Wheels needed

[Chicagowil]

Trying to figure out what to do for tires & wheels. The CR originally came with 8 X 15 with 255/60/15 tires. The original are justa black center with polished rim. Not very attractive.


I had purchased, used, a set of 5 pin knock off Halibrand style Cobra II wheels. They are 7.5 X 15 & 9.5 X 15. The front sit fine with the adapter hubs. But the rear are sticking out 2". I spoke to Vintage Wheels, he had great experience with what I have. But no real solution without replacing the whole set. He said I could shorten the rears end to accept the wheels. Or, I can try to find to more of the front wheels and he can modify the back side of the rims to fit. Both ideas are about the cost of a set of new rims.



The Cobra II wheels look like what Superpreformance sell. They have 6 spokes instead of the 5 spokes that Vintage Wheels sells. I have looked on the web and cannot find any more Cobra II wheels used.

My other choice is to install a set of American Racing's Torque Thrust M chrome wheels. I already have the rears (new) that I did not sell with my 67 Mustang. They are 9 X17 for the rear with 274/40 17 tires. I can get the right size front wheels and tires. Like the splash of chrome with the paint and chrome side pipes. It will be easier, going forward, for tire choices with 17 wheels.

Thoughts?

[markantioch]

Have the four wheels on your cobra powder coated all the same color. Mine were done in flat black.

[redvettx2]

Originally Posted by Chicagowil

Trying to figure out what to do for tires & wheels. The CR originally came with 8 X 15 with 255/60/15 tires. The original are justa black center with polished rim. Not very attractive.


I had purchased, used, a set of 5 pin knock off Halibrand style Cobra II wheels. They are 7.5 X 15 & 9.5 X 15. The front sit fine with the adapter hubs. But the rear are sticking out 2". I spoke to Vintage Wheels, he had great experience with what I have. But no real solution without replacing the whole set. He said I could shorten the rears end to accept the wheels. Or, I can try to find to more of the front wheels and he can modify the back side of the rims to fit. Both ideas are about the cost of a set of new rims.



The Cobra II wheels look like what Superpreformance sell. They have 6 spokes instead of the 5 spokes that Vintage Wheels sells. I have looked on the web and cannot find any more Cobra II wheels used.

My other choice is to install a set of American Racing's Torque Thrust M chrome wheels. I already have the rears (new) that I did not sell with my 67 Mustang. They are 9 X17 for the rear with 274/40 17 tires. I can get the right size front wheels and tires. Like the splash of chrome with the paint and chrome side pipes. It will be easier, going forward, for tire choices with 17 wheels.

Thoughts?

I have 17" on my car the tire selection is very limited on the rear. I like the look of 15" better but not a lot of choices there either. If I was getting new rims 18" has the best tire selection you just give up a lot of sidewall and some ride.

[MAStuart]

Are you wanting a cobra, or a newer custom car? If a cobra, do what it takes to look like a cobra. Its that simple.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by Chicagowil

Trying to figure out what to do for tires & wheels. ...

The Cobra II wheels look like what Superpreformance sell. They have 6 spokes instead of the 5 spokes that Vintage Wheels sells. I have looked on the web and cannot find any more Cobra II wheels used. ...

Thoughts?

When you go to the Vintage website, none of the pics of the Halibrand replica wheels have five spokes. They all have six spokes, irrespective of being a five or six-pin wheel registration. My SPF has six spokes! Every SPFwith factory supplied wheels has six spokes. To my knowledge, there are no five-spoke wheels made by anyone.

The smart way home here is simply to tell Vintage what you want, and they will provide an excellent product for you. Modifying something that doesn't fit or appear the way it should, in the end, will cost you substantially more than doing it the right way, the first time.

[Alfa02]

Chicagowil, with my Classic Roadster, I went with the 427 Street look, so Rocket Wheel, has the org style "Sunbrust" designed by Peter Brock just for the street 427. These are 5-lug bolt On's with Chev or Ford bolt patterns. they only come in 15x7 and 15x8, but with the 8" you can get 3/4" offset, which I did for the rears, and angled knockoffs, with straight angle knockoffs for the front gave the rears a deeper look. Those bolted right on no wheel spacer's and came right to edge of the fenders. The tires were MT St 235-60-15 fronts, 275-60-15 rears (Although you can get a 295-50-15 on a 8" wheel). I believe them to be reasonable priced, the additional knockoffs not so reasonable those added an extra $125 per wheel, but they look right. Just my $.02, Cheers Tom.

[Chicagowil]

Alfa 02, they are backordered and not sure when back in stock. I do like the look.

I am a bit confused as when I spoke to Vintage Wheels, he kept saying his wheels were 6 spoke and mine are 5 spoke. As you can see from the photo, mine are 6 spoke as well.

I may call him back and clarify. Since they have the wheels custom made, surly he can set me up with a new pair for the rear in the right size.

Looking at the phots, I think the finish will be so close you would not notice the difference in mfg.

