FAQ |
Members List |
Social Groups |
Calendar |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#41
|
||||
|
||||
I think the repro teak has been done
Do a google on teakwood wheels. I think they reproduced this wheel years ago but I have no idea of the quality.
Nothing like the OEM example! |
#42
|
|||
|
|||
Hey Chad
Larry Banks here. I started a thread after our exchanged EM's last month telling me of this project. I am glad you posted as ,after my thread, I got a lot of PM's asking for pictures, and,if you recall, you gave me a code to use to find the pics, and I couldn't give it out to strangers, I assume I was correct in doing this?? Great to see you have covered my problem. lol. My friend and former GTOAA Tech advisor, Steve Lucas, had an interview years ago, with a man who worked in the factory that made these great wheels.It was published in our local club newsletter ,and maybe elsewhere. It was an interview conducted on a long train ride if I recall correctly. Very cool and informative. If you want to get in touch with Steve about this, send me a PM and I will give you his contact info. Larry Banks
__________________
Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you " |
#43
|
|||
|
|||
I also have an NOS 64 wood wheel. I have two 64 GTO's under restoration. I recently bolted the NOS one on one of the cars that's 75 percent done. For the other I have an original but cracked wood wheel I was going to use lacking anything better. But now if you get this repro done.... I'll have a nice one for that car too.
__________________
If someone else can design it, I can sure figure out how to fix it. |
#44
|
||||
|
||||
Step 5: Mold the plastic onto the wheel
This is how it looks when it comes out of the mold.
|
#45
|
||||
|
||||
That is remarkable work!
Great thread!
__________________
Some guys they just give up living And start dying little by little, piece by piece, Some guys come home from work and wash up, And go racin' in the street. Bruce Springsteen - Racing In The Street - 1978 |
#46
|
|||
|
|||
So 64woodwheel, have you approved it, or still making mods?
__________________
If someone else can design it, I can sure figure out how to fix it. |
#47
|
|||
|
|||
Have you determined how many you are going to make in the first run? Can I get on a reserve list?
__________________
If someone else can design it, I can sure figure out how to fix it. |
#48
|
|||
|
|||
Chad, that looks excellent. Did that wood wheel that was with a 64 GP (Sunfire Red)
go with that car sale(eBay), or did you keep it as a samle for dimensions, etc.? Larry B.
__________________
Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you " |
#49
|
||||
|
||||
The GP wheel stayed here. It was the "workhorse" for the dimensions. I took hundreds of measurements from that wheel and a few from my '65 take off and compared. The GP wheel had plenty of scratches here and there already so a few more from various measuring devises didn't bother me. I am using my take off for color matching the plastic.
|
#50
|
||||
|
||||
PM sent
|
#51
|
||||
|
||||
Chad what does the outer edge of your repop look like ? Don
|
#52
|
||||
|
||||
Like this:
|
#53
|
||||
|
||||
Any idea what will be the retail price on a complete wheel?
|
#54
|
||||
|
||||
Not ready to go public with that yet. But it will be more than a used one that is cracked or "restored", but less than a nice original. I know that leaves a wide range it could fall into. Demand will also play a part.
Thanks, Chad. |
#55
|
||||
|
||||
What is the diameter of that wheel? I typically like to go a little smaller than stock for a couple reasons and one is my long legs.
I imagine that the mold will only be for the one dia???
__________________
Curt '69 GTO Ragtop, 455, RA, KRE SD Perf ported heads and "old Faithful" cam, Sean Murphy Q-Jet, Tremec 5spd, Moser Trutrac 3:73, Hotchkiss, Speedtech, Wilwood '64 Lemans Convertible, Tremec TKO600 |
#56
|
||||
|
||||
Right, the mold is for same diameter as the original, 16". Varying from that would require a completely different set of tooling for the spokes as well. That's when a tilt column is nice!
|
#57
|
|||
|
|||
Chad, been following the thread off and on, so maybe have missed something. If I haven't said it, awesome project and nice work.
But I see you mention something about a '65 take off and I see the pic of the plastic rim in close up. It looks "wrong" to my eye. Are you copying the grain/color of a '65 up "wood" wheel? If so, I believe that is way different from the '64. The '65 up wheels suffered from "wear", the wood color finish would rub off in time, leaving the underlying light colored plastic to show. The '64 was molded from a seemingly dark brown color plastic that gives the illusion of wood grain but without the "grainyness" of the '65 up (and what I see in your close up pic). The '64 plastic has a smooth surface by comparison. The '64 wheels did not suffer from the rubbed off finish since the color was thru & thru. At least that is my understanding and is true of my own pretty nice (no cracks) '64 wheel. The '64 wheels did not ever need to be "refinished" like the '65 up wheels did. Perhaps you already know this and I am misinterpreting. But as nice as your project appears to be, I wanted to sure this was a detail you were duplicating if possible. Or somebody else might say I'm all wet. I only have my own wheel to view but this was also how the '64 wheel was described in an old GTO Newsletter article detailing the technique for refinishing the '65 up wood wheels. |
#58
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
My 65 take off is a 64 wheel taken off in '65. It has very little to no wear on the texture and had been on display indoors for 45 years. I am going to great lengths to duplicate the original look of the 64 color, grain, and texture and I know exactly what you are talking about. I have owned about 5 '64 wood wheels, as many as three at the same time. They all were different colors of brown. probably due to UV exposure and wear. But also due to variances in the original plastic. Some have a wild swirly look with dark and light brown partially mixed together. Others are more consistent. So unlike paint codes, there really is no right answer IMO. The worst of the wheels that I owned had been subjected to an amateur "restoration" whereby most of the grain and texture had been sanded away to leave a smooth surface. Still had nice color, but hardly any texture or grain left. In some of my pictures the color looks lighter than actual. This is due to different lighting and photography techniques. And you are right, the prototype is too light IMO also. But I can easily adjust the color. If you look on my website there is a complete wheel and a bare wheel side by side. They are the same wheel but one picture looks lighter than the other... due to lighting. Thanks again, Chad |
#59
|
||||
|
||||
very nice, i might need one for my 65
__________________
1967 RAM AIR GTO 1 OF 156 AUTOMATICS |
#60
|
|||
|
|||
Chad, makes sense to me. Mine isn't wildly swirled, but I do see a bit of "marbled" effect in places giving it the look of smooth polished wood, a mix of what I would call chocolate brown intermixed with a little of a gold kind of hue to create the marbling. I can't say that mine was never "recolored" or possibly sanded for that matter. Have had it indoors for about 20 years but don't know the prior history. BTW, I paid $300 for it, LOL. A heap of money at the time for me. Of course, when I bought my first '64 GTO convertible in '73 I paid $135 or $150, all original drivetrain (4 bbl 3 spd man trans & Safe-T-Track). So $300 for a steering wheel seemed outrageous. Those were the days!
|
Reply |
|
|