Steel Wheels - Which Do You Love, Like and Dislike, and Why?

[afx]

Fireball Modelwerks Mopar Steelies with Plymouth caps.

Edited March 14, 2018 by afx

[1972coronet]

50 minutes ago, afx said:

Are these the wheels from that kit?  If so they are available at Scenes Unlimited: S22 '70-80s Chevy Van /Pickup

Those are the ones !   I bought a couple of sets of these reproductions a few years ago --- one sets going on an unbuilt MPC 1978 Chevy Pickup Stepside . 

[Don Sikora II]

17 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I like the very old AMT 16" steel wheels. Though a little clunky as they come, with some tweaking, they can look quite good for the right application.

 

Agree. Think these wheels look great on old AMT wire-axle hot rods!

[Don Sikora II]

The later (starting in 1964 or so) Jo-Han steelies are fantastic! There are regular depth and deep ones (in Petty '64 Plymouth and others) and they look like real ones shrunk down to 1/25 scale. 

[Jantrix]

Revell '29 Model A pick up. Wheels, trim rings, center caps all nicely done.

[afx]

I really like these but don't know the kit source.

[Joe Handley]

1 hour ago, afx said:

I really like these but don't know the kit source.

Did AMT have steelies with their '58 Impala kit?  That's the only kit I've ever seen molded in that shade of blue and honestly can't remember if there were steel wheels in the kit!

[afx]

1 hour ago, Joe Handley said:

Did AMT have steelies with their '58 Impala kit?  That's the only kit I've ever seen molded in that shade of blue and honestly can't remember if there were steel wheels in the kit!

Stolen from Casey's kit review website it does indeed look like the '58 Impala kit is the source.

[Snake45]

My '72 Chevelle was molded in that light blue, and I recently was playing with a set of nice steels in light blue that I thought might have come from it. The ones I was playing with were a bit deep, though, and I was going to use them with big slicks on a Modified Production.

Now I'm not sure where they came from.

[afx]

These from AMT's '36 Ford look very nice.

[Casey]

52 minutes ago, afx said:

These from AMT's '36 Ford look very nice.

Hmmm, not sure if those are the same as found in AMT's '65 Galaxie 500XL kit or not. Hard to tell with the chrome plating.

I do like the new steel wheels Round2 has created and included in a few of their reissued kits, including both mentioned above, as well as these from the AMT Grumpy Jenkins '66 Nova kit:

 

[Lizard Racing]

I would agree with Mr. AceGarageGuy regarding PPP wheels.  My only criticism would be they don't have any narrow stock size wheels.

I have bought several sets of their race wheels and tires and have had no problems with fit or appearance.

[1972coronet]

9 hours ago, Snake45 said:

My '72 Chevelle was molded in that light blue, and I recently was playing with a set of nice steels in light blue that I thought might have come from it. The ones I was playing with were a bit deep, though, and I was going to use them with big slicks on a Modified Production.

Now I'm not sure where they came from.

Seems to me that those would be from the c.1986 reissue of the (outstanding) AMT 1953 F-100 , as it was moulded in a light blue .

The Chevelle kit -- at least the AMT version from the Lensey [sp?] era -- had unfettered Rally Wheels with separate centre caps . I've never seen the contents of the MPC 1971-1972 Chevelles ...

[Snake45]

3 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Seems to me that those would be from the c.1986 reissue of the (outstanding) AMT 1953 F-100 , as it was moulded in a light blue .

The Chevelle kit -- at least the AMT version from the Lensey [sp?] era -- had unfettered Rally Wheels with separate centre caps . I've never seen the contents of the MPC 1971-1972 Chevelles ...

I've never had that truck model, so they weren't from that. What else was molded in light blue? Maybe I got them in a parts bag/box, or something. 

Just remembered, I have a pic of them. (I eventually used Cragars all round on this build.) 

[1972coronet]

3 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I've never had that truck model, so they weren't from that. What else was molded in light blue? Maybe I got them in a parts bag/box, or something. 

Just remembered, I have a pic of them. (I eventually used Cragars all round on this build.) 

I remember that M/P '65 wagon ! It came out so nice ! The semi-scratch-built Hurst shifter and boot combo is righteous . 

Now that I'm seeing this photo , I'm thinking that the c.1983 issue of the AMT '58 Impala was the source for those wheels .

[Snake45]

26 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

I remember that M/P '65 wagon ! It came out so nice ! The semi-scratch-built Hurst shifter and boot combo is righteous . 

Now that I'm seeing this photo , I'm thinking that the c.1983 issue of the AMT '58 Impala was the source for those wheels .

"Semi-scratch-built"'s ass! That thing was completely forged, filed and whittled out of raw styrene!

