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You race guys will not beleive this

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jlaird

jlaird

Great Pumpkin
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Posted a couple of new photos. Just a normal thing, car inside at last.

However, the second or last pic is a real winner. Look how a 1/4 inch steel plate was welded inside the rim. Boy would that screw up your unsprung weight. Hard to beleive someone would do that. Man are those wheels heavy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
I'm wondering if he did it to change the bolt pattern - dumb as that might be?
 
Noop. the other side is a standard early Sprite center wheel. He welded wider rims on the old centers then welded this 1/4 inch back up plate, course that gave him a wider stance and made room for those oversize tires as well.

What he did not do was replace the studs, wheel bolts were only on a few turns as they were 1/4 inch plus a bit too short.

Whole mess is scarey. Think the wheels will go in the trash, not the greatest welds either.
 
Man! You got that car apart fast, Jack. I think I will be going for that ride this summer.

morris
 
Hehe Morris, took the block to the machine shop this moring, head, rods, and flywheel to follow next week. Had to make a test run, yep he was recommended but I wanted to see the place and talk to the guys a bit.
 
Back then, this was a common way of adding a wheel spacer to widen the track... many clubs would not allow a spacer that wasnt firmly attached to the hub or wheel.

And in short track oval racing, it was common to run double centers in the wheels (especially the right front) or otherwise reinforce it like yours, to prevent the bolt circle from tearing out under load or if one lug was left loose.

Also, its bit "stealthy" as long as you always laid the wheels down when you dismounted them.... who would know???

I'm not sure we knew a lot about unsprung weight and rotating mass back then. If we had, we probably wouldn't have used those heavy Chevy Vega steel wheels for our rain tires.
Mike
 
Gawd, I want one of those one day! One of my favorite cars to look at.
 
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