Original wheels for 63

[Max H.]

I own a white 63 coupe , the car was in storage for 18 years and has 50,600 miles on it. The Wheels it came with are
Supposedly Kelsey Hayes KO.
I know the 63 did not come originally with KH knock offs, at least this is what I heard from some of the people on this board. I want to have the car judged and seem to have a hard time finding a nice set of original steel wheels for the car. I saw two ads from 2 sellers , one said


the second seller said his wheels are marked 15x5 1/2 K and 63 below
I checked the forum but could not get a straight answer how do I know the wheels are the "real thing"
Is there a slim chance the KH knock offs on the car are orignal equipment?
Thanks
Max H

[Harry S.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

From the GM literature I have read the KO's were suppose to be 15x6. not 5.5.

I personally believe that the non-delivery of KO's is incorrect. Yes, they did leak and went flat, but I do believe some of the original 63's were delivered with inner tubes if the buyer pushed the issue with the dealer. Unfortunately to date, there has been no documentation to prove that.

[Lynn H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

I own a white 63 coupe , the car was in storage for 18 years and has 50,600 miles on it. The Wheels it came with are
Supposedly Kelsey Hayes KO.
I know the 63 did not come originally with KH knock offs, at least this is what I heard from some of the people on this board. I want to have the car judged and seem to have a hard time finding a nice set of original steel wheels for the car. I saw two ads from 2 sellers , one said


the second seller said his wheels are marked 15x5 1/2 K and 63 below
I checked the forum but could not get a straight answer how do I know the wheels are the "real thing"
Is there a slim chance the KH knock offs on the car are original equipment?
Thanks
Max H

I believe if you had 63 knockoffs they would have the "gear drive" instead of the later version with the "pins". As far as the steel wheels, the 63/64, are fairly easily distinguished from any other wheels. The same with the 65/66, only with some different characteristics. If they are marked 15 x 5 1/2 J, they would be 63. The 64 is 15 x 5 1/2 K. There are some characteristics of the profiles of the wheels that are different, and I would bet you can find some photos of examples in the archives.
Lynn

[Tracy C.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Max,

There is a number of threads here in the archive, but this picture is one I've used for several years to help people find a set of real 63/4 wheels.

They are 15 X 5 1/2 wide and the slope on the back half is the important feature to tell original wheels from service replacements. Both will have the 2 nubs by the valve core and a GM stamp on the spider between two lug nut holes.

tc

[Max H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Dear Lynn

As soon as I received the car it went into storage , The wheels and the rest of the car will be checked in the next few weeks. I will let you know if any detail on the Kelsey Hays knock offs.

The steel wheels that are correct for this car then, are the ones marked 15 x 5 1/2 J ok great , thanks for the info.

Sincerely

Max

[Timothy B.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Max,

I have two 63 dated wheels that are marked (15x5 1/2"K). I have never seen a 15x 5 1/2 J wheel. I have two other 63 wheels that I can't find a date but all other aspects are 63-64 including (15 x 5 1/2"K). The later 65 66 wheel will read (15x 5 1/2"JK)

There are the 63-64 wheels as Tracy shows in the pic, then a service replacement 8080 wheel (for 58-64 cars that's 5 1/2" wide), not a correct production wheel, then the 65-66 wheel, then a service replacement 65-66 wheel that's riveted together.

All production wheels I have seen are welded together.

[John D.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Tracy, Thanks again for posting my favorite pic of a real deal 63 wheel.
Max needs to print this pic. JD

[Dan D.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

I need to get in on this thread for a moment if I may. I bought 5 used wheels for my 57 from CC last year (big bucks). I believe they are probably 56 passenger car, but not sure. They are 15x5 and welded. All 5 were the same puecky light green color with a black stripe, so I believed they were probably off the same car. They were all in good shape, considering the age. Now, they are all identical except for one little thing. One of them has a 'GM' stamp between the lug nuts, (I guess this is called the spider?), the other 4 do not. Can anyone explain this? Thanks, -Dan-

[Jack H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63


Is there a slim chance the KH knock offs on the car are orignal equipment?

That chance is very slim and relatively unimportant. Those cars that have been documented to be factory original KO equipped in '63 were all some sort of 'special' (built for GM to go to various motor shows, Etc.).

So, the current text of the '63-64 Juding Guide book MANDATES a full deduction for '63 cars equipped with KO wheels... That means there's a MONSTER burden of proof on your shoulders that will take the exception/approval of the National Team Leader for you to get credit.

[John H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

One of them has a 'GM' stamp between the lug nuts..

Dan -

That's the one you want to use for your spare.

[Dan D.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Thanks John. That was my plan to use it for the spare. But for my continuing education, can you enlighten me some on why this wheel has the stamping and not the others? -Dan-

[John H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

But for my continuing education, can you enlighten me some on why this wheel has the stamping and not the others? -Dan-

Dan -

I'm not that "up" on the details for '57 wheels - I restored mine 13 years ago, and haven't kept up with '57 wheel nuances. Maybe someone else more familiar with them can comment on the presence/absence of the "GM" stamp on the spider.

[Max H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Dear Harry Sadlock

White corvette was just dropped at the Corvette mechanic facility,. hes taking off the knock off's as I am typing this, he said wheels are kelsey hayes, knock off's NO PINS , hell call me with stamping details later.

As I told you before, the 2nd owner of the car told me 100 times that the knock off's were original on this car., I am waiting( it will take 2-3 weeks) for DMV search on the car in kansas.

From the GM literature I have read the KO's were suppose to be 15x6. not 5.5.

I personally believe that the non-delivery of KO's is incorrect. Yes, they did leak and went flat, but I do believe some of the original 63's were delivered with inner tubes if the buyer pushed the issue with the dealer. Unfortunately to date, there has been no documentation to prove that.

[John D.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Dear Harry Sadlock

White corvette was just dropped at the Corvette mechanic facility,. hes taking off the knock off's as I am typing this, he said wheels are kelsey hayes, knock off's NO PINS , hell call me with stamping details later.

As I told you before, the 2nd owner of the car told me 100 times that the knock off's were original on this car., I am waiting( it will take 2-3 weeks) for DMV search on the car in kansas.

Max, If you show the car with KO's expect to take a major point hit. Been there.
Without paper work you are dead in the water. Harry Sadlock is correct.
A few 63's were delivered with KO's from St. Louis. But typically these few cars were not for Joe Q Public. They went to buyers with a lot of pull.

There is a good chance your car did have knockoffs. But ones installed at a dealership probably in 1964 or later. We call those service replacement wheels. It would be a major screwup to have the car judged with those wheels unless you don't care about the point lose.
Maxium deduction for GM Service replacement parts is90%. See Page 22 of NCRS judging reference manual. Actually 90% is incorrect as on page 70 of the 5th edition it says, "Assign a full deduction for wheels and wheel covers on any 63 so equippeme" (with KO's)
That's a lot of points to loose.
You won't get much reply here as the subject has been covered in about a 1000 posts. Good luck, JD

Then besides the wheel deduct you would get other deducts on wheel covers etc.
But the KO's sure look pretty on a 63. My 63, the LWC had repro KO's for about 25 years. Then the original ones went back on. Dated Feb 63.

See another post here with nice pic of the wheels you need.

[Max H.]

Re: Original wheels for 63

Can anyone tell me if these look like the original wheels for a 63 ?