004
    Posts: 4,356

    willowbilly3
    Member Emeritus
    from Sturgis

    In 72 A friend of mine totaled his 70 SS Chevelle which ended up with both of the Fenton wheels, like the ones pictured, broke on one side of the car. He swerved as a 51 Chev full of Polish highschool kids pulled out in front of him, went int a skid, both wheels broke off and he flipped it. Pretty hard to prove any liability on the part of the wheels, but...
     
    Clay Belt likes this.
  11. John Copeland
    Joined: Mar 11, 2002
    Posts: 349

    John Copeland
    Member Emeritus

    There are certain requirements that wheel manufacturers have to meet to obtain SEMA approval as well as approval from other accreditating bodies. Just before Halibrand went belly up, they tried to obtain a more economical casting house other then Alcoa, probably mis-spelled. A portion of the final acceptance testing is to spin the wheels to a specified RPM. Who ever Halibrand tried to use couldn't pass any of the testing because of the porosity problems with the new castings. I suspect that this, as well as all the guys in their polishing shop took a hike about the same time, caused Halibrand to fail. I bought a set of wheels from them that I still have on my car today, but I waited for thirteen weeks for them to be polished by a shop they contracted in Texas. The were sent out for polishing and then trucked back to Kansas for final machining. The process proved to be so slow and not cost effective which ultimately caused them to go belly up. The rear wheels that I have were threaded in the center at the axel hole, they were in the process of changing the retaining method for the spinner and cap assembly when they went out of business? There is another post that suggests these folks are up and running again, as they have a display at the current SEMA show. Their web site has never gone away but, it has been under construction. It will be interesting to see if they are able to recover. I approached the Hali guys at Goodguys Indy trying to buy wheels and they referred me top their largest dealer at the time, which was Southern Rods and Parts. In the thirteen week waiting process, I think Southern Rods got disgusted with Hali's inability to deliver and dropped the line, bought the business which is now Cruiser Wheels? I had some Fenton wheels way back when and never had any problems except with the cast aluminum / steel wheels. The outside edge was hollow just like early two piece ET wheels, they were often broken on tire changing machines trying to dismount tires. My two cents for the day.

    John
     
  12. Crosley
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 1,099

    Crosley
    Member
    from Aridzona

    [ QUOTE ]
    Like most names in the 60s, FENTON was a marketing name only. They didnt produce real goods. If you guys want safe, buy a fuckin Volvo...pussies

    [/ QUOTE ]

    dammit.... I almost pee'd my pants laughing
     
  13. modernbeat
    Joined: Jul 2, 2001
    Posts: 1,296

    modernbeat
    Member
    from Dallas, TX

    I take it you're talking about the two piece appearance wheels that have a cast spider and a chrome steel rim?

    If you've ever read the story about Hurst mags you'll see that they realized just how shody MOST of those cheap two piece wheels were. I remember photos in HotRod? of piles and piles of broken spiders and collapased rims from the Hurst tests. Of course, the Hurst wheels passed.

    Regardless, I don't think I'd run ANY two piece wheel like those unless it came with some type of trusted certification. I'm just too damn hard on my cars to trust junk.
     
  14. Blownolds
    Joined: Mar 31, 2001
    Posts: 2,335

    Blownolds
    Member
    from So Cal

    [ QUOTE ]
    i'm not at home right now, but i think the fentons i have have a foundry name on them, "shore calvernating"(sp?) or something like that, and i have others that are different, different castings from another foundry, point is, not all the wheels called fentons are fentons, but i'll be damned if i know which companys sold similar wheels, i'm not talking of the slots, but the "hawk" and the others with alum centers and steel rims.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    U.S. Indy Mag was one that I know made skinnies. Other slot-mag makers were M/T, Ansen, And I think also Western and American. I used to have a big stack of catalogs from the wheel makers. But, I don't remember who else made skinnies other than U.S. Indy and Fenton. I wish I had paid attention.
     
  15. Special Ed GT
    Joined: Jun 21, 2004
    Posts: 287

    Special Ed GT
    Member
    from Denver-ish

    Yeeks! So, now I'm having second thoughts about using the 2-piece Superiors I just picked up for free.
     
  16. Modernbeat said hard-on..heh heh heh.. cool
     
    tommyd and kidcampbell71 like this.
  17. flatheadpete
    Joined: Oct 29, 2003
    Posts: 10,479

    flatheadpete
    Member
    from Burton, MI

    I'd take a Volvo wagon, two door it, cram it full of rubber out back, steel tubing inside and big block Chevy up front and run Fentons just to prove that Volvo's aren't as safe as they say........yeah, hard on.
     
    brEad likes this.
  18. TERPU
    Joined: Jan 2, 2004
    Posts: 2,372

    TERPU
    Member

    Ditto to Crosley's post! Still giggling
     
  19. Nads
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 11,862

    Nads
    Member
    from Hypocrisy

    TMan rules.

    FWIW, just the names of these old speed equipment sellers are magical, Fenton, Ansen, Rader etc. They're part of a bygone era that won't ever be replicated.
    Every time I open the hood on my '54 Chevy and see the Nicson intake and the Fenton headers, I have to smile.
    But I have to say that the shit that I went through to get my Raders airtight was a major pain in the ass.
    Do ya think that there will ever be a time that upstarts like these will ever reappear?
    I don't think so.
     
