C-1 Wheel Question

[Anthony F.]

I have a question for everyone about the orientation of the tube stem hole on the Corvette 15x5 wheels. My 59 has 4 welded (dogbone style) wheels that have the stem hole in line with a lug attachment hole with relation to the center of the wheel. My 60 driver has earlier riveted wheels that has a mix of alignment. There are 2 aligned like my 59’s and 2 that are off set from the lug hole.

Question is, was there a method of attachment that was used just for the Corvettes wheels or was it the luck of the draw when the centers were attached to the outer rim.

I guess this question could also apply to the 15x5.5 rims also.

I was looking at the rims today to do some clean up and noticed the difference. Because I have never hear of there being a set orientation of the centers, I was wondering. The centers have 5 hole for the lugs but 4 attachment points so I could see that there could be a mixture if Kelsey Hayes did not have a specified attachment location specified by GM.

I am sure this is not a new question just one that I have not heard before. Thanks for putting up with old man with nothing to do but ask questions.

[Chris H.]

Re: C-1 Wheel Question

note on drawing 3723561 says
"valve hole must be within spoke area. Relation to bolt hole unimportant"

Thi note was on the drawing before 4/12/62 (drawiing redrawn) but may have been added/revised sometime after 12/27/54 when the drawing was first released.

Could you tell me the dates on all your wheels and whether they have rivets/welds/dogbones/double hump(extra hump around the center raised reinforcing hump). I want to see if my chart agrees.

Thanks, chris

[Anthony F.]

Re: C-1 Wheel Question

Chris,

Thanks my friend but I do not have the dates recorded and all wheels have tires mounted on them.

I believe that I have some extra riveted wheels in the shed. I will check to see if I can locate those dates for you.

[Anthony F.]

Re: C-1 Wheel Question

Chris,

Yesterday I took 5 rims out of the shed to check for numbers, orientation of the center hub and other information that might be useful. They are all 15x5 riveted rims with 4 lugs for a full hub cap attachment. They all have the standard Corvette type center to hold a small hub cap with the extrusions. They all do not have any extra holes around the center bolt pattern that would have been used for attachment tabs.

Because I could not tell that there was any numbers stamped inside of the rim where the tube rest. Today I took my die grinder with a paint-striping wheel attached and cleaned the rims surfaces inside removing paint and rust. I can not see any numbers stamped into the metal surface at all. Below is what I did see and what I believe:

Wheel #1 – An old wheel that I have had for years and do not know from whence it came. Black in color on a black primer or base color. Tube valve stem hole, with relation to a radius line to the center, is in alignment with ½ of a lug not hole on the right side of the radius line. No rubber tubes (gravel guards) where inserted in the openings between the center and outer rims.

Wheel #2 – A rim that I bought at a swap meet and had been sprayed with brown primer. Under color, what I could see, was a pink color. It has the same configuration to the radius line as did wheel #1. No rubber tubes (gravel guards) where inserted in the openings between the center and outer rims either.

Wheel #3 – A rim that I bought at a swap meet and had been sprayed with dark brown primer. Tube valve stem hole, with relation to a radius line to the center, is in alignment with raised metal bumps that are between the lug attachment holes. Rubber tubes (gravel guards) where inserted in the openings between the center and outer rims.

Wheel #4 – A rim that I bought off a 56 Chevy car was black over a factory aqua green color. It has the same configuration to the radius line as did wheel #3. No rubber tubes (gravel guards) where inserted in the openings between the center and outer rims.

Wheel #5 – A rim that I bought off a 56 Chevy car was black over a factory aqua green color. It has the same configuration to the radius line as did wheel #1& # 2. No rubber tubes (gravel guards) where inserted in the openings between the center and outer rims either.

Now this is not very much information to help you and I know that I have seen numbers stamped inside wheel rims before but these do not have any numbers. I believe that they where used on full size chives probably in 1955 or 56. It does prove that there was a different pattern of assembly for Chevy wheels at some point in time.

Did the passenger cars have a wheel that was produced by someone other than Kelsey Hayes? Did Corvette only use a Kelsey Hayes wheel? What year did Kelsey Hayes start stamping wheels?

Leaves a lot of questions doesn’t it. And to think all of this just started when I was cleaning the wheels up on my cars from a little dirt and grime.

How does your chart agree or disagree with what I have found?

[Chris H.]

Re: C-1 Wheel Question

The chart I made up only covers 5" corvette wheels.

The dates on my wheels were very hard to see until I had them stripped.

Does anyone know if the wheel seals were used in non vette applications? Vettes used them from mid 55 to '58 and possibly some '59.

From what I can find in books, vettes used riveted wheels from '53-early '56, (generally welded statement in the 56/57 JGM's).
Colvin also states that passenger car shared wheels with vette from '53-'57.

My chart needs to be confirmed with actual wheel inspections before I am comfortable with it. The biggest issue is when riveted vs. spot welded wheels were used. I believe that in normal production rivets were used from '53-'early '56 and then a change to welded was made.

From your description your wheels may be correct for '55-early '56. Seals were used for both those years on vettes. I have 3 of the same wheels that were on my 62 and they were shared with passenger so they are probably very common.