Topic: 1965-1966 4- Lug Wheel set mystery.

[NEFaurora]

Subject: 1965-1966 4- Lug Wheel set mystery.


I picked up an original complete set of (5) 1966 4-lug wheels that all came from the same car.  I have come across something strange for the 2nd time.  This is the 2nd complete original set of 1966 4-lug wheels that I have picked up over the years where 4 out of the 5 wheels were all riveted and correctly date coded (6MB), and one wheel is welded and has no codes at all!  This was apparently the spare.  It is definitely a Ford wheel and "looks like it should an physically identical to the other correct 4 wheels. The "mystery" wheel had the same width as the other 4 correct '66 wheels also.  I had picked up another 4-lug set of (5) wheels a few years ago from another '66 6cyl car and hit the same exact thing, 4 out of the wheels were correctly date coded (6ME), and the Spare had no date codes at all and was also welded!...and not riveted like the other 4 wheels..

So, Tell me,  Am I going crazy here?   Or did Ford put welded wheels that were not date coded in the trunk as spares while the other 4 wheels were all riveted?    What's the deal with these welded wheels?  I could understand if the wheels were wider, I would just pass the mystery welded wheels off as "Later" rims....but what drives me crazy here is that the wheels have the same width as a '65-66 Ford 4-lug wheel, and physically look identical with the exception of the Rivits versus welds!!!!

Signed....  Puzzled!

Tony K.

[NEFaurora]

Hmm.. No takers?

[J_Speegle]

Have no early six cylinders to compare 

[Skyway65]

Sorry Tony--can't help with this...

[C5ZZ]

Tony,
Now that you have mentioned it I ran into the same thing on
a set of five 13" wheels I got off a "little old lady car" a
62 Comet, one of the wheels was not date stamped and
not rivited but welded. Three of the wheels had a 2ME and
one was a 3MB so I just figured sometime in the cars life two
of them got bent from hitting a pot hole or a curb. The one
that is not stamped looks just like the originals so my thought
is that the same company made them for Ford and also sold
them as replacement wheels, that might explain the rivits in
the Ford wheel, could have been Ford's spec.

Back in the 60's and 70's people would run snow tires, they
would need a extra set of wheels so there was certainly a market
for replacement wheels.

The wheels they made back then would bend very easy, I worked
in a filling station in the 70's and would have people come in
with bent wheels, we use to bend them back with a sledge
hammer but they should have been replaced. We even had some
that would get bent on the tire changer if you weren't careful!

After almost 50 years its hard to find a car that has all the original
wheels if it has spent time on the road.

[Twilight65]

Sorry Tony--can't help with this...

Same here Tony can't help either, My car was missing its spare tire, my other 4 were all the same riveted and dated 6ME.
Dave

[NEFaurora]

Darn!

I think that I am onto something here!

)


It's possible that some cars received these un-date coded welded wheels as spares only.  Need more 6cyl owners with original wheels to chime in..


Tony K.

[C5ZZ]

It's possible that some cars received these un-date coded welded wheels as spares only.  Need more 6cyl owners with original wheels to chime in..


Tony K.

If that were the case they would have to keep a different inventory of tires and wheels just
for the spares which seems unlikely and Ford had a habit of date coding many of their parts.
What if there was a recall on a batch of wheels found to be defective, how could they identify
them without the date code?

[NEFaurora]

I don't know C5ZZ.  That is what we are trying to find out!  With the exception of the welds and no-date codes, It is 100% identical to the '65-'66  14" date coded 4-lug riveted wheels in every way.  This is the 2nd original set of 4-lug wheels that I have found this way.  And the welded wheel was the spare both times. It kind of makes sense in a way, if you were going to have a cheaper wheel, The spare would be the wheel to do it.  It could have been something sporadic by Ford.  We'll see as we examine this issue more over time and what surfaces..


I will take some pics tomorrow and post...!


Tony K.

[C5ZZ]

Tony, I have the same thing with a 13" wheel, its a exact copy
of the Ford wheel but no date stamp and its welded instead
of being rivited. This is the only one I have seen like it. I think
its a replacement made by the same company that made them
for Ford.

I have a friend that has a 66 6 cyl coupe that his Dad bought in 67
and has been in their family ever since, it has the original wheels,
he is going to check them and let me know, I will post his findings.

[NEFaurora]

The plot Thickens!  I went out and took pics of the mystery welded wheel against a regular Ford 14" date stamped riveted wheel.  The welded wheel had a stamp!  It was on the inner center of the wheel.  The Welded mystery wheel as you can see is on the left and on the right is a standard regular Ford 14" date stamped riveted wheel for comparison.  The "Welded" mystery wheel has a Kelsey Hayes Manufacturer's stamp on it with a weird design next to it with a "8" in the middle.  Don't know if the "8" really denotes anything...Probably not much...

Check out the pics below!   I'm uploading them to photobucket right now!

Tony K.

[NEFaurora]

Ok, I made an album... Check out the comparisons... '65-'66 KH (Kelsey Hayes) 14 inch Non-date coded Mystery Wheel vs. Regular '65-'66 Standard 14 inch 4-lug Date Coded wheel that we all know and love.

Check it out!

Can't prove it yet, But I have a feeling Ford was throwing these "welded" wheels in the trunk as spares!

See for yourself and decide...

Pics located here:

http://s270.beta.photobucket.com/user/NEFaurora/library/1966sprint200/1965-1966%20Ford%204-lug%2014%20inch%20wheel%20Mystery?


Comments??? Please add!

Tony K.

[NEFaurora]

For those that don't know... Kelsey Hayes was one of Ford's major original suppliers of wheels. Most Ford 1960's wheels I think were made by Kelsey Hayes.  I think that the other supplier was Detroit Wheel?

Tony K.

[NEFaurora]

Guess nobody saw the links to the pics that I posted above, either that or this thread died a quick death!

Take a look at the pics...

Tell me what you think!

Thanks,

Tony K.

[fast66]

Tony,
the dated Ford wheels are IMHO made by Motor Wheels Corp - could it just be a difference in the two brands - KH welded and M-wheels riveted? That doesn't solve why you find only KH as spare wheels though...
for the 5 lug standard Mustang wheels they are "always" Motor Wheels - I tend to see mostly Metuchen cars over the years, being in Sweden.
br
Claes