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#1
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Want to purchase a new set of rallye II's for my 71 t/a. My question is I have seen pictures of 71's with trim rings and without, what is correct or is it just a matter of preference? Also, how are the wheels from Wheel Vintiques? I am considering 15x8 rear and 15x7 front. Thanks for any help.
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#2
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Want to purchase a new set of rallye II's for my 71 t/a. My question is I have seen pictures of 71's with trim rings and without, what is correct or is it just a matter of preference? Also, how are the wheels from Wheel Vintiques? I am considering 15x8 rear and 15x7 front. Thanks for any help.
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#3
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The standard rim for any 70-81 Trans Am is 15x7. Therefore your 71 T/A would have either came with 15x7 Rally II's or 15x7 Honeycombs. I wasn't until 1978 that the 15x8 Snowflakes and Turbo wheels(1979) started being offered. 70-72 15x7 Rally wheels are actually pretty scarce. The 70-72 KR 15x7 Rally has a smaller center section than that of the more common 73-up 15x7. The 70-72 has a 12" diameter from inner bead to inner bead across where as the 73-up has a 13 1/2" diameter. This is very tough to notice to the untrained eye. Especially while before trim rings are installed. Basically the 12" center of the 70-72 is actually a 14x7 center on a 15x7 outer rim. Everything will still look ok and work well, but the flat 70-72 trim ring will leave a gap between the inner egde if the ring and the rim. It's not anything that can't be lived with, but once the original wheels are found and installed, you'll notice home much better it looks. As far as what is correct for 1971, the 1970 Rally wheel trim rings were dealer installed option. The 15x7 Rally wheel was the only wheel available in 1970. 1971 and up, the trim rings were standard on the Rally Wheels and came in the trunk upon which the dealer installed. Please let me know if I can help anymore. Rocky
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#4
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Rocky, great info there, very useful to someone attempting a correct restoration. So now, the question is, is Mr. 455HO going for a truly correct restoration, or simply a correct "look." If the latter, then I would suggest 15x8 wheels on all four corners, and the ones from Wheel Vintiques that I've seen look pretty good. Get them in a 4.5" backspacing and you will have all the clearance you need for running tires as big as 275/60-15. I have 15x10 with 5" backspacing on all four corners of my Formula, and amazingly they fit(barely) with 50-series rubber, so 15x8s will fit just fine.
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---------------------------- '72 Formula 400 Lucerne Blue, Blue Deluxe interior - My first car! '73 Firebird 350/4-speed Black on Black, mix & match. |
#5
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I recently ordered the 15X8 Wheel Vintiques Rally II's, 15X8, 4 inch backspacing for my '71 Firebird. For several years I've had P255 60's on Cragars with 4 1/4 inch backspacing. I chose the wheel size and tires based on Herb Adams specs for the FireAm modification. This combo looks and works very well in the existing wheel wells.
I have a related question. I've had my bird since '78. It came with 14 inch Rallys and capped lug nuts. I would like to use the Rally II lugs with black centers. Looking at a black & white press photo of a '71 Formula I got from Pontiac Historic Services, it clearly shows the car to have black-center lugs. Also, Year-one says they are correct. My doubts come with the fact that I know for sure that my car had the stainless, capped lugs, and several of the other after-market companies say the black centers were used only through 1970. What is the truth? Thanks. |
#6
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MJ, The picture you are looking @ from PHS shows a pre-production '71 T/A. Like the cars in the '71 Performance Pontiac brochure, these pictures were printed ahead of time & don't accurately how '71's were actually equipped. My 08C built early '71 Judge had a few of the "tall" lug nuts still on it when I purchased it, it was built the 2nd day of production. All original '71 Rally II & HC equipped cars I have run across over last 20 years used the "tall" capped stainless lug nuts #399683. This lug nut was discontinued in the mid '70's & was superceded by the "short" capped lug nut which was available on Rally II 7/16" lugs from 1973 production on up. The "tall" capped lug nuts were only available for 2 years, & were also used on '71-72 Chevelles, ElCamino's & Nova's with Cheby's version of a Rally wheel (the one with the stainless inserts). I used to pull these when yarding in the 80's. I believe the only source for the correct "tall" '71-72 lug nuts in reproduction is Ted Williams Chevy Parts. They reproduced these several years ago, but have never seen these listed in a Pontiac catalogue (hint,hint).
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Buzzards gotta eat... same as worms. |
#7
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Well, my Wheel Vintique Rallys finally came in. They look great, but are covered with disclaimer stickers, which makes me think they are prone to rust bigtime unless I do some prevention now. Does anyone know of a good treatment for freshly painted Rallys to keep them from rusting. I have some of the POR 15 clear coat (Glisten PC), but I am afraid it may give the wheels too much of a high gloss look. Any advice is appreciated.
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#8
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In my opinion, I like the look of the clear coated Rally wheel. I can tell you first hand, it makes them much easier to clean. Brake dust just washes off. Make sure you find something that is heat resistant. I painted mine with clear laquer and it heat checked after a few days of getting the brakes hot. It was mainly on the front discs that the clear cracked.
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#9
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I am updating the original 14X7 Rally II's on my 1970 FB Formula to 15X8's. Wheel Vintiques offers these with either 4" or 4.5" backspace. Anyone have recent experience with this supplier and can tell me which wheel will fit and not cause interference or rubbing issues. I am not lowering the car, but keeping stock springs front and back. Also the WV website calls these out as silver, so anybody seen these WV wheels lately and can relate how they compare with the original colors?
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#10
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Rocky, I have a question based on your post #3.
My 1970 TA was delivered new to Winnipeg Manitoba Canada . It’s PHS definitely calls out “Trim Rings”. I presume the trim rings going in the trunk would be a theft deterrent during transport. Then the dealer would install as part of their pre-delivery cleanup and prep. Do you happen to know the percentage of 1970 TAs that had factory trim rings? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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...Steve T. "Resurrection of a 1970 Trans Am" Blog www.455hota.wordpress.com ------------------------------------- 1966 GTO 4 speed Hardtop Alabama car (Marina Turquoise w turquoise interior) 1970 TA 4 speed Canadian car (Lucerne Blue w bright blue interior) |
#11
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I have a set of wheel vintiques, 15X8 4-1/2 backspace. I had 255-60s on the front and they just barely rubbed something turned to the stop and every now and then would rub a touch on the diver's side wheel opening molding i think. Never enough to leave any kind of mark. I have the original front springs on a 72 Formula A/C car so maybe it sits a touch low up front. On the back I had 275-60s and they will not go up into the wheel well without hitting the wheel opening. I have new Eaton Detroit rear springs that hold the rear a bit higher than stock and have never had them rub. That's with a "custom" ordered Moser 12-bolt so It may be a bit wider than it should be. That same setup on 15X7 stock honeycombs (4 inch backspace?) seems to clear. The wheels seem to be good quality. I've heard of people having rust issues with these wheels. I haven't but the car lives in New Mexico, so what's rust?
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