Halibrand and Firestone 170 Availability

[Steven B.]

Does anyone have details on the the over-the-counter availability of Halibrand magnesium and aluminum, knock-off and bolt on wheels in the '56-'57 timeframe and also info. on the availability of Firestone 170 Super Sports racing tires, 6.70, 7.10/7.60? Is there anything available that closely duplicates the Dow 7 coating on the old Halibrands?

Thanks!

Steve Brohard

[John N.]

Re: Halibrand and Firestone 170 Availability

Does anyone have details on the the over-the-counter availability of Halibrand magnesium and aluminum, knock-off and bolt on wheels in the '56-'57 timeframe and also info. on the availability of Firestone 170 Super Sports racing tires, 6.70, 7.10/7.60? Is there anything available that closely duplicates the Dow 7 coating on the old Halibrands?

Thanks!

Steve Brohard

The Halibrand magnesium knock off wheels carried a GM production part number and were available on St Louis production Corvettes under RPO SR1A

The Firestone Super Sports racing tires were RPO SR12. The suffix for the 670.15 tire was D. I know the part number but not the suffix for the 710.15 tire.

You can get the Dow 7 plus other Dow treatments at some aircraft shops.
Or you sure the Dow 7 treatment was the procedure used? Any experiences would be appreciated.

[Steven B.]

Re: Halibrand and Firestone 170 Availability

John, thanks for the information! I greatly appreciate it!

My experience with the Halibrand coating is limited. I have a set of the bolt-ons that include push on "knock-offs" secured by a single "O" ring. As for the Dow 7 my wheels, which I acquired in early 1984 I believe, had a coating on them that was a dull bronze color, similiar also to shellac. Unfortunately I was going to polish the wheels and had the coating chemically removed at RediStrip in Indianapolis about a year later. Luckily, I did not polish them.

Thanks again for the information!

Steve

[Jimmy B.]

Re: Halibrand and Firestone 170 Availability

Magnesium wheels were originally colored with a "pickeling" process. They never had anything sprayed on them. Go to an "old" chrome shop and they might be able to look up the formula for you in one of their old books. I had this done to a set of wheels I owned and these wheels were cleaned with battery acid, bead blasted, and then dipped in some solutions that had the chemicals called for in the magnesium pickeling process. When they were done you could see the blue, pink, gold hues. Nothing was sprayed or painted on at any time during this process.

Jim Blakely

[Pat K.]

Re: Halibrand and Firestone 170 Availability

There is a Dow web site that I found a couple of years ago that explans what Dow 7 and the others are. As I remember it Dow 7 leaves a gold shade Dow 19 was the one that left the multi-colored look.