i have a 66 skylark convertible looking for some buick rally rims, new or like new. i have some now, but iam wondering if i would worth having them replated (or what ever its called) or just buy new ones. thanks for the help
I have two 14X6 with very good tires on them and one bare 14X6 wheel all are in very good condition considering they are 38 years old. no rust and centers are good and black. No center caps! BTW- where are you located? Shipping may be a problem.
Any of the repo wheels that you buy will NOT stand up to day to day driving. Very thin chrome on them and they start rusting by the end of the first summer. I run only original GM wheels on my S-10's.And i drive them year around..... Peace WildBill
Anybody had good luck or good experience with Specialty Wheels LTD reproductions? They have 14 and 15 inch wheels. http://www.specialtywheelsltd.org/ Are they priced at a resonably? Wildbill, where and for how much were the GM wheels?
Mike, i got the wheels at the usual places.....swap meets, trader papers, hittingthe local wrecking yards..... Peace WildBill
I have a set of 4 14x6 rally wheels that i won't be using, if interested call me at 818-913-2800 they have tires on them but i can sell without tires to help on shipping costs etc. mike.
I have purchased several sets from Specialty Wheel, and NEVER had a problem with chrome falling off. In fact after several years, they still look like new. (sorry Bill) Give them a try, you wont be disapointed. Bruce Durband also has a new set of tires and wheels for sale in the for sale section. I have seen them, and they are perfect.
Mark,nothing to be sorry about.I never stated the chrome fell off...it just got thin after repeated polishing to remove surface rust from being out in the elements 24/7 on my S-10's.If they are on a show car that does not see a lot of bad weather then they are just fine.Just don't use any polish more abrasive than carnuba wax.... I'll make a $1,000 bet right here and now....i will mount a new aftermarket 15x7 from any of the companies that make them and a NOS 15x7 to the roof of my pole building....side by side. After i year.....if the aftermarket looks better i give you a grand....if it don't....you give me.We can even find a third party to put the wheels on thier barn and give us a picture every so often..... Any takers:Brow: I belive it was Specialty that the INGSCA bought over 120+ wheels from a few years back and i got two sets from that batch..... Peace WildBill
If you find a decent set of wheels, I have the repro center caps for the 1966 with the correct thin bird. I've been selling and making these in USA since 1987. Price for set of four with shipping is $170. My price is slightly higher, but you'll not find better quality cause I watch over vendors like a hound. No cheap chrome plating job here and all parts made in USA which is basically why cost is a bit more. I've had these on cars for almost 20 years now and they still look great. Send me an email and I'll send you a pdf with prices and photos. mitchromanowski@sbcglobal.net
I have a set of Mitches repro caps and they are very nice..........Mitch I could use a set of just the center emblems though.Can you sell these seperate?Thanks.
I just PMed you but give me a price on the trishield the fatbird and the smaller bird ones........Thanks.
Hey, I purchased 4 used ribbed skinny bird repros a couple years ago on E-bay. I always see good statements about Mitche's caps. Never a negative, but I sent them back to the seller because they each had a thousand pin prick pits on them. Can somebody explain what could have happened on those. Maybe a bad batch or is there more than one repro manufacturer of them? I was lucky and got my money back.
Yes there are others that make these repros. My Skylark medallions were all manufactured here in the U.S. I personally inspect all my medallions. Sounds like those medallions with the pin holes were defects. My guess is that you could see the silver through the holes. The holes were probably in the transparent red layer and after plating the holes look like tiny silver pin holes.
Mitch, the medallions were fine. It's the caps that each had a thousand pin prick pits in them. I know they were repros because of the #8-32 screws and thin pc. of foam inside the caps. Were they possibly not your repros? I'm not trying to blast your quality. I currently have one of yours and it is perfect.
It's difficult to say if that was one of my caps. I've been making these since 1987 so there could be caps out there that have pitted. My early caps used the spring retainers with a single piece of neoprene. In the past couple of years I've gone to a bolt-on system which cannot be removed unless you take the wheel off and these use 4 pieces of neoprene. One way to tell for sure is if there is a 2 x 2 piece of aluminum foil between the medallion and the neoprene pieces which acts as a barrier so the neoprene doesn't stick to the back of the medallion. If a customer has any issues, I always send a replacement part. Since I put these together myself, I look at all of them very carefully as if they were going on my own car.
