Help ID these K-O wheels!
I have restored maybe 10 sets of OEM Kelsey Hayes Knock Off wheels in the past 20 years or so, with about 6 of those sets in the past year. So, I feel I know what to look for to ID originals. Recently, I bought a lot of 9 wheels along with 2 sets of hubs and spinners. 5 of the wheels and all of the hubs and spinners are absolutely original OEM issue. But, the other 4 wheels, I need help to ID what I really have.
Characteristics that are the same as OEM:
1) Vanes/fins have similar thickness and configuration: approx .00220" at the top, swelling to about .00240" at the base. They vary slightly from wheel to wheel, but so do OEM.
2) Witness casting marks on the inner rim side, just under the lip.
3) Remember, the hubs and spinners are OEM
Characteristics that are not the same:
1) Lip is not nearly as deep as OEM
2) 1 wheel has K-H over D-49985 like an OEM, but is not inside of the oval raised cast, but just protruding from the wheel-no oval. The other 4 wheels just have D-49985, no raised oval.
3) Has machining full circle the width of the air slots on the back.
4) Inner wheel is not sloped, but very squared off, thus making the back & inner wheel configuration quite different from OEM.
5) There is a very faint stamping of an elongated diamond, which appears to have HBA inside the diamond.
I have attached a couple of pics of some of the differences.
Can anyone tell me or confirm they were made by other than Kelsey Hayes (I have heard of a continuance wheel they manufactured for awhile after the GM run), or who manufactured them? Do they have any value other than used reproductions? I am genuinely interested in the history of these wheels, but I am thinking of keeping the hubs and spinners and selling the wheels, so they are what I need to be able to advise any potential buyer of what they really are.
Thanks,
Mike Zamora
#12455
Characteristics that are the same as OEM:
1) Vanes/fins have similar thickness and configuration: approx .00220" at the top, swelling to about .00240" at the base. They vary slightly from wheel to wheel, but so do OEM.
2) Witness casting marks on the inner rim side, just under the lip.
3) Remember, the hubs and spinners are OEM
Characteristics that are not the same:
1) Lip is not nearly as deep as OEM
2) 1 wheel has K-H over D-49985 like an OEM, but is not inside of the oval raised cast, but just protruding from the wheel-no oval. The other 4 wheels just have D-49985, no raised oval.
3) Has machining full circle the width of the air slots on the back.
4) Inner wheel is not sloped, but very squared off, thus making the back & inner wheel configuration quite different from OEM.
5) There is a very faint stamping of an elongated diamond, which appears to have HBA inside the diamond.
I have attached a couple of pics of some of the differences.
Can anyone tell me or confirm they were made by other than Kelsey Hayes (I have heard of a continuance wheel they manufactured for awhile after the GM run), or who manufactured them? Do they have any value other than used reproductions? I am genuinely interested in the history of these wheels, but I am thinking of keeping the hubs and spinners and selling the wheels, so they are what I need to be able to advise any potential buyer of what they really are.
Thanks,
Mike Zamora
#12455
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