[Chicagowil]

I was just looking back at the Vintage Wheel web site and he was correct, their 5 pin knock off wheels are 5 lug, not 6 lug like mine. I must have gotten it switched around in my head (lord knows there is enough room up there). The SPF wheels seem to be 6 pin drive.

[Alfa02]

Thom, these are the people I've dealt with. They seem to find wheels & tires that are hard to find, exc. service, great prices. You may want to give them a call. Hope this helps. I had many people say great looking wheels, too bad they were not on Cobras, I said, "Oh they were" and then told them the story of Peter (Brock) designing them just for a street 427, in real life, they are great looking wheels, Cheers Tom. https://www.performanceplustire.com/

[NROTOXIN]

Originally Posted by Chicagowil

I was just looking back at the Vintage Wheel web site and he was correct, their 5 pin knock off wheels are 5 lug, not 6 lug like mine. I must have gotten it switched around in my head (lord knows there is enough room up there). The SPF wheels seem to be 6 pin drive.

SPF wheels are 5 pin.

[eschaider]

Thom,

I believe you are mixing up spokes and drive/registration pins. All Vintage, Trigo and virtually anybody else you can find are all six-spoke wheels.

Some cars have a five-pin, pin drive hub, and others have a six-pin, pin drive hub. Other than that, they are all six spoke wheels.

[Chicagowil]

Thanks all! I was looking on BaT this morning at a Backdraft alum bodies Cobra. Turns out it has the exact wheels (Cobra2) that I had purchased! Even the same size.

Eschaider, The wheels that Vintage shows in the larger sizes (17" & 18"0 are 5 spoke.The HA02 15" wheels are a copy of my Cobra 2 wheels- 6 spoke. Even the bolt on wheels they supply for the CR cars are a 5 spoke design.

I think I am going to get the car running using the American Racing Torque Thrust wheels I already have and look at narrowing another rear end so I can use the Cobra 2 wheels later. The rear end under the car is a 8.8 3.73 posi, but it is all 1990 stock with the C clips and drum brakes. I can upgrade the rear and use better axles with rear disc brakes.

[Chicagowil]

After a winter with travel, health issues and helping friends suffering their own health crisis, I am back on trying to finish my project before summer arrives.

One of the items I have struggled with has been what to do about the wheels & tires.

As shown above, the Trigo Cobra II, 5 pin wheels I had purchased used quite some time ago are too wide for the narrow hipped CR1.

I reached out to Curtis at Trigo about acquiring 2ea 7 1/2" rims for the rear since they would fit under the rear fenders. He informed me that what I have are the earlier, lighter gray wheels with the rougher finish on the centers. What he sells today is a darker gray and the finish is very smooth. He did not think I would be happy with the difference.

I considered removing the rear end and narrowing it 2 1/2" per side to allow the Trigo wheels to fit. This would fit the 9 1/2" rear rims under the car.

I thought about purchasing 4 new wheels from Curtis that all match, but as I looked at the available better performing tires in 15" sizes, I was not satisfied with the compromises.

Plus, the cost of 4 new wheels and tires for a sub-$40k value finish kit just did not make sense to me. I already have invested more dollars that its finished value will be, typical for these cars. But my choice on this car was more about me being able to comfortably fit that trying to closely replicate an original car.

So, I am going with a Torq Thrust wheel in a more modern sizes and available choices for tires.

And yes, I did struggle with the non-Cobra look. But I decided "it's my car and I am trying to please the real boss- my Wife". I had a pair of new Torq Thrust wheels with tires left over from my 67 Mustang which I sold last fall that were too wide to fit (seems like a repeating problem). I decided to mount them on one side and see how they look. Decided I was happy with the look and she much preferred them. So, I ordered the matching fronts in the correct size and they will arrive tomorrow.

With that said, and before you all start to "Flame" me, I want to let you all know that my Trigo Cobra II wheels are for sale. I have the pins. hub adapters. spinners and wheels. They are in very good, but not perfect shape. They are previously used. They have already been drilled for safety wires. They ship in boxes, one box per wheel.

Let me know if anyone is interested, I will try to me fair on the price. Suspect I will sell them for less that I paid for them. I am asking $1,200. For all of the wheels, pins, center caps, hubs, & spinners it is about $2,600. They will fit for or GM hubs.

[byron w]

Have you considered narrowing the axle housing 2 inches on each side?
Cheapest and easiest.
Byron

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by byron w

Have you considered narrowing the axle housing 2 inches on each side?
Cheapest and easiest.

Byron

That would be what I'd do.

[Chicagowil]

I did consider narrowing the axle. It was going to cost about $900 by the time I had the housing shortened, have new custom axles made, and convert from the C-clips. Then it was another $1,400 for 15" tires that would perform decently.

I ended up with the Torq Thrust M wheels in a 8X17 size for the front to match the 9X17 rear wheels. This way I had a much better choice for HP tires.

And the cost for the pair of wheels & tires were about $1,000.