57 15 x 5 original steel rim

[Adam S.]

Hello, I am rather new to this orginization , rusty but somewhat well versed in tri 5's & c1 vetts for manny years....... I worked for the General in late 1970's & early 1980's as a young GM teck on GMC trucks all the way up to Kenworth 18 wheelers. I built show car during that time frame & worked on the buddies C1's too. Took a 23 year sleep from the car scene & I could go on........ as we all have our life experances....I would like to offer some really HOT & accurate fresh info. that I have just discovered hiddened in my trunk of my 1957 vette. My car is # 2383 (Feb. build) is original arctic blue, body glass dated Feb 11. Unrestored gas tank cover with blue overspray still all over. I have some nice pictures of the 56 dated welded 15 x 5 wheel that was in my trunk. It is still original unrestored with only one tire change. It was not the original spare though. Please feel free to give me your feedback on this 99.9% true but hopefully usefull info on the start of welded steel wheels being used on the production line....... I think this might help us (C1 owners) determine some of the earliest inclusions or time line of the welded wheel use on 57 Corvettes.

My original arctic blue 1957 spare tire unrestored 1.JPG (73.6 KB)

My original arctic blue 1957 spare tire unrestored 3.JPG (61.0 KB)

My original arctic blue 1957 spare tire unrestored 4.JPG (65.0 KB)

My original arctic blue 1957 spare tire unrestored 2.JPG (59.3 KB)

[Gary C.]

Re: 57 15 x 5 original steel rim

Adam, welcome to the NCRS TDB. Lots of us 57 members on this forum. Your dog bone welded wheel is what would be expected on a '57. What other equipment does your '57 have on it? Carb or FI? Does it have a hardtop? If so, sure would like the date codes off of the plexiglass. There's a Regional in Killeen, TX on Oct 15th-17th if you can make it. The 56-7 Judging Manual 5th Edition is hot off the press and available from the NCRS store. Gary....

[Adam S.]

Re: 57 15 x 5 original steel rim

Thank you Gary,
Hard top only, it was either L 56 or A 57 dated glass. was FI 3 sp. Dont have FI unit,,,,,, went with 250 2 x 4 for now. Has washers, park warn. , doam, correct X posi Jan 31th,AN 370., radio delete & mabe heator delete........not sure on heator,did not look too hard in that area yett. Body is still off frame as of now. Just to clear up my previous post, its a Feb. 14th thru 21st built date according to my research........

[Gary C.]

Re: 57 15 x 5 original steel rim

Adam, thanks for sharing your 57's info. When you get a chance would appreciate you e-mailing gchesnut@charter.net all 3 of the plexiglass date codes. Any idea what the FI unit was or was it gone when you got the car. Very close to my 300X Artic Blue car. Thanks, Gary....

[Mike M.]

Re: 57 15 x 5 original steel rim

" the start of welded wheel on the production line"-- the dog bone welded 15 x 5" wheels were utilized prior to the start of 1957 Corvette production. 1956 Corvette vin 1566 has all 5 of its original dog bone wheels on it today.mike

[Adam S.]

Re: 57 15 x 5 original steel rim

Thanks Mike for the info, just hear too many stories about rivit wheels used during later 57 production, sometimes it just gets confusing with some of the claims out there..........