I was ready to buy some knock off wheels for my 65. I looked in the archives and read a thread back in November about the Chinese made wheels. Has there been any improvements/corrections of the too-wide webs in the tooling? Has anyone bought any of these repo. wheels recently? What a shame. Now what. Well I have steel wheels and hubcaps to restore as a backup. I really wanted to go with Knock offs. No, I can't afford NOS wheels. VA on Ebay claim on the 21st of this month all Knock offs will be going up $100.00. Maybe a tooling change? Anyone! Thanks DG
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
Hi Dick,
They send the production of the repro wheels to China (after making them in the USA from at least 1979) so they could be made for less money and then raised the the price of the wheels. IMO these wheels are a big disappointment. The older Western Wheels look much better.
There is new repro wheel that is being advertised by another company that is supposed to be more like the original wheels. I think it's America Finest or something like that.
Page Campbell -
Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
Page,
There's an ad in the latest issue of Driveline on pg 25 for these new wheels made by America's Finest Corvettes. The vendor claims that they are a fairly close reproduction of the originals.Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
Corvette USA. They claim the fin dim is correct at .150", and it looks correct. (finally!) All previous KO & AL wheels had ugly fins with a machined look. Also looks like the outer lip is now the correct dim. Only thing that looks like it may be a little off is the somewhat glossy paint between the spokes.Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
I got the info on Corvette USA from MH.
HarryComment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
The one on the right is the new one.
Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
I don't know how many of you watch CNN or any of the other business/news channels. On Friday a story alerting us to the mounting trade deficit with China was aired. We are approaching a 6.5% trade deficit with China. They are selling us goods and buying our national debt. China now has a one Trillon dollars surplus of cash. If we don't take a change in attitude and demand U.S. made goods by U.S. owned and operated companies and stop purchasing out sourced products, finding wheels for Corvettes at cheaper prices will be the least of our problems.Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
Harry,
The wheel on the left - I assume it is the old repro? Thanks.
LouisComment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
Louis -
The one on the left is the Corvette America wheel that was outsourced to China two years ago and now has the ugly ultra-wide fin surfaces. The one on the right is the new repro from America's Finest Corvettes.Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
There at:
There so new there is no price yet.
HarryComment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels
Are these the same wheels from the Corvette USA website? One in the same? If so, where are they made? I e-mailed them today for this information along with a quote for 5 wheels. Has anyone bought any of these? Thanks DGComment
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My originals '66s measure 0.25-0.27" fin thickness
Dick -- I think those photos are of '67 bolt-ons, which, I've heard DO have thinner ribs than '64-66.Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels/ Update
I spoke to Finest Corvette today and the owner told me the following. The first batch of wheels won't be available till April 15, tax day. They are made in China by a man who supposedly manufactures 10,000 wheels a year. It's still China. $2200 for a set of four, without any hardware. $750 for all the hardware. He will take off $200 from the $2200 for a credit card purchase. 2200-200+750= $2750.00. An additional spare wheel is 495 plus hardware. Not cheap. What do you think? I feel it's risky without seeing one in person. Has anyone seen the wheels that Virginia Vette on ebay sell for $1500/sett?? Anyone? Thanks DGComment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels/ Update
Dick -
The wheels Virginia Vettes sells are the ones on the left side of the photo up above - from Corvette America - there's only one manufacturer (until the AFC wheels become available).Comment
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Re: Reproduction Knock off wheels/ Update
Hi Dick,
Another option is to look for a nice used set of the older Western Wheels that were made in the USA. They show up quite often on the Corvette Forum.
Page CampbellComment
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