Club Cobra - FIA Wheels

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I am curious; which wheels tended to be supplied as standard fit on FIA-spec. 289s? Were the 289 FIAs supplied as such, or were they all prepared from standard Mk. IIs?

If anybody knows, they are probably right here!

Thank you in anticipation and have a great weekend!

Paul :)

I may not be 100% correct here but I think some of the early cars had kidney beans, & some of the later make have even used the GT40 style as on the 427's but most used the FIA wheel. But then again I'm pretty ignorant sometimes:JEKYLHYDE :D

The early competion cars (about 1963 prior to the FIA model) had what is known as Kidney Bean wheels. These were already in use on other race cars and were sourced from Halibrand. These are pictured on the car Dan Guerney drove at Daytona & Sebring in 1963. As the tire development moved forward (IE: considerably wider) and with the introduction of the FIA homologated car Shelby had the oppotunity & need for a wider wheel. Halibrand was chosen as the manufacturer. I believe the wheels were originally made of Magnesium for weight savings, but the required maintenence and safety issues has relegated them to be made of aluminum except in rare cases. I believe PS Engineering does or has made small runs of them in Magnesium.
The FIA car itself was a specific competion model and started life as such. One of the small item that was done to them was redundent electrical wiring to put the lights from each corner on their own circuit. In the event of collision damage it allowed all the remaining lights to operate independently. There were of course many other things done as well in the name of reliability and performance, this particular one was not visually appearant.
Considering the small number (6) of FIA cars produced they certainly hold a mystic.

Rick

I think that the FIA wheels were also on many of the original 427 comp cars.

Thank you all for your input.

Paul

Yes Lew they were. Does anyone know firsthand why on the 427 cars the styling was changed to 427 "style"wheel or GT 40 "Style" wheel??? Was it a strength issue or just for a change of appearance??? Separation of models? Curious.....

Rick

Rick,

I am most likely wrong and Ron (CW) will know, but I read or heard somewhere that they changed the wheels on the 427s because of an issue with the center not standing up to the power with the wide and sticky tires. I looked at some of my books this morning but can't find anything about it so it must be something I just heard or read.

Ron **)

Does anyone know if there are any differences between the Trigo and PS Engineering FIA wheel? Any reason to chose one over the other?

Lew:

I am not positive on this but the mounting pad on the back of the Trigo wheel may be larger in diameter to allow for fitament on 5 lug patterns larger than the OEM 4.25" X 6 pin diameter configuration. Quality is good on both.

Rick

Regarding FIA wheels for original cars or Kirkhams..........

Phil at PS Engineering is making aluminum wheels in the original widths of 6.5" and 8.5".

Lynn is making Trigo FIA wheels in 7.5" and 9.5" widths. He is supplying his in aluminum also, but he did make a small run of magnesium.