Center line wheels??

[bbbentley]

Originally Posted by NorCam

I beg to differ. While there have been numerous copycat attempts of the original Centerline wheel over the years...the "Spun Aluminum" design has never been equaled or matched. IMHO, there's only ever been one Centerline auto drag wheel, and all copy attempts have really missed the mark? Probably due to a patent on the original design.

With all due respect, the Centerline is not a spun aluminum wheel. In fact , that is what “ revolutionized” it from it’s Cragar counterpart. It is a forged stamped wheel and its advantage over the “trick” wheel is that the CL has equal metal thickness over the entire stamping and stronger being forged along with the stronger alloy used over itsCragar counterpart.

[NorCam]

I was told the halves were forged and then spun in order to achieve the smoothed steps. Maybe that was bad info I got on the process? In either case...they're light and they are still the best looking rivet style aluminum rim out there.

Thanks for the education Bentley.

[NorCam]

Maybe it was the rotary process that led to me being told the forgings were spun before being pressed. I've seen pictures of the 2 story press used to forge the wheels and it was pretty cool. I'm assuming the pictures and the process details below are the technologies that were used for the Auto Drag and Convo Pro designs?


CENTER LINE'S ROTARY FORGED TECHNOLOGY
Patent # 4,936,129

Center Line has designed a rotary forging press, the only one of its kind in the world, to compress a solid billet of aluminum with 4,000 tons of force, at 300 revolutions per minute. Not only does this process rearrange the aluminum molecules, but it also aligns them in a circular pattern thereby adding strength. As a result, the rotary forged wheel has a much tighter grain structure and is significantly lighter weight than a cast wheel which requires greater mass due to its inherent porosity.

1. The aluminum billet is run through the oven and heated to 900 degrees.


2. The nearly red-hot billets are transferred from the oven into the rotary forging press.


3. Spinning at 300 revolutions per minute, the billet is compressed into the die with 4,000 tons of force. This process forges the aluminum molecules into a tight grain structure arranged in a circular pattern thereby allowing Center Line to build incredibly light-weight, strong wheels.


4. The beginnings of a wheel in its forged state just as it is about to be removed from the rotary forging press.


5. Next, the aluminum forging must be split-spun to form the rim thereby completing the structure of a one-piece rotary forged wheel.

[bbbentley]

The Cragar “trick” was spun aluminum. And that is why it was stated to not use on the street. It was fine in straight line use, but repetitive turning would pull the lug nuts through the wheel, along with stress cracks and bending or warping the rim. C-lines could run on the street and tubeless, I don’t believe tricks could run tubeless either?
Listen, I am no expert on these wheels. When I was 18, in 1979, I had the dream job of an 18 year old gear head. And that job was working in a speed shop! Between reading catalogs and talking to reps, I picked up what I know. I was a sponge for this information.

[Bernhard]

Originally Posted by Yann

If you're talking about Cragar Super Trick's, they fit the day 2 theme pretty well. They came out i'd say late 70 or 71. As stated by another member, there was a street version (SST) and they were not that good looking (in my opinon)/popular compared to the very popular S/S wheels. Gold Super Tricks are really cool, would love to have a set for my Chevelle.

Centerline Auto drag's are what I call day 3, they came out mid 70s and became popular late 70s, they are more 80s style than 70s.

I was asking about the Centerline wheels.
We started building and racing in the day 3 era.
I had a memory nudge from my brother. The car was flat towed with Centerline wheels. We did have a rivet failure on one of the 15 X 4 rims early on that was replaced by the speed shop.
The rear center line wheels were not raced on because we did not want to drill them for screws so we ran steel rims out back.
So they held up from the early 80's to today seeing tack and street duty.
I would still drive with care as with any dual purpose wheel.

[whitetop]

Chevelle sporting Centerlines early 80's

[Starship]

Originally Posted by whitetop

Jenkins 70 Camaro did have the Super Trick Wheels on the front at some point 1971 or so. Like you I'm thinking late 1971 the front runners were available.

Note that Jenkins used the chrome bolt on center caps on the'70..

[Verne_Frantz]

Originally Posted by bbbentley

The Cragar “trick” was spun aluminum. And that is why it was stated to not use on the street. It was fine in straight line use, but repetitive turning would pull the lug nuts through the wheel, along with stress cracks and bending or warping the rim. C-lines could run on the street and tubeless, I don’t believe tricks could run tubeless either?
Listen, I am no expert on these wheels. When I was 18, in 1979, I had the dream job of an 18 year old gear head. And that job was working in a speed shop! Between reading catalogs and talking to reps, I picked up what I know. I was a sponge for this information.

I had tricks on my '62 with tubeless tires. Never had a problem. Always held air.

Verne



Grady now owns the Cragars and slicks

[NorCam]

Originally Posted by Verne_Frantz

I had tricks on my '62 with tubeless tires. Never had a problem. Always held air.

Verne

Attachment 105821

Grady now owns the Cragars and slicks

Now that was a sweet 62 Verne. I assume you moved it along somewhere...or do you still have it.

[Verne_Frantz]

Still have it. Replaced the hood, got rid of the roll bar and it's back on the street with an '09.

Verne