Updated Magnesium Halibrand thread

[Lew Ledyard]

Since we have a new dedicated wheel/tire forum, I thought that I would revise/update this thread.

Many people would like to have new sets of magnesium wheels for their Cobras. They are significantly lighter than the currently available aluminum wheels. In addition, some of us feel that the magnesium wheels look better than the currently available aluminum wheels. Although the mag wheels are more pricey, some folks have spared no other expense in the build of their car. Two possible sources for the production of these wheels have been identified: Halibrand (The New Halibrand) (not sure exactly who that is now) and M&A Castings (High Performance Magnesium and Aluminum Castings - M & A Castings). According to M&A Castings, the quality of the magnesium and the coatings used today is much better than what was originally used, so corrosion is less of a factor.

Halibrand said that they occasionally make batches of their Cobra II (427 S/C) wheels in magnesium. Such batches are usually made in runs of 100 wheels per size. The wheels are 6 pin knock-offs in sizes of 15X8 (f) and 15X10 (r). See Elric's gallery for photos. The prices are $765 (f) and $795 (r). I do not know what the offset/backspacing is, but I believe it is the same as the Trigos.

I have also spoken with M&A Castings about producing these wheels. They have a great reputation and produce beautiful wheels. M&A said that they do not have molds already made, but that they could make them for about $12,000-15,000 per size and then after that, each wheel would be about $700. I have spoken with Ted at M&A quite a bit. He said that the quality of magnesium that M&A uses is much better than what was used in the original wheels. (I have not spoken to Halibrand about the quality of their materials.) Ted also said that he can apply a variety of protective finishes/coatings to produce a light gold finish, a black finish or a natural finish.

While I think that M&A would make terrific wheels, that price might be a little too steep for some of us. Therefore, it might make the most sense to convince Halibrand to run another batch of 50 sets. While we probably won't be able to get 50 confirmed pre-orders, we may be able to demonstrate that there is enough firm interest to convince Halibrand or M&A to produce a set. So far, the following has said that they would like a set:

Lew
Rodknock
Xracerbob
Cobra (Walter from Switzerland)
CSX3183
Brettco

I am sure that there are others, so please add yourself to the list. If any of the manufacturers (KMS, ERA, Shelby, SPF, etc.) are interested in offering this option to their customers, please also chime in. Nothing like a volume buyer to get a producer's interest.

I will ask both Halibrand and M&A to take a look at this post to help them determine the interest level.