Rally Wheel identification

[Peter G.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

Dale....

Exactly! That maybe what has happened to the other dot welds on the other wheels.

I started to grind mine too off until I talked with Terry.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

...That maybe what has happened to the other dot welds on the other wheels...

Possibly, but I suspect the answer is closer to the explanation Terry gave.

To grind weld metal off the rim would require an aggressive grit disc (36 grit would probably work), followed by successively finer grit sanding and finishing to be invisible.

That would be a fair amount of work for "perfect" rims. If you don't see any evidence of grind marks on the rim, I suspect those wheels were likely close to perfect in balance or runout from the beginning.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

....I don't know how some of these guys do it...they can post a picture that will fill up the whole page and force the right margin out so you have to use the cursor to see it all. I think it has to do with knowing how to properly manipulate the resolution and size of the file using photoshop software, which I don't have.

Or, in my case, I post my pics to a hosting site like Photoshop, which permits more than 1 megabyte resolution (rather than the puny 293 kB on the discussion board). Then, attach the link to that Photoshop pic in the DB post, and (voila) it pops up automatically in humongous detail .

[Randy C.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

I thought the "0" in the "K 1 0" stood for the calender year the wheel was made and not the model year of the car.

Randy C.

[Dale M.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

Here are pictures of my wheels, the spots look quite different. I do not know anything about the history, except that they were on my '64 when it was raced in the 70's. I hope these pictures can help someone in the future. Remember that these wheels are dated February 5, 1970.

I need to experiment with attaching pictures. See how this does.

[Joe L.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

I thought the "0" in the "K 1 0" stood for the calender year the wheel was made and not the model year of the car.

Randy C.

Randy-----


It does. However, most original wheels for 1970 Corvettes were manufactured in 1970, the same year as the car. The only exception would be 1970's manufactured very early in the model year which would have wheels manufactured in late 1969.

[John H.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

I thought the "0" in the "K 1 0" stood for the calender year the wheel was made and not the model year of the car.

Randy C.

Randy -

That's correct.

[Joe L.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

Here are pictures of my wheels, the spots look quite different. I do not know anything about the history, except that they were on my '64 when it was raced in the 70's. I hope these pictures can help someone in the future. Remember that these wheels are dated February 5, 1970.

I need to experiment with attaching pictures. See how this does.

Dale-----


This is how the "bb's" on original rally wheels appear.

[Dale M.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

I am sure these are the manufacturing date codes and not when they were assembled onto the car. My '64 Judging Manual does not reference any date codes. I sure others can verify this?

[Terry M.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

Going back into the mid years the wheel date codes are different than what is cited. Some of the earlier wheels have the date codes on the part of the wheel that can not be seen with a tire mounted, and I believe some have no date codes at all.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

Original AZ production rally wheels would be silver on the front, black on the back. These were either repainted black on the front or they're service wheels. Dale, did you highlight the "BB" with something, or was that light-colored residue actually already on the BB?

[Dale M.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

These wheels are as they came off my '64. I did not highlight the BB, it seems like the paint had come off the top of the BBs or like you said, it was already there. I would assume someone had painted them black. My wife was with the car when it was raced, but cannot remember much details (I think she was watching the kids, but she did win total points one year in the local club)

[Chuck S.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

These wheels are as they came off my '64. I did not highlight the BB, it seems like the paint had come off the top of the BBs or like you said, it was already there. I would assume someone had painted them black. My wife was with the car when it was raced, but cannot remember much details (I think she was watching the kids, but she did win total points one year in the local club)

It's possible the previous owner bought the wheels over the parts counter specifically for racing. In that case they would have come painted black. Any trace of silver overspray on the backside would indicate they were originally installed on a early 70 Corvette at the factory.

[Dale M.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

I don't see overspray on the back side, but there are several chips on the front where silver is showing.

[Wendel H.]

Re: Rally Wheel identification

I have a set of 8 inch steel rally wheels that I need to determine their identification. The wheel is stamped Inside the rim with 15X8J1 (the 1 may be l or something else)
Outside by the hole for the value steam it is stamped with: K10 2 5 AZ

Does someone have a guide with these numbers to identify these wheels? I apreciate any help.

Dale, the responses you received are accurate with some exception. In the "K10" K is KelseyHayes and 1 is the KH Romulus Michigan Plant. K3 was the Philadelphia plant. K2 and K4 was Sedalia Missouri and a Canada plant. The flash weld on the wheel was part of the match mounting system for assembling tires to wheels. The use of the flash weld is described in 1969,1970,1971, 1972 assembly manuals on the page for wheel and tire assembly. The location of the flash weld on every production wheel during those years was determined by dial-indicator measuring the roundness of the wheel. Wheels and tires were not round. The weld indicates the low point of the wheel closest to the true center of the wheel. The tires were also out of round. The paint dot on the tire is the hump on the tire. The high point of the tire is assembled to the low point of the wheel in match mounting. The assembly is then balanced. This procedure was designed to give the best ride and was used in racing years before Corvette tried it. The Apollo Astronauts were driving the C3s. Match mounting was for their benefit. Match mounting was abandoned around February 1972.