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Guys, educate me how to tighten spinners at the right way.
I am helping my friend who has 63 with repro knock off’s. He dont have led hammer or any torque wrench adapter for spinners. Should I use grease on spinners threads and on machined surface? Then just tighten by hand and tap enough to align safety pin slot?
There were no safety pins, what size and lenght they should be?
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Originally Posted by bowtie racing
Guys, educate me how to tighten spinners at the right way.
I am helping my friend who has 63 with repro knock off’s. He dont have led hammer or any torque wrench adapter for spinners. Should I use grease on spinners threads and on machined surface? Then just tighten by hand and tap enough to align safety pin slot?
There were no safety pins, what size and lenght they should be?
DO NOT drive that car until those knock offs have been struck at least a few times with a proper LEAD hammer like the originals or the "***** Thumpa." That is the only way to assure they do not come off. Rumors of knock offs being unsafe are only true when they are not installed properly. Some use anti seize on the threads, I don't.
Another CRUCIAL step is to make sure the large holes in the wheel are over the LUG NUTS on the adaptor and the small holes are over the smaller pins on the adaptor.
If they are mounted with the small holes over the lug nuts, the spinner will tighten with only a few turns, but the wheel will not be flush with the adaptor and hub. The lug nuts will chew up the aluminum of the smaller holes and the wheel will come loose.
You can avoid this by using a long style acorn nut so that the wheel will not fit up snug enough to start the spinner if installed incorrectly. In summary, the wheel will mount on the adaptor TWO ways, one is correct ant the other will result in a damaged wheel at least and a damaged car if it comes off. When the wheel is installed correctly over the correct pins, the spinner will spin several rotations before it begins to tighten. Then tighten the snot out of it with a lead hammer. If you choose to use the "antilock" pins, follow the instructions and do NOT loosen the spinner any to make the holes line up, continue to get another set of holes to line up somewhere around the hub. The pins are available at any of the vendors for a few bucks and are aluminum. Here's a pdf of the instructions:
I use white grease on the conical surface of the wheel and on freshly cleaned threads. No, dead blow hammers, leather mallets or rubber hammers aren't suitable for tightening the spinners.
Anything less than following the above will result in failure.
PS. I don't use the pins but I'm not suggesting you don't.
I do use the pins. So the torque I've used for 35 years is to hammer the spinner until its tight and then continue until the next set of pin holes align. Sometimes that takes a lot of hammering. Be careful when you start wailing on it and avoid hitting the body.
I use white grease on the conical surface of the wheel and on freshly cleaned threads. No, dead blow hammers, leather mallets or rubber hammers aren't suitable for tightening the spinners.
Anything less than following the above will result in failure.
PS. I don't use the pins but I'm not suggesting you don't.
I have KH KO wheels on an expensive car and a wife and kids who prefer I remain alive so I endorse Mike's endorsement of the previous endorsement. In all seriousness, unlike some other tasks or regimens involving the care and feeding of a C2, there is no such thing as more than one way, method, style or approach in properly mounting a KO wheel on the car. There is only one way and one tool. It's posted above and it requires a lead hammer. This is not negotiable. Ignore those with neat tools on long sticks, big red plastic hammers or little brass ones.
Even if you are prepared for a 3 wheel ride, sparks flying and quarter panel abrading away on macadam, the fact is that when wheels come off at speed they are far more dangerous to oncoming traffic than your three wheel excursion to an undignified hault. I watched a family get wiped out when a wheel sailed through their minivan windshield.
If you're buying a ***** Thumper LEAD hammer, the same vendor also sells the anti-seize for the threads. You can buy the aluminum safety pins from Corvette America and maybe from other vendors as well. I usually clean my KO's each winter and beat the snot out of the spinners when replacing the wheels. Placing a strip of painters masking tape, from the spinner to the wheel, will give you a visual way to inspect the wheels for tightness during the first few rides. My 2 cents.
If you're buying a ***** Thumper LEAD hammer, the same vendor also sells the anti-seize for the threads. You can buy the aluminum safety pins from Corvette America and maybe from other vendors as well. I usually clean my KO's each winter and beat the snot out of the spinners when replacing the wheels. Placing a strip of painters masking tape, from the spinner to the wheel, will give you a visual way to inspect the wheels for tightness during the first few rides. My 2 cents.
I guess tape will work, but have always made a line between each ear with a grease pencil.
Definitely get the LEAD hammer instead of the LED hammer.
LEAD is the heavier than steel metal that is soft so that it cannot scratch your spinners. LEDs are Light Emitting Diodes and won't help attach wheels.
The mother thumper is the preferred unit, and far, far cheaper than repairs required after an incorrectly attached wheel flies off at speed.
Last edited by Easy Rhino; 04-23-2019 at 05:42 PM.
According to Corvette America's history on the reproduction wheels the pins were added as a theft deterrent. The pins however add a small margin of safety but as the pins are a soft aluminum, I would not rely on them as a safety feature if the wheel is installed loose or installed incorrectly. This is about the only place I can think of where you want a whack job.
The prior owner has been reading too many posts here about needing to "wail the hell outa' the spinner". That or he takes the wheels off every day and then puts them back on, just for practice.
He should have just gotten his welder out and welded the wheels on.
The prior owner has been reading too many posts here about needing to "wail the hell outa' the spinner". That are he takes the wheels off every day and then puts them back on, just for practice.
He should have just gotten his welder out and welded the wheels on.
Or he had deep-seated unresolved manhood issues, or lacked natural mechanical aptitude, or both.
Hardened roll pins are not really a good idea, even with pins in, if they're not tapered there can be slight enough movement that the pin gets jambed in, and then your trying to drill the roll pin out, ask me how I know.
IIRC the instructions say to give the spinner "8 Good Whacks".... Well your 8 whacks and my 8 whacks may be completely different....So it's at least a minimum type guideline in my opinion.
I beat them on a few whacks past 8 until it looks like it's not moving much more, then just a bit more till the THEFT DETERRENT PIN holes line up. I have found that the tapered aluminum pins work best for me.
Just my 2 cents. !!
And to the OP, lots of good advice above about which holes go where, and LEAD hammer only for your peace of mind...Good luck.
IIRC the instructions say to give the spinner "8 Good Whacks".... Well your 8 whacks and my 8 whacks may be completely different....So it's at least a minimum type guideline in my opinion.
..............and, eight good whacks with a two pound hammer is a whole lot less force applied than 8 good whacks with a six pound hammer.
04-23-2019, 01:47 AM
Torquing knock off spinners.
