tclabare

I have a 73 vette with turbine type aluminum wheels. I have owned this car since 1980, are these wheels factory?
TCLABARE

Billy Baroo

It is possible but very unlikely. These wheels were recalled by GM because of flaws; however, some did escape the factory. If you have origionals they are worth a lot of money. The origionals had the casting number: 329381. I'm not sure where the casting number is located but just look around the wheel. Perhaps another member can offer some info on where the casting number is located.

Good luck,
Andy

Mike Ward

No Corvette was sold with 'turbine' style wheels, they were aftermarket only.

Billy Baroo

Sorry, I didn't know what was meant by "turbine." I saw the word aluminum and assumed he was referring to the factory wheel.

Gale Banks 80'

The Mako Shark Concept car had Turbine Wheels on it. But it took GM till 82 to offer them on a Production Corvette, the Collector Edition.

Mike Ward

Ooop, you're right. Forgot about those.:o

Easy Mike

Post a pic of your wheels. Turbine style wheels are usually aftermarket.

Four sets of the Kelsey-Hayes aluminum wheels were supposed to have been installed on the assembly line before they were recalled/cancelled at the beginning of the 1973 model year. These four cars may have gone to GM in Detroit since some Corvette references say none of the aluminum wheels were sold to the public.

Before the recall, the wheels were available over the counter at Chevrolet dealers and some 1973 sets sold through dealers might be out there.

The wheels are date coded. Take one off and check the back of the wheel.

1973yj8owner

I own a set of the wheels. They were purchased through the Parts Department of the Chevrolet dealer on Route 611 in Montgomery County Pennsylvania during the 1973 model year. The wheels are described on page 53 of the 1973-74 NCRS Corvette Technical Information Manual.

After dealing with some health issues last fall, I purchased 1980 set of the Kelsey Hayes wheels from Contemporary Corvette in Bristol PA.

The 1973 wheels were made by American Racing in Torrence CA. The lug nuts have black inserts and they are not interchangeable with the lug nuts for the Kelsey Hayes wheels.

The owner of Contemporary Corvettes has seen photos of my 1973 wheels. He told me he has never seen another set.

billsblue73

The 1973 wheels were made by American Racing in Torrence CA. The lug nuts have black inserts and they are not interchangeable with the lug nuts for the Kelsey Hayes wheels.

The owner of Contemporary Corvettes has seen photos of my 1973 wheels. He told me he has never seen another set.[/QUOTE]

I ordered my 73 with the Kelsey Hayes Aluminum wheels. They were even on the window sticker and on the build sheet. However, they were not on the car when it was delivered in January 1973 at Oursman Chevorlet in Hyattsville, Md.

Mike Ward

Now this is interesting! Got a picture?

1973yj8owner

I would love to see the build sheet.

Mark L at Matt Slap Chevrolet told me that my car was coming with rally wheels and white side wall tires. The car was ordered with black wall tires and the cast aluminum wheels.

At the time, the wheels were referred to as the cast aluminum wheel option. I have my original window sticker there is no line item for cast aluminum wheel option, it is fading and sort of deteriorating. I assume my build sheet is above the gas tank. I never looked for it. I doubt there is any reference to it.

You can see the part number casting with my id.

I took down the box that I saved from the wheels. The wheels were shipped from American Racing to General Motors, 6060 i can't make out the street, Flint, Michigan, below there is P.O. I assume this is purchase order number, I cannot read the number then there is P-206.

On the Genuine GM Parts blue and white sticker there are these notations a small stamp 2064K2, GR.5.803, 1#329381.

The GM Parts address on the sticker is Detroit Michigan 48202, there is a number on the sticker below the address 1216 in the center.

I have been of the opinion that the four cars with the wheels were featured in a magazine article in December 1972.
It was Car & Driver, Motor Trend or Road & Track. I heard that the wheels were recalled. I assume GM replaced the magazine car wheels with rally wheels and sold the cars as exec cars. Those cars probably have build sheets but no window stickers.

What do these notations mean. Mike, I stay at the Bonaventure Hilton when I visit Montreal. I like the restaurants, St Catherine's, Old Montreal and the Casino.

I believe that all of the literature in 1972,Car & Driver, Motor Trend, Road & Track and Corvette News(the issue with the yellow Corvette) stated that American Racing was the wheel manufacturer. This was cool to me because American Racing wheels were cool at the time. I believe Corvette News had an article years later that the cast aluminum wheels were being released in '75 or '76 and being manufactured by Kelsey Hayes in Mexico.

I will be in Florida, very soon.

1973yj8owner

Dave's racing collectibles on ebay has a 1973 Chevrolet Corvette dealer poster. I shows a white 1973 Corvette with black wall tires, the American Racing cast aluminum wheels and a nice center grill. If you study the picture, you will note the subtle differences between the the 73 wheels and the later Kelsey Hayes wheels. The edge of the rim is different, the color of the metal is different, etc.

eagle275

have you got a link to it? Thanks!

1973yj8owner

I thought that it would be easy to find. It seems to have disappeared. I will keep searching for it. I believe it had a buy it now of $375 or $395. I guess somebody bought it now. I recall seeing the poster back in 1973.

1973yj8owner

I do not know how to do the link. I found the ad. If you go to ebay and type 1973 Corvette, you will find it. I do not know the proper protocol or I would post the item number and the sellers id. You are from NC, the seller is from NC.

Kid Vette

1973 Chevrolet Corvette rare poster dealer display sign

PeteZO6

I recall reading somewhere, possibly Corvette from the Inside by Dave McLellan, that those wheels from Kelsey Hayes had porosity problems and the option was recalled or canceled.

I just took this photo of pages 264/265 of Karl Ludvigsen's CORVETTE America's Star-Spanged Sports Car - The Complete Story.



Very clearly the wheels were on that particular '73 Corvette.


Pete

jvanderzee

Can anyone tell me the application for these wheels

Kelsey Hayes/Mexico/15JJx8.0 KH301008/KH363768

Thanks

JIM

bashcraft

I have a copy of the "Corvette Chronicle" by James Flammang and on page 108 it says that aluminum wheels were a new option in 1973 but structural problems forced the recall of the first 800 sets. The wheels pictured are the same as the wheels in the above picture.

FlyLS6

On a tangent, how do you guys LIKE the wheel design. Repros are available from Ecklers and such, and I've wonder how they might look on a dark blue coupe.