Is there anything unique about original 66 ten spoke wheels.. Are the the same as the replacements from 66 on, or from the current re- issued versions?? If so, how can you tell? jimbo
They are diffrent. I don't have a pic handy right now to show the differences so it may be a little tough to explain. Plus, I'm not sure how closely early replacements resembled OEM. Originals have a raised area cast into the wheel where the lugnut washer seats. I don't believe replacements or reissues have this. Also the outer spoke "valleys" extend all the way to the inner circle. On the replacements and reissues I've seen that valley is filled in well short of the inner circle. Going from memory here so anyone please add to this or correct me if I'm wrong about some details.
Original 66 ten spokes.. Please look close at these pictures and lend me your advice REAL ...MEMOREX .. or RESTORED ...(this is not a test, I don't know anything about 66's) (they are thumbnail pictures if you click on them they will become full size) NVSAC reference.. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...?q=shelby+66+wheels&gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&sa=G
Jimbo, I have a set of originals that I tried to photograph as a comparison to your uploaded pic's. I currently am running the 17x8 10 spokes on my car. I ended up putting more rubber down on the road and they "sorta" look the same Hope this helps....
I just purchased a set of the recently released reproductions and they do have the raised area where the lugnut washer seats just like the originals. Regarding the ten spoke valley area, I haven't seen the originals to have this spoke valley extend into the the inner circle. Regarding quality of the reproductions, they are very high, maybe too high. Question: The reproductions have a high polished face area where there is no paint. Were the originals dull aluminum there?
OK, I checked my reproductions and the valley area of the spoke stops 3/4" before the inner circle. The originals stop right at the inner circle. Good questions eljimb0.
I seem to remember reading somewhere (registry?) that there were 2 different versions of the 10 spokes with the wider version not having the spokes going all of the way out to the edge. Is that what you guys are refferring to when you say the valley does (or does not) extend to the inner circle or are you refferring to something else? Jay
here is a picture borrowed from the great NVSAAC site of an "original" wheel. Notice that the fluted spokes are not turned flat at the face.. thanks NVSAAC.. jimbo
There were two versions of the OEM whel, one had the spoke flukes extending to the outer wheel edge and one had the flukes inside the edge. What is different about the repops is how far the valley extends towards the inner circle which ccarccrazy summed up well. In short, Jimbo's wheels look like originals to me unless it's a much more accurate repop than I'm aware of.
Thanks everyone, I was sure that they were original. The problem is they appear to be un-used. They come from a very pedigreed collection of Shelbys and Shelby stuff. (a lot of which is headed to New Zealand right now) The face of the wheels is "finished" ....I don't know why. Maybe they were "special" ?? They will probably be for sale at some point, they are not mine. jimbo