Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

[David L.]

This question is for owners of early 65 Corvettes with cars that have the original steel wheels (15 X 5 1/2 JK) that were installed on the assembly line.
Are the wheels on your early 65 Corvette (about August 1964 to about December 1964) welded or riveted? Also, do you know the stamped month and year on the wheel? The tire has to be removed to see the date code.
It seems that some think that the riveted early 65 Corvette wheels were "over the counter" wheels and that the wheels installed on the assembly line were welded. I can not understand why Kelsey-Hayes would assemble wheels made in the Fall of 1964 two different ways but I guess it's possible. I recently sold an early 65 Corvette 15 X 5 1/2 JK riveted wheel dated "12 64". I know of other early 65 Corvette riveted wheels dated "8 64". Does anyone out there in 1965 Corvetteland have welded 65 Corvette wheels dated from Aug. 64 to Dec. 64? The oldest 65 Corvette welded wheels that I ever owned were dated "3 65".
I currently own three 65-66 Corvette welded wheels dated "6" (or possibly "9") without any year as well as one 65-66 Corvette welded wheel without any date code but still stamped with the Kelsey-Hayes logo and 15 X 5 1/2 JK as well as a white 3869156 paper sticker (an "over the counter wheel, I assume). I am only interested in the wheels with the 15 X 15 1/2 JK, date code, and Kelsey-Hayes logo stamped on the "inside" where you must remove the tire to see these stampings. I am not interested in the "over the counter" wheels with the date codes near the valve stem that were made in the 70's and 80's.

[Bill C.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

I think at least with welded wheels they were manufactured in batches. I have seen an awful lot of Aug 64 dated wheels and March 65, cannot say I ever saw a riveted wheel with a date inside but I was not looking either

[Edward M.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

I have a pair of August 64 dated 65/66 wheels. They still have the part number tag, indicating that they were over the counter parts. Both wheels are riveted construction. Does seem strange to me.

[John M.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

65 S/N 00145 has factory welded wheels, see pic.

Shameless plug: Watch for this tire in the next driveline for sale section

I have a pair of August 64 dated 65/66 wheels. They still have the part number tag, indicating that they were over the counter parts. Both wheels are riveted construction. Does seem strange to me.

[David L.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

65 S/N 00145 has factory welded wheels, see pic.

Shameless plug: Watch for this tire in the next driveline for sale section

John.

How long have you owned your very early 64 Corvette? Do you know the date codes on the wheels? As we all know a lot can change in 44 years. Many original mid-year Corvette owners changed their "plain" steel wheels for mag wheels and then in recent years everyone was looking for the original "plain" steel wheels.

Dave

[Edward M.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

Here is the link to the previous thread on this topic.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?t=57860

[David L.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

I have a pair of August 64 dated 65/66 wheels. They still have the part number tag, indicating that they were over the counter parts. Both wheels are riveted construction. Does seem strange to me.

Ed,

We talked about this on the Corvette Forum without much success. I just would like to resolve this issue as it has been bothering me for at least 20 years. We now have the means to resolve it in these modern times with computer email, etc.
All we need is some early 65 Corvette owners with very original cars to step up to the plate and enlighten us. Another method is to take a survey of all those who own 65 Corvette steel wheels dated between August 1964 and December 1964 indicating if they are welded or riveted. It's pretty simple. We just need some participation.

Dave (a.k.a. DCL1966)

[John H.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

I restored two '65 coupes in '71 and '73, and both had welded steel wheels; one was a January car, and the other was a March car.

[John C.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

David,
I just bought three wheels for a 66 date coded on the inside 8 64 and two over the counter wheels that have date codes by the valve stem that are dead ringers for the original wheels with the hub cab and tire on. I also have for my 64 the original wheels that came with the car that are dated 3 64 but will not fit over disc brakes. All the above wheels are welded. The two over the counter wheels do not have nubs for small dog dish hub cab. Hope this helps.

John

[David L.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

John,
Now I know that in August 1964 both welded and riveted 65 Corvette wheels 15 X 5 1/2 JK were made by Kelsey-Hayes. That's a start.
The 65-66 Corvette welded wheels with date codes and Kelsey-Hayes logo stamped on the "inside" are identical to the "over the counter" wheels made in later years which have the date codes stamped near the valve stem hole with a "K" and a "1".
After I bought my 66 Corvette in 1979 (with incorrect wheels) I purchased four "over the counter" 3869156 wheels at my local Chevrolet dealer stamped "K 1 8 3 (valve hole) 16" or March 16, 1978, where K = Kelsey, 1 = Chevrolet, and "8" = 1978. There was also a date code "8 17" and a "K-1-8" also stamped on the "inside" part of the rim (August 17, 1978). The rim part and the disk part were obviously made on different days.
Small dog dish hub caps can not be installed on any GM # 3869156 65-66 Corvette wheels (assembly line or over the counter) as they do not have the 3 nubs like the 63-early64 & late 64 Corvette wheels. The reason why the 63-E64 and L64 Corvette wheels have the 3 nubs is because they were also used on 63-64 Chevrolet Police cars which had small hub caps. I assume your wheels dated " 8 64" do not have these 3 nubs for the small hub caps. Correct me if I'm wrong about this assumption.
Dave

[John M.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

I don't have a date code on the rim, I will when I pull the tire to sell it.. I believe the pic is the factory mounted spare. I am the second owner, the prior was an 88 year old lady who bought it new. It's dead stock, never been modified in any way, except an alarm.

John.

How long have you owned your very early 64 Corvette? Do you know the date codes on the wheels? As we all know a lot can change in 44 years. Many original mid-year Corvette owners changed their "plain" steel wheels for mag wheels and then in recent years everyone was looking for the original "plain" steel wheels.

Dave

[John C.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

DAVID
The over the counter wheels do not have nubs and are welded like org.
John
P.S. Have same kind of datecode like yours.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

.... Another method is to take a survey of all those who own 65 Corvette steel wheels dated between August 1964 and December 1964 indicating if they are welded or riveted. Dave (a.k.a. DCL1966)

Dave -- here's a couple of original wheels, dated 12_64 and 3_65. I also have one 11_65 unmounted. I'm sure that on another four wheels with tires now mounted, I have at least one that is 8_64. None of all these has riveted rims.

I figure there was a big batch of 8_64's produced for the SOP of 1965 models, as Bill C. says.

Hey Mike M. --- with the next '65 TIM&JG revision, are they going to address the valve stem length ?? Note my 2nd pic; the required (and probably factory dimension) required to exit the wheelcover hole is longer than stated in the JG.

[David L.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

At this point in time I know that "welded" 65 Corvette wheels were made by K-H in Aug. 64, Nov. 64, Dec. 64, and Mar. 65.
I also know that "riveted" 65 Corvette wheels were made by K-H in Aug. 64 and Dec. 64.
Anyone else?

[Timothy B.]

Re: Early 65 Corvette steel wheel questions

David,

I wish I could help, my 63 has four 156 riveted wheels but with tires for now so I can't offer date. I can say there is GM stamped in one of the spiders by the lug holes and there are no stampings by the valve stems.

I seem to recall part # tags but I could be wrong, it's been many years since the tires were mounted.