  20. Crosley
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 1,099

    Crosley
    Member
    from Aridzona

    I received several messages about the purchase of the Fenton wheels in my posted photo.... they have been sold [​IMG]
     
  21. TINGLER
    Joined: Nov 6, 2002
    Posts: 3,410

    TINGLER

    CRAGARS rule. [​IMG]
     
  22. aedan
    Joined: Oct 18, 2004
    Posts: 524

    aedan
    Member
    from ###

    hahahahah nice post Tman hahaha volvo
     
  23. Dirty2
    Joined: Jun 13, 2004
    Posts: 8,903

    Dirty2
    Member

    [ QUOTE ]
    What's wrong with that? I'm a male nurse and I've reused syringes on different patients to save money. I don't see what the big deal is.



    [​IMG]
    Not really

    That is pretty lame of Fenton, not to mention dangerous. Maybe I'll make some Fenton knock offs one day, and I'll make them out of melted coke cans so they're genuine. genuinly CRAPPY [​IMG]

    [/ QUOTE ]
    You SCARED the crap outa me !!!!!
     
  24. Pigiron
    Joined: Jan 21, 2002
    Posts: 309

    Pigiron
    Member

    In 1969 I raced against a guy named Bob Danialson at Lewistown Dragstrip. He was driving a Hemi powered 65 Plymouth A/MP and I was in my 1929 Ford coupe C/GAS. He beat me for Street Eliminator but when he went though the finish line he had a stupid habit of putting the column shift into neutral. This time he missed neutral and hit reverse. He tore the centers out of his Fenton mags and rolled the car. Luckily there were no guard rails just a soft wheat field on his side of the track. Totaled the car.
     
  25. Hmm, someone doesn't like the truth about Fenton's buisness motive & practices.
     
  26. tomslik
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 2,161

    tomslik
    Member

    i useta have a pair of 15X4 ansen sprints.
    also had some crager ss 15X4's...
     
  27. ray
    Joined: Jun 25, 2001
    Posts: 3,791

    ray
    Member
    from colorado

    [ QUOTE ]
    Hmm, someone doesn't like the truth about Fenton's buisness motive & practices.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    huh?

    it's not really a surprise to anybody who owns, or has owned any of these wheels. it's very obvious quality wasn't #1.

    i'll get scared when i hear more stories about people just driving down the road and their wheels explode. if you throw your car into a broad slide or shift into reverse at 100, stuff's gonna break! even quality built stuff. i think it was the newest hot rod mag, had a pic of a 60's chevy stock car leanin hard thru a turn, stating that the factory steel wheel later broke, so guys, you better quit using those FACTORY wheels as well, they BREAK! [​IMG]

    and hell, as far as that goes, just stories about broken wheels in manufacturing aren't gonna scare me either. i'm a machinist, and i know how it is in "dirt floor" shops, they probably had cheap help that crashed machines on a regular basis, doing shit like take a 1/4 inch rough cut on the "spider" of a wheel in a powerful lathe will bust shit up on occasion.

    sorry if the whole hamb isn't up in arms because the handful of us who run these vintage mags aren't ripping them off our cars and destroying them because of a few stories of wheels that we already knew were of inferior quality breaking.

    now give me about two or three grand and i'll go buy a set of HURST mags.
     
  28. repoguy
    Joined: Jul 27, 2002
    Posts: 2,085

    repoguy
    Member

    [ QUOTE ]
    Regardless, I don't think I'd run ANY two piece wheel like those unless it came with some type of trusted certification. I'm just too damn hard on my cars to trust junk.

    [/ QUOTE ]


    Gotta agree with modernbeat. Junk is junk, regardless of the name brand's coolness. Vintage intakes, headers, etc., are one thing. But when it comes to wheels, tires, brakes, or any other part where it's failure could cause my death, I'll pass.
    I can just see the conversation between the emergency medical technicians as they pulled what's left of me out of the wreckage -

    EMT #1 - "Yep, looks like this one was dead on arrival. Head severed clean off. What a waste."

    EMT #2 - "No, not really. Maybe you didn't notice, but he was running Fentons!!!"

    EMT #1 - "Oh, well that's different! Totally bitchen bro!!!"
     
    Mitchell de Moor, zzford and Pete L. like this.
  29. jambottle
    Joined: Apr 11, 2003
    Posts: 564

    jambottle
    Member

    in 1966 i bought a set o radir wheels for my 427/425hp vette coupe.these were bought from radir
    wheels as seconds for 1/2 price.i had to run washers on the front studs to clear the calipers.
    just by luck i had my slicks mounted on steel vette wheels and only used the radirs for show.
    first time i went to the strip ,Junior hanley(stock car racer)followed me home and would not
    leave until i sold him my new radirs.He paid me twice what i payed for them and left me his vette
    wheels and gold line tires.i guess sometimes you get lucky.by the way that old vette turned 12
    flat @120mph in the 1/4 mile.(stock eng. and 3.73 gears) Chris
     
  30. Assdragger
    Joined: Jan 28, 2002
    Posts: 815

    Assdragger
    Member

    Back in the 70`s, my dad rolled his 55 Ford several times (close to 100 mph) due to a broken Astro....he was on a straight stretch that people still race on!!
     
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