Odd you guys should bring this heavy duty wire wheel thing up at this time.
I was just looking at my old set in the basement.
I have a set of wheels that came off of a early Cobra. I purchased them from
a Denny Henningsen from Mason City, Iowa, in about 1970. He went to a mag
type wheel and I put these somewhat oversized (width) wheels on my TR4A and
subsequently on my TR3A....looked good.
I hit a curb with one and got smacked by a Mustang once. Same results. Upset
the rim a bit, but had no apparent effect on the wires and never any history
of loose spokes. They have an odd number of wires...71 spokes, I believe.
Although they are a bit heavy, I would never have a problem turning them
loose on the track and they may make another appearance in the future.
Question....who made these early Shelby Cobra wheels? They also show up on
some 50s specials.
I have also attempted to sell these wheels as I have had them in storage for
several years and I am running aluminum "mag" wheels and have been surprised
that no one has snapped them up because of their uniqueness.
----------
From: Greg Solow[SMTP:gregmogdoc@surfnetusa.com]
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 1998 2:30 AM
To: mike jackson; clark
Cc: vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: Dayton wire wheels
Mike Jackson is certainly correct when he states that the type of
wire
wheels and the weight of the car are very important. I have been
racing my
1900 lb. Morgan since 1979 using Dunlop 72 spoke wire wheels. I
have been
using Goodyear 500-15 "sports car special" vintage tires and various
other
street radials. I have never had even a loose spoke! recently I
have been
using Yokahama A 008 R tires. These are one inch wider and way
stickier.
I am still experiencing no problems. I have hit curbs in the past,
while
driving on the street, hard enough to bend over the outer rim of the
wheel,
and the wheel itself still ran true. My experience leads me to
believe that
on a car of up to about 2300 lbs. or so,with tires up to 7" wide,
you will
not experience any wheel problems if the wheels are in excellent
condition
when you start out. My experience is with Dunlop wheels. Dayton
may not
give the same results, I have no experience with them.
60 spoke wheels are probably ok on a car of up to 1500 lbs. I
know that
in the early 60's, Lew Spencer had problems breaking spokes on
Dunlop 60
spoke wheels on his Morgan Super Sport using the Goodyear tires
that were
the state of the art racing tires at the time. His car weighted
about 1725
lbs.-----Original Message-----
48 spoke wire wheels should probably not be used for any racing
.
The test on my own car is probably a pretty good one as I drive
pretty
hard. My lap times at Laguna Seca on Goodyears are about 1:55 and
at Sears
Point about 2:03. At Thunderhill last week on the 2.9 mile new
track on
Yokohamas we got into the 2:19 range.
Best wishes,
Greg Solow aka Gregmogdoc
From: mike jackson <grand_wazoo@flinet.com>
To: clark <clark@dnf.com>
Cc: vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net <vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net>
Date: Wednesday, April 22, 1998 2:15 PM
Subject: Re: Dayton wire wheels
>I'd consider very carefully what I was trying to achieve with my
vintage
>racer before running on wires. For a light car, with skinny tires
that
>are not too sticky, I'd say maybe as long as you have high spoke
count
>(72) and are going to be driving somewhat below the limit of the
tires.
>It would make a lovely car, but dont put on Hoosier's best and
start
>pushing really hard for the front of the pack.
>
>Tires have gotten soooo much stickier over the years that the
cornering
>loads that can be developed on a vintage racer far exceed anything
>imagined when the wire wheels were developed.
>
>I dont even race on stock steel wheels on my TR3 anymore, I broke 3
of
>them! Fortunately we discovered each before total failure but it
>wasn't a little crack, it was going to come apart. Granted the TR
is
>really quite heavy at 2000+ lbs but its your life we're dealing
with
>here, and maybe mine if I'm on the track with you.
>
>mike jackson
>
>clark wrote:
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Are any vintage racers running period Dayton wire wheels?
Assuming a
>> lightweight car and correct, vintage tires, would these things be
safe
and
>> reliable? Dayton can rebuild them with stainless steel wires and
the
>> originals are "bead laced" as opposed to todays version.
>>
>> Please don't assume I know what I'm talking about... I'm
probably
>> embarking on another maintenance nightmare, right?
>>
>> Clark
>>
>> "Hay Bales and Asphalt"
>> a video featuring vintage footage
>> of motor racing from 1957 to 1961.
>> Images and description at
>> http://www.dnf.com
>>
>> My 1953 Devin-Porsche Restoration project
>> http://www.dnf.com/devin-porsche.html
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