1963-1964 Replacement / reproduction wheel review
Everyone;
I received my replacement steel wheel today in the mail.
I thought I would complete a quick review of the wheel and compared it to an original 1963 wheel.
The box. Packaged nicely and the wheel was in a plastic bag in the box. The wheel arrived undamaged.
It didn't say anywhere on the box this was an import. One has to assume its domestic. Although I'm not convinced as the cardboard was cheap looking and the box marked in metric sizes. Could go either way i guess.
Wheels pictured from the front. Original is on the left.
Nice finish.
Gloss on the front and semi gloss on the rest of the wheel.
Obvious differences in the center where a small cap would mount.
There is no provisions for a sheriff's cap on the reproduction wheel.
Center hub guide area.
Two different amounts of rise in the hub area.
The factory is .217 high and the reproduction is .395.
Center hub is shaped different and because of this it has a different shaped cutout.
Measured from the wheel mounting face to the outside of the rim the wheels varied by roughly .032"
I suspect this may change somewhat after the wheel is bolted on for the first time?
I would call this difference insignificant.
The area around the lug nuts laced some of the bevel the original has.
This area is likely affected by how many times the wheel is taken on and off and likely has no significance.
The reproduction wheel is shown on the right side.
Major difference is on the back of the wheel where the original wheel has a bevel or cone shape and the original is squared off.
With the hubcap on this difference can be felt by reaching around the back of the wheel and feeling the taper. The differences are significant and easily determined by feel. Much like feeling the back of a knock off spinner, for the Taiwan embossing, to differentiate the reproductions from original.. Original wheel on the right.
Weight
The original wheel weighed 17lbs 13oz or 17.81 pounds
The repo wheel weighed 19lbs 4oz or 19.25 pounds
Or 7.5% lighter.
Welded at the stamping intersection. Original is spot welded.
Price.
I paid $138.00 + $18 Shipping for a total of $156.00
Original wheels start about $250 and go up to $450 or more.
This is just a best guess nothing else.
Price is roughly 50% to 75% off of reproduction pricing?
Depends what you want. I plan on using this wheel till I find another original one.
Likely it wouldn't make a good spare as it would be the one on the ground during judging and easily identified.
I am not disappointed, I got what I paid for and it will likely retain some value if I resell it in the future.
Hope this helps someone make a decision on which way to go with their wheels.
Edited/updated
The wheel I purchased was advertised as "NEW Steel Wheel/Rim for 1963-1966 Corvette - 15x5.5 Inches".
I am changing the title as well to reflect the contents of the original advertisement.
In the fine print the original advertisement it said "will also fit 63-64 Corvettes.
Yes mine and the sellers original header were misleading.
My review would have made more sense if it was compared to a 65-66 wheel.
However it was sold as fitting a 63-64 and it does. Guess I will leave it up as "for what its worth category".
Rick Geier
I received my replacement steel wheel today in the mail.
I thought I would complete a quick review of the wheel and compared it to an original 1963 wheel.
The box. Packaged nicely and the wheel was in a plastic bag in the box. The wheel arrived undamaged.
It didn't say anywhere on the box this was an import. One has to assume its domestic. Although I'm not convinced as the cardboard was cheap looking and the box marked in metric sizes. Could go either way i guess.
Wheels pictured from the front. Original is on the left.
Nice finish.
Gloss on the front and semi gloss on the rest of the wheel.
Obvious differences in the center where a small cap would mount.
There is no provisions for a sheriff's cap on the reproduction wheel.
Center hub guide area.
Two different amounts of rise in the hub area.
The factory is .217 high and the reproduction is .395.
Center hub is shaped different and because of this it has a different shaped cutout.
Measured from the wheel mounting face to the outside of the rim the wheels varied by roughly .032"
I suspect this may change somewhat after the wheel is bolted on for the first time?
I would call this difference insignificant.
The area around the lug nuts laced some of the bevel the original has.
This area is likely affected by how many times the wheel is taken on and off and likely has no significance.
The reproduction wheel is shown on the right side.
Major difference is on the back of the wheel where the original wheel has a bevel or cone shape and the original is squared off.
With the hubcap on this difference can be felt by reaching around the back of the wheel and feeling the taper. The differences are significant and easily determined by feel. Much like feeling the back of a knock off spinner, for the Taiwan embossing, to differentiate the reproductions from original.. Original wheel on the right.
Weight
The original wheel weighed 17lbs 13oz or 17.81 pounds
The repo wheel weighed 19lbs 4oz or 19.25 pounds
Or 7.5% lighter.
Welded at the stamping intersection. Original is spot welded.
Price.
I paid $138.00 + $18 Shipping for a total of $156.00
Original wheels start about $250 and go up to $450 or more.
This is just a best guess nothing else.
Price is roughly 50% to 75% off of reproduction pricing?
Depends what you want. I plan on using this wheel till I find another original one.
Likely it wouldn't make a good spare as it would be the one on the ground during judging and easily identified.
I am not disappointed, I got what I paid for and it will likely retain some value if I resell it in the future.
Hope this helps someone make a decision on which way to go with their wheels.
Edited/updated
The wheel I purchased was advertised as "NEW Steel Wheel/Rim for 1963-1966 Corvette - 15x5.5 Inches".
I am changing the title as well to reflect the contents of the original advertisement.
In the fine print the original advertisement it said "will also fit 63-64 Corvettes.
Yes mine and the sellers original header were misleading.
My review would have made more sense if it was compared to a 65-66 wheel.
However it was sold as fitting a 63-64 and it does. Guess I will leave it up as "for what its worth category".
Rick Geier
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