Is this a 65/66 original wheel

[David L.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

It sure looks like a service 65-65 Corvette wheel to me that was made in December 1966. In the last 40 years I have owned original 63-64 wheels, a NOS 64 service wheel, GM # 3839814, with 2.91" hub hole and with a 1965 date code, an original 65 wheel that had rivets, original 65-66 wheels, service 65-66 wheels made in the early 1980's with the stampings near the valve hole, and a service 3838080 wheel made in the early 1980's. Most of the original 63-64 and 65-66 wheel that I had were stamped with complete date code (month and year) but a few only had a partial date code. I believe that the 3838080 wheel was original equipment on the 1966 Chevrolet Police cars as 3838080 first appears in my 1967 Chevrolet Parts Catalog for 57-64 Corvettes and 62-66 POLICE cars (2nd design). GM 3838080 replaced 3839814 in May 1966 as per Chevrolet Parts History.
Dave

[Dan A.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Dan------
I do find it extremely strange that wheels of the same part number could be manufactured in both welded and riveted versions whether they were SERVICE wheels, or not..

I think that is what David Liukkonen was trying to sort out. As I recall they were no responses.

[Dan A.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Looks like 12 - 5 date so SR wheel from a long time ago ??

If 12 5 on a wheel with no stamp on the face side by the valve stem that would be Dec 65. Which could have been installed on a January-February of '66 built 1966 Corvette. Or shipped to SPO. So not necessarily a service part.

[Larry M.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Dan....trust me its 12 and 6....may be 6X where we don't know what X is or maybe its X6.....there is No 5 in the date on the wheel.

I find it interesting that Dave thinks he had an original 65 with rivets.

The guy I got this from has what I think are two june of 64 SRs for 63/64....they don't have the GM and they have a hole in the pad which I believe I read in a Dave L post is a characteristic of these. They're on ebay now as 64s for 200 bucks.

[Joe L.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

It sure looks like a service 65-65 Corvette wheel to me that was made in December 1966. In the last 40 years I have owned original 63-64 wheels, a NOS 64 service wheel, GM # 3839814, with 2.91" hub hole and with a 1965 date code, an original 65 wheel that had rivets, original 65-66 wheels, service 65-66 wheels made in the early 1980's with the stampings near the valve hole, and a service 3838080 wheel made in the early 1980's. Most of the original 63-64 and 65-66 wheel that I had were stamped with complete date code (month and year) but a few only had a partial date code. I believe that the 3838080 wheel was original equipment on the 1966 Chevrolet Police cars as 3838080 first appears in my 1967 Chevrolet Parts Catalog for 57-64 Corvettes and 62-66 POLICE cars (2nd design). GM 3838080 replaced 3839814 in May 1966 as per Chevrolet Parts History.
Dave

Dave------


The GM #3838080 wheel has a part number which implies it was originally released in 1963. However, I can find no original application for it among any 1963 GM passenger car or light truck. In fact, I can find no original application for it, at all. So, it could well be that it is a SERVICE-only wheel. How it differs from the GM #3839814 which it replaced, I do not know.

[David L.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Dan....trust me its 12 and 6....may be 6X where we don't know what X is or maybe its X6.....there is No 5 in the date on the wheel.

I find it interesting that Dave thinks he had an original 65 with rivets.

The guy I got this from has what I think are two june of 64 SRs for 63/64....they don't have the GM and they have a hole in the pad which I believe I read in a Dave L post is a characteristic of these. They're on ebay now as 64s for 200 bucks.

Larry,
I don't think that I had an original 65 Corvette with with rivets...... I absolutely know that I once owned a 1965 Corvette wheel with rivets!!!!
I just checked my notes and it was dated "12 64". Over the last 40 years I have seen or heard of a few more 1965 Corvette wheels with rivets as well.
Dave

[David L.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Dave------


The GM #3838080 wheel has a part number which implies it was originally released in 1963. However, I can find no original application for it among any 1963 GM passenger car or light truck. In fact, I can find no original application for it, at all. So, it could well be that it is a SERVICE-only wheel. How it differs from the GM #3839814 which it replaced, I do not know.

Joe,
I really do not know what you mean by "implies it was originally released in 1963". GM # 3838080 does not appear in my 1963 (Oct. 1962), 1964 (Oct. 1963), 1965 (Oct. 1964, May 1965) or 1966 (Oct. 1965) Chevrolet parts catalogs. The 63-64 Corvette wheels were also used on Police cars. The 3838080 wheel looks like it was made for cars with disc brakes. The 3839814 (drum brake only) wheel is the same shape as the 63-64 Corvette wheel excepts that the hub hole is slightly larger (2.91" as opposed to 2.78") and it also has a small hole about 1/4" in diameter on one of the "bump". I once owned a NOS 3839814 wheel dated "3 65". The 3839814 wheel is listed for 63 POLICE and 63-64 CORVETTES in my 1964 parts catalog (Oct. 1963). Apparently the 3839814 wheel was never installed on the 64 Corvette assembly line from what information that I have acquire from various NCRS members. I am guessing that the 3839814 may have been installed on Police cars.
Dave

