any vintage trans-am guru out there?

[got6spd?]

Does any body know what 67 or 68 trans am camaros originally used for wheels?

Basically I'm building my car (68 camaro) as a modern style trans am car and was wondering which 17 inch "vintage wheel works" wheels to go with.

V40- old school american straight spoke
V45- american D spoke
V48- similar to a minilite

Which one would be more correct?

Thanks
Chris

[buickfunnycar.com]

The most-correct looking wheel would be the straight-spoke V-40's,that is what most of the early '67-68 cars ran.
Here's my '69 with those on it:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2007/07/DSC03948-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif



Don't forget Phil Schmidt (PSE) too,he makes all kinds of vintage T/A wheels.(213) 534-4477

[JEFFTATE]

Most '67 and '68 Z28's ran the Torque Thrust style wheel.
The '69 Penske cars ran Minilites.

[buickfunnycar.com]

Most '67 and '68 Z28's ran the Torque Thrust style wheel.
The '69 Penske cars ran Minilites.


True dat.Many of the cars also ran American Racing 200S wheels,until they kept breaking the centers out of them.That is when Penske researched the strongest,lightest wheel available which was the minilight design from England.

[got6spd?]

Thanks for the help guys. Just curious, when did the D spoke wheels come out?

Also, where'd you get those lug nuts, they look sweet?

[buickfunnycar.com]

Also, where'd you get those lug nuts, they look sweet?

Custom stainless steel pieces made by a local machinist friend of mine,$450/set.I have three sets but I don't like how they look on my last two wheel purchases so I may be parting with two sets...maybe.
PM me if interested.

[Neil B]

I think musclecarjohn nailed the look with his V40's and killer stance. I'm a big fan of the Minilites, but (IMO) none of the 17" variations look quite 'right'. They just don't have the same proportions as the original 15-inchers.

[JEFFTATE]

Thanks for the help guys. Just curious, when did the D spoke wheels come out?

The original "straight spoke" Torque Thrust wheel came out in the very late 50's or early 60's.
Most cars then had 4-wheel drum brakes.
The straight spokes did not interfere with the drums.

But in the mid 60's , when a lot of cars started coming with front disc brakes, American Racing intoduced the Torque Thrust " D" with the "curved spoke" to clear the brake calipers. Hence the "D" for disc brakes.
I don't know the exact year , Sorry.

[got6spd?]

:confused: That's kind of why I thought the D spoke were a little more correct for a T/A car.

[got6spd?]

So which one is it, the D or the straight spoke????

I'm a bigger fan of the straight spoke but at the same time I want the wheels to look as similar as possible to the originals of the 60's T/a era.

Thanks
Chris

[vanzuuk1]

Look at Johns photos from monterey or go on historictransam.com, I think the straight spoke has the right look.

[JEFFTATE]

A lot of T/A cars still ran the straight spoke because they cleared the calipers anyway.
Some T/A cars ran the curved spoke or Minilites.

[got6spd?]

Thanks for the help everyone. So it pretty much looks like either one will work, most likely the straight spoke.


Any body have any pics of v40's on a 67 or 68 other then the ones on the website?

[Damn True]

Note:

The Bud Moore Mustang's ran Firestones on Americans. Mainly because of Parnelli's relationship with Firestone. They had a lot of trouble with both. The tires were inferior to the Goodyears that Penske ran and they broke a lot of wheels as well.

In fact, the car that Vic has was wrecked near the end of the '69 season at Riverside due to a broken wheel and was deemed too badly damaged to rebuild for use during that season.

There are a few pics of the Bud Moore cars running Goodyears on minilites or a mixture the two setups. They got in trouble with Firestone a few times for doing so.