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Wheel question

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 3:27 pm
by Kinnaird
Does anyone know what kindve wheel this is, they came on the car but have no idea the brand or anything really.
71857565886__321CDB41-8674-48C7-B741-03C1DD28D829.jpeg

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 4:34 pm
by jrusso07
Looks like a Wester Turbine

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 4:56 pm
by Bwk2000
Joe is correct.

Western 30 Spoke Turbine Wheels

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:12 pm
by redroadster
Those 40 + year old aluminum wheels
can be dangerous , as moisture that got into the air corrode it from the inside ,aluminum crystallizes in granules, a hard bump can separate them very minor then water gets in
Later alloy wheels had a thick clear coat on the inside part of it...because of this problem

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 11:11 pm
by david premo
Western turbines for sure. I’m sure they are fine, get them soda blasted, inspected and clear coated. If you don’t have center caps there are some places that have new old stock.

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:46 am
by FergO2k
+1 on what Dave said.
They are same age as this one, (pictured) which took quite a prang and straightened out just fine. (commercial business that paints/repairs upgrades wheels, I knew a replacement in the right offset was going to be very tough to find).
Mine are alum barrels with steel centers, knock-offs called Rikens)

Your wheel should have some numbers (JJxx - yy) on the inner side, indicating Japanese sizing, wheel width, and the offset, the JJ might be JC or JS)
Pranged Rim.jpg

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 11:23 am
by redroadster
We had VW @ our Datsun dealer in 80 to 82 they had many different alloy wheels ,they had a test for this and occasionally found some bad cracked wheels , my 1st car a 70 Charger R/T440 4sp had the slotted alloys and had a pin hole thru the wheel leak .
the test was with a electric engraver tool,but rounded off point, running it on the inside , it rang like a bell ...unless it had a bad spot where it went dull, I remember a recall on that type wheel for cracked / corroded in the 80s they wanted them off cars would replace with a new one
At Datsun our bodyshop had a pile of alum.wheels seemingly OK thrown in a fenced cage that were on wrecked cars that looked unbent / OK there policy was hit hard in frt.the wheels are junk

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2023 12:29 pm
by Kinnaird
Thank you for all the info guys, I legit had no idea, especially the safety information. I think two of them don’t have the center caps. I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep them on the car after the restoration or not, as i can’t seem to decide if I like the look of them or not haha.

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2023 12:41 pm
by FergO2k
They are very 70's funky. Some have managed to dress them up by contrasting color the insets and leaving the "spokes" shiny.
(also because once you chuck them up it is way easier to polish the spokes when spinning in a slow speed lathe, after having rattle-canned the whole wheel face)
Kinda looks like they are already a bit "grit blasted" ...

Re: Wheel question

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2023 6:59 pm
by Alvin
Dan R's roadster on Turbines:
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I always think of the Dukes of Hazard when I see these wheelsl :D

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