I've never owned a whole AMT '58 Impala. I have an old Ala-Impala box with just about all the parts in it, everything EXCEPT the body. I don't remember when, where, or how I got it (or, for that matter, why). I recently swiped chrome reverse wheels out of that box for use on a high school hot rod Mustang build. My Impala parts are molded in white. But I just went down and looked in that box and there are parts of a couple random light blue sprues in there, so maybe someone had some blue '58 parts in that box, too, and that's where they came from. I'll take a better look at the sprues here after while and see if they also look like other '58 sprues. Will let you know. 

[1972coronet]

3 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

"Semi-scratch-built"'s ass! That thing was completely forged, filed and whittled out of raw styrene!

I stand corrected , Herr Snake ! *Completely* scratch built is what I'd intended to say , but ... Oh , well , at least I remembered that wonderful shifter , and the car in which is was installed . 

I have the most-recent reissue of the AMT '58 Impala ; got the molded-in-gold version "just because" . So far , its moulding looks nice and even , e.g. : polished plastic project !

 

[ChrisBcritter]

On 3/13/2018 at 8:58 PM, Snake45 said:

I like the 2-piece ones in the AMT annual '66 Vette roadster (and possibly other years as well, I'd have to check). With the rim being a separate piece, you could match them up with different width rims (often used as the backsides of wheels) to make them as wide or thin as you need for any particular tire. I have a few sets of them stashed up (will be using at least one set very soon) and wish I had many, many more of them. 

Those are the ones I was referring to - thanks for the ID! I've started slush-casting the backs (so far so good); haven't tried the outer rims yet.

On 3/13/2018 at 4:06 PM, ChrisBcritter said:

and there are some two-piece wheels AMT (I think) made for one of their mid-'60s kits that had the center detail inside the wheel backs, and the outer part was just the rim. I'll need to post photos of them to try to get them IDed.

 

[ChrisBcritter]

15 hours ago, afx said:

I really like these but don't know the kit source.

AMT '58 Impala and '59 El Camino.

[Snake45]

Okay, looked in that mystery '58 Ala-Impala box. There were both white and several duplicate blue '58 Chev parts, a full set of shallow white open wheels, and two shallow blue open wheels, so if the blue issue had deeper open wheels, then my mystery wheels came from that box and are from the blue-issue '58 Chev. Case closed, I think.

But there were some other parts in that box, too. There was a chrome sprue with what looked like an inline 6 valve cover, and a set of 6-cylinder tube headers, also molded in light blue. What could those be from--'53 Corvette? Didn't find an inline 6 block or head, though. Pity. I could have done something with that.

[jeff9150]

The AMT 51 Chevy Hardtop circa 1986 or so (copper colored car with flames and Keystone mags) was molded in light blue, if I recall correctly. It had an inline 6 and a racing exhaust header as well. It also had some decent steel wheels.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, jeff9150 said:

The AMT 51 Chevy Hardtop circa 1986 or so (copper colored car with flames and Keystone mags) was molded in light blue, if I recall correctly. It had an inline 6 and a racing exhaust header as well. It also had some decent steel wheels.

No more calls please, we have a winner! The 6-cyl engine parts I have are exactly like the ones on the '51 Chev instruction sheet (a kit I've never owned). Many thanks!

ETA: It looks like the chrome reverse wheels I took out of that box recently are also '51 Chevy. I'd been assuming they were '58 Impala.....

Edited March 15, 2018 by Snake45

[Casey]

Newly created steel wheels from AMT '65 Ford Galaxie 500XL, with no cooling slots :

 

Below, top row: Unknown AMT deep steel wheels, both with molded closed cooling slots.

Second row: Maroon front (on left) and rear (on right) wheels from the 1/25 Revell '64 Ford T-bolt kits

Third row: Metallic blue painted resin wheels from The Good Stuff. Not sure if these are copies of JO-HAN wheels?

Bottom row: Front and rear six lug steel wheels from the 1/25 Revell '57 Chevy 150 Utility Sedan "Black Widow" kit:

 

Below, from left: Unknown AMT deep wheel, AMT '50 Chevy Pickup rear wheel(?), Revell '68 Dodge Charger R/T 14" wheel:

[jeff9150]

Glad I could help! I personally find the Johan Mopar steelies (I have seen them in the 68 Fury police car and 68 Chrysler 300) to be absolutely gorgeous renditions of their 1:1 counterparts.  Of course, they are hard to find and pricey now.  I also seem to recall the Revell 64 Thunderbolts having pretty decent open wheels, as well as the AMT 62 Chevys (1990s tooling).  Interestingly, I have seen them in the drag versions, as well as the stock Bel Air and even the Impala convertible.

[jeff9150]

Looks like Casey beat me on the Revell Fairlane/T-Bolt rims!  Those sure do look like the Johan Mopar steelies to me.  Good find with the 50 Chevy pickup. My guess for the deeper AMT is the chrome one may be from the old tooling 57 Chevy hardtop, and the other could be from one of the 51 Chevies or 58 Impala?  I do believe that the old AMT 49 Mercury had some decent steel rims too.