Vintage American wheels with blems??? [Archive]

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DjD

11-02-2002, 05:36 AM

Following some of the threads posted here I have come to the conclusion that some of you super car guys might be the best suited to help. In the image on the right side is a couple blems that look like the wheels have had metal replaced or something. I'm told all 4 wheels have spots about the same. Any ideas as to what they are? I was told these are '60's vintage wheels that have been restored. Any chance it's just a casting flaw that has shown up after resurfacing?

http://members.aol.com/joeybsyc/torqthrust.jpg Thanks in advance,

Rat_Pack

11-02-2002, 01:09 PM

DjD, I have restored numerous sets of Americans, Fentons, Rocket, M/T, and other brands of wheels like this and have never seen a casting flaw the looks like that. Someone has done some repair work on them. Do these spots have a yellow tint to them? The picture will not show this due to the reflection/angle of the wheel, but the upper rh spot does look like it is a little yellow. If so, then they have been welded on. When aluminum is welded, machined, and buffed, the area that was repaired will be yellow compared to the original aluminum of the wheel. I have seen guys repair wheels that have been used on a drag car that had holes drilled in them for screws to hold the slicks. You can look at the wheel from about 5' and it looks great, look a little closer and you will see every single spot that has been repaired.

If you cannot see these spots from 5' away when they are on the car, then run them and enjoy /ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif ...................RatPack........................ .......

Mr70

11-02-2002, 01:18 PM

That was my feeling too.Screws inserted to hold the slicks.Can you see any patch work on the back side of the rim?

moparts

11-02-2002, 01:33 PM

Wouldn't screws for slicks be in the outer ring of the rim?

Belair62

11-02-2002, 01:35 PM

I have restored a few sets. Its a possibility there were stick-on weights attached at these points of the rim. Not a good location since most folks stuck them on the back but I have had a few that were mounted this way.The weights have a foam backed adhesive that over the years traps water and corrodes deep into the wheel face.The bad spots I have seen are a little more rectangular though but no matter what you do these spots won't come out. Kind of like a hard spot on a drum or rotor.Around the edges was pitting too.

DjD

11-02-2002, 03:32 PM

Thanks guys,

I haven't seen the wheels personally so I don't know about any signs of holes on the inner side of the wheel. It does seem that if the tires had been screwed to the wheels it would have been on the lip of the rim. I think the tape weights sounds feasable after 30+ years trapped moisture could have caused corrosion. I can also see the shape not being square like the weight itself from past experience with double sided tape. Exposure, hosing from car washes ect can all wear under the lip of the weight... Thanks again, any other observations are appreciated.

Seattle Sam

11-02-2002, 03:42 PM

Dennis,
Just curious - how were you able to insert a 200K plus picture into your post?
-Sam

Chevy454

11-02-2002, 03:46 PM

The image is hosted on a different site...he just used the image tags to insert it. Only when you include an attachment hosted on this site are there size limits.

DjD

11-02-2002, 05:06 PM

I got started in UBB long ago when everything had to be manually entered. Old habits are hard to break and I've never gotten use to using all the built in shortcuts that the newer versions have.

Without seeing the American brand name and size on the back of the wheel is there any way to verify from the pic that these are indeed American?

Belair62

11-03-2002, 01:52 AM

You need to see back of wheel...American Torque Thrusts were copied by many companies.

whitetop

11-03-2002, 01:50 PM

DJD
I have seen some cheap "no-name" wheels have air holes in the castings. Wonder if these wheels were corroded and the owner turned them on a lathe to get rid of the corrosion and got into some air pockets.

Also Stockton Wheel in Ca. can repair aluminum wheels that are dented and even have whole sections of the wheel missing. They have a proprietary process where you cannot see where the wheel was damaged even up close. There is no color/grain mismatch in the aluminum. I saw in an old magazine article how they repaired a magnesium wheel that was missing a fist sized piece of metal and you could not see the repair when done.
I had them chrome my old 15x4 & 15x10 Cragars and they came out better than new.
http://www.stocktonwheel.com/widen_straighten2.htm
Dave