Pontiac 8-lug Wheels

[TransAmMike]

I will be somewhat replicating this car and will need the 8-lug wheels.

I'm pretty sure the old 65 Bonneville kit has them.  I don't see any aftermarket suppliers for them so I'm reaching out.

As usual, any help is appreciated.

[TarheelRick]

PM sent

[Khils]

1 hour ago, TransAmMike said:

As usual, any help is appreciated.

If Rick hasn't already got you taken care of....LMK

[Exotics_Builder]

If it is a 62 you are doing, are the 62 8 lug wheels the same as the 65?  Close enough?  Or doesn't matter on the build you're contemplating?

 

[W Humble]

The Moebius 1961 Ventura kit has some beauties.  Several of the year-of-mfr AMT kits have them, and at least one (don't recall who) other kit maker had them; very shallow, like wheel covers.  Kelsey-Hayes, aluminum hubs with painted steel 8-lug rims ('wide 8") that used 1-2 types of snap-on beauty rings.  Wick

[TransAmMike]

2 hours ago, W Humble said:

The Moebius 1961 Ventura kit has some beauties.  Several of the year-of-mfr AMT kits have them, and at least one (don't recall who) other kit maker had them; very shallow, like wheel covers.  Kelsey-Hayes, aluminum hubs with painted steel 8-lug rims ('wide 8") that used 1-2 types of snap-on beauty rings.  Wick

Good to know James.😃

[W Humble]

PMD considered the option using wide-8 rims for the '63 Tempests, I understand, maybe as 15-in.  The steel  rims on 1;1 cars show up painted shades of silver or gray, often.  I put them on every old Poncho kit I build, even my replica of the '61-2 Tempest 'Monte Carlo' roadster show car (which should have had 15-in. Halibrands.  One VK/AF illustration in the big 1966 dealer brochure of a LeMans faintly shows K-H rims/drums.  Disc brakes option by then, drums on the way out.

[Bills72sj]

Has anyone gotten around to 3D printing these? I cannot imagine these being that hard to duplicate in a compatible software program.

[ewetwo]

Are the same ones in the AMT Grand Slam Grand Prix kit?

 

[W Humble]

Printing or resin; it would be a great accessory!  The Moebius are best because they are multi-part, the old ones were just outer wheel halves, though very realistic if detailed.  Buick had beautiful finned drums, but PMD had the complete system, with special rims also.  The Cad (etc.) Sabre wheels were very special, too, and didn't the '56 Continental have something similar, or the same?  Quite a few luxury cars used the K-H wire wheels; Cad, Buick and Chrysler.  Others?

[TransAmMike]

Well I'd would sure be interest in a resin repro!

[Can-Con]

The caps on those wheels changed over the years. 

Here's a '62. IIRC, '61 used the same cap. This is in the '61 Ventura kit [IIRC]

and here's a '65,

There's also this one that looks a bit different again. I'm not sure right now which one the AMT '65 Pontiacs have exactly but it's one of these two.

A small difference , don't know if it would matter to you.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Can-Con

[TransAmMike]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

The caps on those wheels changed over the years. 

Here's a '62. IIRC, '61 used the same cap. This is in the '61 Ventura kit [IIRC]

and here's a '65,

There's also this one that looks a bit different again. I'm not sure right now which one the AMT '65 Pontiacs have exactly but it's one of these two.

A small difference , don't know if it would matter to you.

Good info Steve and thanks. The '61-62 wheel is what I prefer.

[W Humble]

RE; the shallow, hub-cap style 8-lug type, I have used two sets of these (still can't place source; prob JoHan? in early '60s) in conjunction with the chrome outer rims of the AMT Ford wire wheels issued back then to make a deep K-H wheel that looks super!  I had a few of the wire type that had gotten broken in my stash, and with a little judicious trimming of spoke remnants, and careful CA gluing they widened the cap-style dramatically -- beyond the scale depth of the originals, even.  With a little Tamaiya Smoke flowed into the recessed 'drum' area, they look great on my rescued '60 Bonneville HT kit; better even than the nice AMT originals on the '62 saved all these years!  Lovely rim!

Expensive in the `1:1 scale; back in 1970, I found a very complete set in a San Antonio TX dismantlers for about $200, but the cost of sending them back to CA (for my brothers '55 Chevy HT -- interesting idea?) was ridiculous, so we didnt'.  I'll bet the price on the POCI trading post is awful, now.  Always wished PMD had made a fitment for the A-bodied cars!