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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Home away from home
 
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Thanks Leeedy
That's good info. Maybe not so surprising, either. The wires on mine have may well be original Packard ones. I don't know were the previous owner got them, but I think he said he bought them from a used Packard parts vendor in the US. The hubs have Ford centres welded into them, so they started life as something else and presumably were either Packard originals or repros. The regular wheels with my car are also Ford items, but somehow the wheel covers fit. Now I know where the Motor Wheels stamp was, I'll look at mine if I ever have a tire off! Cheers Brian
Posted on: 2019/8/31 19:12
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1941 120 Club Coupe (SOLD)
1956 Clipper Deluxe (RHD and auto) - for the wife, or so I told her! |
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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Forum Ambassador
 
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I've long ago forgotten the details but one of the 15" repro wire wheels for 53-56 Packards was easily distinguished from the OEM wheels by spoke count, 52 spoke versus 56 IIRC. But I'm sure Leeedy can provide the details.
Posted on: 2019/8/31 20:52
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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Home away from home
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I am not sure whether this is relevant or accurate. When I purchased my 55 Caribbean project car from the Packard Museum in Dayton Ohio there was a set of deteriorated wire wheels that were supposed to come with the car.
The wheels were supposed to be sent to Dayton Wire Wheel the purported manufacturer for restoration. Like any number of other things promised the wheels were never supplied and after lengthy and heated discussions I was finally afforded a sufficient cash refund to secure a set of reproduction wheels and to secure multiple pieces of NOS trim pieces that had vanished. I am not sure whether Dayton ever supplied wheels for the Packards but ... I am sure someone would know RJR
Posted on: 2019/9/1 0:51
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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Home away from home
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Quote:
The only wire wheels supplied for postwar Packards were made by Motor Wheel Corporation. Dayton Wire Wheel obviously made wire wheels, just not for postwar factory equipment on Packards. Dayton serviced wire wheels for just about everyone, but they did not manufacture every wheel they serviced.
Posted on: 2019/9/1 10:10
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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Quote:
I've long ago forgotten the details but one of the 15" repro wire wheels for 53-56 Packards was easily distinguished from the OEM wheels by spoke count, 52 spoke versus 56 IIRC. But I'm sure Leeedy can provide the details. If this is accurate, then the five wheels I just bought are OEM wheels, or at least one of them is!
Posted on: 2019/9/1 15:16
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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Forum Ambassador
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I was hoping Leeedy would chime in, no doubt he has the details at his fingertips. Randy Berger just checked his OEM Packard wheels, 52 spokes. I believe Chrysler wheels in the same era were 56, and Cadillac were 48.
Posted on: 2019/9/1 18:54
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Re: 1955 wire wheels
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Was out this weekend looking at a place where I can store and work on my 1956 Patrician. As for the number of spokes in OEM Motor Wheel wire wheels for postwar senior Packards, I had (have) all of this kind of stuff in deep storage right now and just don't recall off the top of my head. Although I have a lot of my records available to me, much of what I've collected over the years is off in my other location on the other end of the country. I'll check and see what I have right here, right now over the next few days. In the meantime, I can tell you that Cadillac had the fewest of spokes of the wheels you mention here... and this is why their wires broke so easily. Many years ago I had a set of original 1950s Cadillac wires on my 1966 Eldorado convertible. Looked great, but heaven help you if you tromped the gas too hard or took a sharp curve. The weight and torque of the 1966 Eldorado was more than these wheels could handle. You'd hear a sound that went "PUNG! PUNG! PING!" Quickly followed by a wobbly-driving car. Those wheels were made by Kelsey-Hayes, by the way. Remember too that it is not just the number of spokes that is important (at least for strength if not for ID) ... it is the length and how far over those spokes lay in position to one another. Otherwise, when one says "Chrysler" wheels, one needs to consider that at the time Chrysler Corporation (as opposed to simply "Chrysler" brand) was offering wire wheels on their cars, there were several differences in their wheels. Although all were made by Motor Wheel Corporation, Dodge and Plymouth wires were different from Chrysler and De Soto wires... which were different still from Imperial wires. Some will argue about this but I proved it all back in the 1970s when people in SoCal were arguing over this very topic. I even made a chart of all the rim codes for these wheels back then. But it is buried in my deep storage records today. So for the number of spokes in each? I don't recall from memory. These days I have people asking me things like how many Chrysler Gas Turbine cars did I drive and what dates? Or what were the serial numbers of the first five Miatas-which I personally walked off the line? Heyyy ... there are limits. At my age, I'm still trying to hold onto stoichiometric ratios for engines and what key Miles Davis played "Blue In Green" and what year I got my first electric guitar (which I still have).
Posted on: 2019/9/1 23:52
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