Knock Off Wheel Repair ?

[M. Craig Willetts (36551)]

Hi all,

I recently acquired a fantastic set of KH Knock Off's for a 63-64 Corvette from an individual who just wanted to get rid of them. Well for me I never pass up a potential good deal. Two of the four are nearly perfect, one of the four as a few of the mounting holes slightly wollared out, not a big deal still road worthy, but the last one has a bit more of the hole grooved out due to the wheel coming loose and causing the damage. My question is can these be repaired or did I basically spend more than I should? Like I said before the deal was too good to pass up. Any help is always appreciated.

Regards,

Craig Willetts
#36551

[Dave Kitch (33108)]

Re: Knock Off Wheel Repair ?

Craig,

The most common repair for these wheels is to drill out the wheel for an oversized aluminum bushing that is center drilled for the adapter. The bushing is a shrink fit into the wheel. Another way is to install oversized pins in the wheel adapter and drill out the wheel accordingly. The former approach is labor intensive and a machine shop will probably charge quite a bit, but-- you have original KH wheels that are quite valuable and worth the repair.

I was looking into repairing a pair of repro Knockoffs and the cost/benefit is less attractive.

Dave K.

[Jack Humphrey (17100)]

Re: Knock Off Wheel Repair ?

"My question is can these be repaired or did I basically spend more than I should? Like I said before the deal was too good to pass up. Any help is always appreciated."

All things can be repaired... But, it's tough to tell you if you spent more than you should as you didn't tell us what you paid...

One who does dabble in KH KO repair is New Mexico Chapter member Bill Wilheim who posts periodically on this site. Look him up in the DB contributing member list. He's a STRAIGHT SHOOTER guy!

On the mounting holes being 'egg shaped', that's the normal result of prior owner/mechanic not reading the shop manual and learning how to properly torque KO wheels after mounting them. Once there's wear there, the wheels will have a tendency to 'walk' relative to the KO adaptors and the wear will increase progressively.

The 'fix' is for a wheel restorer to bore the mounting holes oversize and install a sleeve/bushing to return them to their original diameter. You want/need a snug fit...

[Jack Humphrey (17100)]

PS: They came as a set of five...not four! *NM*

[M. Craig Willetts (36551)]

Re: Knock Off Wheel Repair ?

Uncle Jack,

I bought only four from a friend in Florida because that's all he had. He has offered these wheels to me in the past and I finally conceded to buy these for what he wanted price wise. $800.

I figured what the heck. Buy them and make a nice display out of them at the very least.

Thanks for your help,

Craig

[Jack Humphrey (17100)]

You done GOOD, Craig!

Figure the going market rate for a set of five KH KO's is now in the $4500-6000 range. Plus, don't expect all of the used originals that are offered for sale to differ much from the condition of what you wound up with...

[John DeGregory (2855)]

Re: PS: They came as a set of five...not four!

Jack, Funny you should remind me that the knock offs came in sets of 5. Not saying where but in the olden day a "friend" bought two new midyears both of which had knockoffs. Factory installed also as was listed on window sticker and ordered that way etc.(so he told me) Anyhow the spare was a STEEL rim. Well I didn't know until my early NCRS days that someone made a mistake. Can't imagine how though.
With all the noise of the side exhaust who could hear the rattle of a spare flopping around in the tub. I said this because I believe that the KO's and the steel rims used a different length bolt but I am just going from memory as I am not into KO's anymore. Would rather have wheel covers any day. But everyone to his liking for sure. John