Welded Wheel

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Does anyone know which are the rarest of the C1 wheels?

riveted
welded with dogbones
welded w/o dogbones

I would guess the riveted are most common because they were used on 54-most 56's Chevy.

I do not believe the welded wheels were used on anything but Corvettes except for the end of 56 Chevy production. So since the 60/61/62 had a higher sales volume than 57/58/59 the non dogbone welded wheels would be the hardest to find.

53 would also be easy to find since 49-53 Chev used the same wheel?

[John H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Ed------


It depends upon the label. The label shown on the wheel pictured in the first post is not among the style that I have ever seen used as a SERVICE parts label. I strongly suspect that this sort of label was a PRODUCTION-only sort of labeling and not one used by GM Service Parts Operations to identify a SERVICE part.

Joe -

That label also has the K-H aftermarket/retail part number on it; K-H had a robust aftermarket distribution channel of their own through wheel and tire shops, and that's the only place I've ever seen a wheel with the K-H part number label on it. Production wheels were raw unpainted steel and had no labels on them at all.

[Joe L.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Joe -

That label also has the K-H aftermarket/retail part number on it; K-H had a robust aftermarket distribution channel of their own through wheel and tire shops, and that's the only place I've ever seen a wheel with the K-H part number label on it. Production wheels were raw unpainted steel and had no labels on them at all.

John-----


Yes, it could be a Kelsey-Hayes replacement wheel sold through aftermarket channels. Technically, though, their placing that GM part number on it would have been a "no-no". Of course, this sort of "no-no" does occur from time-to-time. The thing I can't figure out, though, is why they would have used this particular GM part number which appears to be nowhere referenced in GM information. That number would thus have been essentially meaningless in identifying what application this wheel was for.

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Per the GM document I referenced before it was a production released wheel for the 56 Corvette. Did not show up in the AIM however as far as I know.

[Jerry W.]

Re: Welded Wheel

I'm surprised that the reason for the design chnage from rivited wheels to welded wheels has not been discussed here. From previous posts i was lead to believe that it coincided with the transition to tubeless tires.

I needed two wheels with nubs to hold the large hub caps on our 62 project and previous posts said 55-56 passenger wheels would be the same.....soooo....i bought a set of (4) 55-56 wheels locally then backed out of using them because of the rivits vs. using tubeless radials

Instead I bought (2) welded repros.....

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Cannot answer the question but the drawing shows that the 57-62 wheel went from welded back to rivets in '67 for service. I really doubt that would have happened if riveted wheels did not hold air.

[Ray C.]

Re: Welded Wheel

If one was judging exteriors on C-1s, what would be the approximate or acceptable cut-off date for the riveted wheels, welded with dog bone and welded with no dogbone.

Thanks for any information!

Ray

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

This chart shows what I have found.

At this time the judging manual has no reference to riveted, welded, dogbones for the base wheel.

[Gary C.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Ray, a 56-7 C1 Judge would expect to see all '56's and '57's with dog bone welded wheels. There's always the caveat that very early '56's (first 50) could have riveted wheels using up the existing supply. Gary....

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Gary, is that in the judging manual now?

Some vehicle data (vehicle build dates)
Apr-56 Welded




Apr-56 welded




Apr-56 welded




Jul-56 riveted




Nov-56 riveted




Jan-57 welded




Mar-57 welded




Mar-57 riveted-owner not sure wheels are original

Apr-57 welded




May-57 welded




May-57 welded




May-57 welded




Jul-57 riveted-sure would like to see the manufacture date on the wheels
What Pearman believed: As far as dogbone usage, Dale Pearman (archives) stated that in '56 wheels were made at 2 different KH plants with 2 different sets of tools. One had dogbones and one did not. In '56 Dale believed the wheels mostly came from the plant w/o dogbones and were riveted. The other plant did have the dogbones and since they are found on later vettes made their way sometime on vettes. The question is when?

Perhaps some earlier build 56 owners could look and see if they are welded?

What part number is in the 56 AIM?

[Gary C.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Chris, 56-7 JM 5th edition says; "riveted wheels may have been used in '56 with some overlap into '57 and '57 are normally dog bone welded." What I stated previously was my opinion of what I'd expect to see. If riveted wheels are on a '56 and early '57 that's being Flight Judged, then the push back goes to the car owner due to the JM wording. Unfortunately, there's no '56 AIM per se, only the updated '57 version. Was told by a retired Chevrolet Engineer years ago that '56-7 Corvette wheels were sourced from one plant. Gary....

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

I have revised the chart slightly. Looks like the riveted wheels were introduced earlier in the 56 model year. My own data shows by April 56 welded wheels were in the plant and most likely from your info much earlier.

Hopefully come 56 owners will take a look and respond.