Bolt On Wheels

[Lawrence S.]

I bought a used set of bolt on wheels and I am having a hard time getting all four of the starburst to align properly so they will snap on. I got the front starbursts on but not the rears. One of the front starburst appears to be on only about 80%. The wheels came in Corvette America boxes and and the starbursts where just packaged without boxes. The starburst were made in Korea?

Are there two different types of starburst on the market? I have contacted the guy who I bought them from but have not heard back yet. Thought I would check here for any ideas.

Thanks,
Lawrence

[James F.]

Re: Bolt On Wheels

Lawrence,
You don`t mention whether or not the wheels themselves are reproduction or original Kelsey Hayes. I`ve heard of similiar problems with repro wheels and/or repro starburst caps. If you`ve got original wheels, you`ve got to get the original caps which are marked with KH on the back. The clips on the repro starbursts are problems and often fall off. If you have repro wheels, you should again try to get the original starburst caps with the correct black clip to insure a tight flush fit. Original caps are obviously not made in Korea.

[Joe R.]

Re: Bolt On Wheels

Hi Lawrence:

I have a set of the reproduction bolt-ons. They came with detailed instructions on how to line up the starbursts. What you have to do is rotate the ring that is screwed onto the wheel. This ring provides the edge that the clips on the starburst clip onto.

Each of the five or so different clockings of the ring provides a slightly different alignment of the starburst, so you just have to keep rotating the ring until you get the alignment you want.

Here are a few more comments on this topic:

1) The clips are not symmetric, and they have to be installed in a specific orientation (big side in or big side out, I can't recall). If you are not sure which orientation is correct, I can check mine for you.

2) I have had trouble getting the starbursts off without breaking clips. I finally figured out that if a clip is located right next to one of the provided lug nuts, the lug nut is so close to the clip that it prevents the clip from releasing. This is simply a flaw in the design. Fortunately it typically affects only one clip per wheel, so now I have only four functional clips per wheel.

3) America's Finest Corvettes has just introduced a better reproduction of the bolt on wheel. One thing they did differently was to design a different mechanism for retaining the starburst. They claim that their starbursts and attaching method will work with the earlier reproduction wheel.

[Brian M.]

Re: Bolt On Wheels

If I remember correctly the ring that gets screwed to the wheel has a part # on it and it must be positioned accross from the valve hole. Once you have the positioning set, mark the back of the fin that aligns with the valve stem for ease of orientation when re-installed. This is the procedure I used for my Re-pro wheels. Good luck

[John H.]

Re: Bolt On Wheels

At least one of the long-shank 7/8" hex lug nuts on the repro N89 wheels must be "clocked" to provide clearance to the inside diameter of the retaining ring for one of the spring clips on the starburst cap; if you don't do that, one of the four spring clips won't seat on the ring, and the starburst cap won't seat. Original N89 wheels didn't have that problem, as they used ordinary 3/4"-hex production tapered lug nuts.

Hint: If you have a flat on the road, you'll find that your lug wrench is useless, as it's a 3/4" hex socket, and the repro N89 wheel long-shank lugs are 7/8" hex. I welded a standard 3/4" hex lug nut to a 6-point 7/8" socket that I carry in my "road box" so my lug wrench works for both sizes.