For those wheels to be off center that bad they would of had to of been in a very bad accendent. Those Kelsey Hays Rally wheels are very strong!!
I would get another, you might want to consider the 15 x 7 4.25 back space wheels. Get the Kelsey Hays, factory wheels and not the new wheels.
Those wheels look great when painted the factory, Grey Silver shade by a body shop and not a can.
I like the 70-72 five spoked wheels with the beauty rings that covered the weights.

I use First Generation Rallys, F.W. 15 x 7 4.25 back space. My tire shop uses the balancer with the roller. First he balances the wheel, then mounts the tire and checks it then brakes it down and spins the tire on a different place on the wheel three times to get the best spot.
Then he shaves some rubber off the tires and then uses weights if needed, they usually dont need them since I've been using Master Craft tires.

 

Put a stationary item close to the wheel rim and spin it and see how much it is bent first to see what you're dealing with.

 

I'm going to stick with the stock 14x7 wheels as my car is stock all around.

Id hate to have to buy knock offs when I have originals.

Ill check them.

 

I'm going to stick with the stock 14x7 wheels as my car is stock all around.

Id hate to have to buy knock offs when I have originals.

Ill check them.

Check Craigslist, I have seen those wheels come up every so often. I have my paint store mix up the correct color in a can and it has held up for 10 years.

 

Put the wheel in question on a spin balancer, after removing the tire and all trim rings/weights, spin it to see if true. If the wheel is bent some people have used a hydraulic press to "straighten" them, proceed slowly if you pursue this method, if the lip of the wheel is bent or "curb kissed", I have had extremely good luck placing the wheel flat on my 1/4" thick steel bench top and SLOWLY working the "bend" out with a decent sized hammer. These wheels are made from mild steel and can be massaged in this manner....FWIW, good luck

 

My 70 has SS wheels on it from 1969.

They seem to have been loosely restored. Cleaned painted in and out and look "ok."

One of the rims took a ton of weight to balance it and based on the way the beauty rim sits on one of the others id say the rim may be slightly bent based on the distance of the beauty ring and the actual rim is uneven in places just a bit.

The car is smooth and goes straight down the road with the occasional vibration you feel at varying speeds..nothing major but I would like to get the rims looked at.

Are there shops that specialize in making these old wheels true and balanced? Do people do that or once an old rim like this is bent thats it for it?

I never had to consider it until now honestly and just dont know the extent in which places can work on old steel wheels.

Just curious as id like to really make them nice and keep using them.

I see a few places that say they do it here in Jacksonville where I live but wanted to get some feedback.

Thanks,
Pat

There are two shops in Massachusetts that specializes in straightening wheels. Google rim shops repair for Massachusetts and see what you come up with. I just don't recall their names. Stay away with factory reproduction wheels they are made in China and are horrible. Find a used factory wheel if you have to replace the bad wheel.

 

Stay away with factory reproduction wheels they are made in China and are horrible. Find a used factory wheel if you have to replace the bad wheel.

FWIW, I have 2 sets of 14x7 repro SS wheels,along with 2 for spares and a pair of 15x8 SS wheels with some M/T DOT cheaters mounted on them. So 12 total.
Not a single problem with any of them. They have all been on my car with no issues.


Pay attention to the lug holes on used wheels.

 

A trim ring isn’t a very good piece to reference off of. Are you sure you don’t have a bad tire?

 

im not going to get a chance to confirm tonight with a straight stationary point next to the rim but I’ll do that for sure.

There are several places here in Jacksonville that say they do this type of repair however I called one and they said they don’t repair steel wheels.

I figured I’d ask here as I’m sure I’m not the only guy with 52 yr old rims on his car that needed some attention lol.

I’ll check them out this weekend.

 

I would get another one and keep that one as a spare if its bent.

 

My 70 has SS wheels on it from 1969.

They seem to have been loosely restored. Cleaned painted in and out and look "ok."

One of the rims took a ton of weight to balance it and based on the way the beauty rim sits on one of the others id say the rim may be slightly bent based on the distance of the beauty ring and the actual rim is uneven in places just a bit.

The car is smooth and goes straight down the road with the occasional vibration you feel at varying speeds..nothing major but I would like to get the rims looked at.

Are there shops that specialize in making these old wheels true and balanced? Do people do that or once an old rim like this is bent thats it for it?

I never had to consider it until now honestly and just dont know the extent in which places can work on old steel wheels.

Just curious as id like to really make them nice and keep using them.

I see a few places that say they do it here in Jacksonville where I live but wanted to get some feedback.

Thanks,
Pat

If you just installed new tires and they are reproduction, like from Coker, they need to be trued as most of them aren't perfectly round!
If you just had them balanced the person should have noticed a bent rim when spinning it!

 

Talk to your local auto insurance adjuster...these guys usually know who can do what repairs and who is really good at it.

 

Yeah some of my lug holes are tired also.

There's a place here that says they work on steel wheels so I may take them two at a time and see what they say. If non fixable ill get some repro's.

Is there a preferred brand of repro that you would recommend?

Thanks Chris.

 

Hey Pat, all of the ones I have bought over the years came from Wheel Vintiques via Summit.
Never had a shop complain about balancing them, FWIW
Smooth as glass going down the track too.

 

Appreciated Chris 👍🏼

 

Got my new wheels today from Wheel Vintiques. (I hope the restoration police don't come after me..on the gray I used for the insides lol.)

I had paid a local guy to true/straighten my old wheels, and not sure how good a job he did. The car still vibrates (Not terrible but annoyingly enough) at different speeds and it just moved the harmonics around more then it fixed the issues so I bought new wheels. Ill keep these old ones and sell them with car.

Im considering leaving the inserts black..as Ive got black vynil top and and black stripes..going to see how I like it. My Current inserts are the charcoal gray color.

 

Had the mobile tire guy come today and do the mount and balance.. it’s a great service. I specially if you go to the track (road courses) all the time. You go through tires like no one’s business.

I think I like the black inserts on the new rims with the black vinyl top and black stripes.

Heres my old spare.. I’m not even sure what kind of tire this is lol.

I was going to paint the rim back but I kinda like the whole thing worn out the way it is so I’m going to leave it.

 

Tell me about your outcome, WHY ? I am in the same boat, I have ten or 12 - YAs & AOs, AND yes at around 65 / 75 I can feel some Vibration and or shake. I was thinking about the Wheel Vintiques SS- 396 stock wheels. I have 14" red lines on my 70. Just flat AZZ tired of screwing around with O.E.M. wheels. All of my 69 / 70 are just perfect, Correct colors and look good, Just do not drive over 65 or 75.
I think I will get some new wheels !

 

Mine always had a vibration in it, and as the wheels were as old as the car I just bought 4 wheel vintiques 14x7s and had them mounted and balanced and its all good now.

For me it was easy as every bushing, suspenion joint, grommet etc..was new and I still had vibration issues..There wasnt any visible damage to the old rims but one or more of them obviously had some issues and im sure were subtly bent or repaired and unbalanced in some cases.

My car with the Lee steering box and the new rims and BFG radials drives great.

 

Double Post