[Joe L.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Joe,
I really do not know what you mean by "implies it was originally released in 1963". GM # 3838080 does not appear in my 1963 (Oct. 1962), 1964 (Oct. 1963), 1965 (Oct. 1964, May 1965) or 1966 (Oct. 1965) Chevrolet parts catalogs. The 63-64 Corvette wheels were also used on Police cars. The 3838080 wheel looks like it was made for cars with disc brakes. The 3839814 (drum brake only) wheel is the same shape as the 63-64 Corvette wheel excepts that the hub hole is slightly larger (2.91" as opposed to 2.78") and it also has a small hole about 1/4" in diameter on one of the "bump". I once owned a NOS 3839814 wheel dated "3 65". The 3839814 wheel is listed for 63 POLICE and 63-64 CORVETTES in my 1964 parts catalog (Oct. 1963). Apparently the 3839814 wheel was never installed on the 64 Corvette assembly line from what information that I have acquire from various NCRS members. I am guessing that the 3839814 may have been installed on Police cars.
Dave

Dave------

Part numbers 3700000 to 3999999 were Chevrolet Division part numbers released between approximately 1954 to 1972. With only a few exceptions, these part numbers were essentially released sequentially. Part numbers in the approximate range of 379xxxx to 384xxxx were released in the 1962-63 period. So, wheel part numbers 3834127 and 3839814 were released in this period and, probably, rather late in the period.

The wheel GM #3825686 was probably the original 1963 Corvette wheel used in PRODUCTION but it's possible there was a lower part numbered predecessor wheel. It was replaced in PRODUCTION by GM #3834127. The latter was available in SERVICE, discontinued in October, 1963 and replaced by GM #3839814.

The GM #3825686 and 3834127 were the wheels originally cataloged for the 1963 Corvette and 1963 police application. GM #3838080 was never originally cataloged for either the Corvette or police applications. It did not appear until it replaced the 3834127 in May, 1966 as you noted above. However, as I mentioned, the 3838080 part number implies a 1963 release. It is possible that it was a number which was "skipped over" in 1963 and utilized later. This would be very unusual but I suppose it's a possibility.

By the way, one notable exception to the 3700000 to 399999 sequential series I mentioned in the first paragraph are part numbers in the range of approximately 3835xxx-3836xxx. These were released in the 1954-55 period, primarily for V-8 engine parts. I don't know why this occurred. It's also possible that the range extended a bit higher than 3836xxx and an unused part number for this series was assigned in about 1966 as the 3838080 wheel.

[Elliott P.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Well..., there should be no confussion between Corvette 63-64 wheels and 65-66 wheels; the 65-66 wheels will have a different wheel-rim profile to clear the disk-brake calipers. I purchased a 65 that had been restored some time ago. I discovered that one of the wheels had rivets, which were not mentioned in judging guide, so I replaced it with what I considered a proper wheel (at least for judging). As I recall the riveted wheel was also welded, so I just assumed it was a heavy-duty racing or police-duty wheel from the Chevy parts bin. Elliott

[Larry M.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Two things:

1. Dave, I didn't mean to insult. I love your drawings and have many copied to my files. I was just trying to not be absolute.

2. As suggested above this wheel also appears to be spot welded between the rivets.

[James W.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Here are some pictures of an original 1965 Corvette wheel and tire.

James

[David L.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Well..., there should be no confussion between Corvette 63-64 wheels and 65-66 wheels; the 65-66 wheels will have a different wheel-rim profile to clear the disk-brake calipers. I purchased a 65 that had been restored some time ago. I discovered that one of the wheels had rivets, which were not mentioned in judging guide, so I replaced it with what I considered a proper wheel (at least for judging). As I recall the riveted wheel was also welded, so I just assumed it was a heavy-duty racing or police-duty wheel from the Chevy parts bin. Elliott

Elliot,
The riveted wheel that was on your 65 was probably an original assuming it was 15" X 5 1/2". Years ago when I had my riveted 65 wheel dated
"12 64" there was some kind on sealer on the rivets on the inside part of the wheel. I have to assume the sealer was to prevent air leaking out when using tubeless tires. In the 1950's tubes were used inside the tire so there was not an air leakage problem with riveted wheels.
Dave

[Dan A.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

Well..., there should be no confussion between Corvette 63-64 wheels and 65-66 wheels; the 65-66 wheels will have a different wheel-rim profile to clear the disk-brake calipers. I purchased a 65 that had been restored some time ago. I discovered that one of the wheels had rivets, which were not mentioned in judging guide, so I replaced it with what I considered a proper wheel (at least for judging). As I recall the riveted wheel was also welded, so I just assumed it was a heavy-duty racing or police-duty wheel from the Chevy parts bin. Elliott

Elliot is that riveted wheel long gone now?

[Larry M.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

I used lacquer thinner on the date and here is the pic. This is 12 64 just like Dave's. Who thinks this is a rare and desirable piece?

[Dan A.]

Re: Is this a 65/66 original wheel

So I did see a 4 as I said earlier. I think this proves my about photo quality.

To your question. Rare, well I've seen a few. Desirable, the phrase "unknown quantities" come to mind. Are unknown (quantities) items desirable?

The story behind these riveted wheels does not appear to be known at his time. Thus they differ from typical wheels. Thus a red flag usually results. Which differentiates a riveted wheel from a no excuses wheel.