'58 Wheels

[Don E.]

Hello all, I am looking for any information and/or references to determine if the steel wheels that I have for my '58 Fuelie are correct. Note: I have looked in the traditional places (e.g. Noland Adam's C1 Restoration Manual, '58 - '60 NCRS Judging guide, Forum archives); however I continue to get conflicting views. For example: weleded or Riveted or yes to either, w/DogBones?, w/additional ring surrounding the the small dish hubcaps, etc. I don't mind doing the research, but I have got to think that somewhere within the NCRS community somebody has documented this (w/pictures), for future generations to consume.

My predicament - I have 4 wheels (no spare). Of the 4 wheels, (2) are welded and (2) are riveted. In addition, (3) of the wheels have an additional ring surrounding the small hub cap nubs, the (1) out lier was modified by Bubba to accommodate the large hub caps. Specifically, Bubba inserted (4) screws into the rim to duplicate the nubs for the large hub caps. If that is not enough, the terminology (e.g. Dog Bones), appears to have different meaning to anybody I ask .

Any information, pointers to reference material, actual pictures of correct wheels, etc., would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Don

[Verle R.]

Re: '58 Wheels

The below picture shows the "dog bones" on a welded wheel. Dog bones are slots with larger rounded ends punched in the flange of the center section during manufacture. I have not heard an explanation of why they were punched.

Note the spot welds just above the dog bones.

Verle

[Marc W.]

Re: '58 Wheels

Don,
All 1958 Corvette wheels were wielded with Dogbones.Riveted wheels started after 58 with the invention of the tubeless tire.The wielded wheel with a tubeless tire would sometimes leak air, so they started producing riveted wheels to help the problem.
The reason alot of 58 Corvette's have some or all riveted wheels on them is because in the early 60's meg wheels became very popular. Alot of guys took off their original wielded wheels and put on a set of meg wheels.
Then later the owner or restorer wanted the 58 to look original again and they would take off the meg wheels and puts a set of 15" riveted wheels (more supply of these around or he did not know better)back on the 58 Corvette.
Marc

[Rod K.]

Re: '58 Wheels

Don,

Search the archives. There was a recent discussion on this topic,
riveted vs welded, etc., which was very informative. Look for Chris Henige on '57 wheels in March '07. Also www.ncrs.org/forum/archives8.cgi/read/33641, also ...archive29.cgi/read/273949. That should get you started. This was about '57 wheels, but the info would apply. Chris was actually conducting a survey to determine what cars had which version of the wheels, etc. I think riveted wheels preceded welded and '56-'58 was the transition period. Good luck in your search.

[Joe M.]

Re: '58 Wheels

What are the dates on your wheels?
Here is a shot of the wheel date on my April built 61.

[Tracy C.]

Re: '58 Wheels

Don,

I've been a student of wheel configuration here on this board for about 4 years. What I've gathered is the following:

53 - 55 5" wide wheels are riveted with a large dome like center section. Correct Corvette wheels will not have provisions for the center clips that hold dog dish style hubcaps typically found other passenger cars wheels of the era.

56 - 57E 5" wide wheels are riveted with the extra ring around the center section. These will possess 4 nubs on the outer perimeter to retain a full size wheel cover.

57 - 62 5.5" wide wheels are riveted with the extra ring around the center section. These will NOT have 4 nubs on the outer perimeter to retain a full size wheel cover.

57L - 59 5" wide wheels are welded with the dog bone cutouts present and have the extra ring around the center section. These will possess 4 nubs on the outer perimeter to retain a full size wheel cover.

60 - 62 5" wide wheels are welded without the dog bone cutouts present and have the extra ring around the center section. These will possess 4 nubs on the outer perimeter to retain a full size wheel cover.

other opinions may vary...

good luck,
tc

[Dennis C.]

tc Thank You dc *NM*

[Gary C.]

Re: '58 Wheels

Tracy, so where were the spot welded 15x5 wheels used? Gary....

[Tracy C.]

Re: '58 Wheels

Gary,

I believe welded 15 X 5 wheels are correct for 57L - 62 Corvette applications only. Passenger cars went to 14" wheels in 57.

tc

[John M.]

Re: '58 Wheels

I would agree with TC except on the dogbones. Not all Corvette 15 X 5 welded wheels had the dogbone cutouts, but I am confident that all cars from 60 on should have the dogbones.

Regards, John McGraw