71 trans am HO Rally II KR wheels
 

Was wondering if anyone out there might have a set of KR Rally II wheels 15X7 for my 71 HO Trans AM that they might be willing to part with? Currently have Honeycombs on it and would like to go back to original wheels. I know they are tough to find but was told this forum would be the place to start my search. Thanks in advance for your help, this is a great site. Mike

What are you looking to spend?

Shouldnt these be JW code wheels?

Curious if I am wrong.

Jim

Mikes HO, the pertinent question is when & what plant was your '71 TransAm built?

the very earliest '71 15x7 Rally II equipped Birds will typically have a set of the very last bult dated JW's

KN's were produced in late July of '70. In the early 90's, one of the KN's I culled up had a very early August date. I've never had another, or seen pics of another dated in August, yet I know
I owned one.

The Fall UAW GM wide Strike began middle of Sept 1970 & ran into mid to late Nov of 1970. Nearly every GM supplier idled their production lines as well during this time.

MotorWheel, the supplier of the JW-KN-KR coded Rally II wheels brought production back on line in early November of '70. KR 15x7 & the KU 14x6 Rally II wheels began to be produced at this time. The earliest examples of either code are extremely hard to find.

When the Fall '70 UAW strike was resolved, the Van Nuys F-body plant resumed production. The Norwood OH F-body plant, as well as the Lakewood (Atlanta) A-body plant both did not resume production until up in Jan of 1971. This created quite wide date spans, ESP on what amounts to low volume installed components.

In the time span of late Nov of '70 to early March of '71, the effects of wheel stock on hand in the assembly plants when they fired back up, as well as the wheel stock waiting to be shipped (in Nov of '70) contributes to what some would consider to not be the "correct" date range of parts. Thats why it takes absorbing the experience of serious longterm collectors & restorers what parts were actually used on the cars.

Are your HC's correctly dated for a 71?

Whatever the going price is. This is my first GM car in a longtime. Have a garage full of ford mustangs. Not familiar with current prices for GM parts. My car was built on December 10, 1970. Don't know if that qualifies for a KR wheel or JW wheel as another member on this forum commented. Gave me some good history of the wheels and build times. Learning as I go. Let me know if you might have a set of these wheels? Appreciate your response.
Thanks
Mike

Thank you for the reply and excellent history lesson. Car I believe was built in California as it was sold out of a dealership there. Savage Pontiac was the name of the dealer. Car was shipped on the 15th of December. It may be to early for KR wheels? The person I bought the car from put the honeycomb wheels on because he liked the looks of them better. Did not have the rally II that came on car. I would like to return it to the way it was sold.

I’ve see. October 70 dated JW’s. I have 12/30 KR’s on my 03A Trans Am. They came off an original 71 that was 02D. Both cars are Norwood cars


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You may be correct. With another member posting October dated JW wheels my car may have came with them instead of KR wheels. I would be inclined to buy either type, KR or JW but appears JW may be the ones I need?

Thank you for your reply.

Mike

For a mid Dec of '70 Van Nuys built 71 originally equipped with 15x7 Rally II's, I'd expect either a set of 6/25 or 7/15 JW's or a set of 7/27 or 7/28 KNs. It's also very possible the original set on the cr would have had a mixture of wheels from above.

the only evidence ive ever ran across of a JW wheel dated later than the documented 7/15 JW's was a supposed Oct of '70 JW on eBay several years ago. Call me a skeptic, but I didnt believe the originality of that wheel then, & I don't today.

Having recognized the restoration value of quite a few codes of Rally II wheels over 35 years ago, I've actively sought out, bought & sold, & pieced together nearly twenty sets of these "special" 15x7 Rally II's. Have also examined many many original cars, thus my perspective.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7dca897764.jpg
Full set of 4 and original


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4d6fc13c6b.jpg


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28 appears to be stamped very faint, could be a later stamp. Have seen such shenagigans before. Hard to say about the stamping of the 10. One thing for certain, this appears to be the wheel I saw pics of years ago.

It’s not the one from eBay it’s one of a full set of 4 discovered about 3 years ago by another member here in a guys stash here is another one of em https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f1c931e18c.jpg
Also my 1/26’s and 4/10’s both have lighter day stamps then month stamps.


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Here is a 1/26 that is on my formula https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bad7ff6f31.jpg


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Would be interesting to see the date coding stamped on the inside (the spine) of the Oct dated wheel.

So if one wanted to add trim rings to these wheels which would be mostly correct? Ive seen conflicting info.

Jim

Trim rings were an option on the trans am. Personally if you’re gonna “add” em I’d just use regular rally wheels can’t tell they are the $2500 dollar plus version once the trim rings are on


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I agree with you, I have a set of JW"s but I like the look of the trim rings. Question was what would be "correct" trim rings?

Sorry if this wasnt clear.

Jim

Original trim rings was 9796696. Discontinued for quite some years. I ran trackers on this number many times in the early 00's & pulled in several. The early C3 Vette & early Z28 guys have seized on this part number for their ralley wheel uses instead of another trim ring, & as a result have driven the price through the roof. Over the last few years, i managed to piece a set together out of perfect used & NOS for my '72 T/A & now have a set of very nice used trim rings for use on a set of knockoff small center wheels for my '73 (just don't like the looks of the curved brushed trim rings & the '73+ larger center 15x7's).

Reproductions of the square shouldered 15x7 trim ring are out there for & will work fine for those dodging potholes & smacking bugs. Problem is the shape of the valve stem area "cutout" is incorrect on the repro's.