Knock off wheel judging

[Dave B.]

My 65 corvette has the original Kelsey Hayes knockoffs. Unfortunately, one of the previous owners chose to restore the wheels by making all of the interior of the wheel grooves smooth as opposed to the correct rough pattern. I am wondering how much of a hit this would cause me. Thanks for your thoughts. I am assuming that it would be almost impossible to get the correct roughness in the grooves now?

[Mike M.]

Re: Knock off wheel judging

Hi Dave, sounds like you are getting ready to get back on the bus.
Strict application of the Judging Matrix with 30 Originality points for "Exterior, 21B," "Aluminum wheels, weights, valve stems & caps", that is 7-1/2 points per item, deduct 20% for the configuration issue results in 1-2 points. However, depending how extreme the deviation may be from TFP, IMHO certainly no more than 1 point per wheel.
The Judges will just be happy to see an original set of wheels.
HaND

[James G.]

Re: Knock off wheel judging

Remember when we drove these cars Dave, and bumped a curb ? OUCH !!

Same kind of deduct. How about 'crinkle' paint that has been around for years, and then add knock off wheel paint on top. Not perfect fix but may be better.

I would just leave them alone.

[Bill W.]

Re: Knock off wheel judging

My 65 corvette has the original Kelsey Hayes knockoffs. Unfortunately, one of the previous owners chose to restore the wheels by making all of the interior of the wheel grooves smooth as opposed to the correct rough pattern. I am wondering how much of a hit this would cause me. Thanks for your thoughts. I am assuming that it would be almost impossible to get the correct roughness in the grooves now?

Dave,
Are you sure they have been made smooth? Could they have multiple coats of paint making them appear smooth? It's a huge job to sand the side of the fins smooth. Have you tried stripping some of the existing paint to see what the bare aluminum looks like? If these wheels have been sanded smooth you can carefully mask the machined portions (for protection) and sand blast the sides of the fins to match KH as-cast look. This will also be a huge job and may not be worth the effort for the points gained. Good luck, Bill

[Bob H.]

Re: Knock off wheel judging

nice looking car Dave. I saw it when you were at Precision. I know you like the near perfect car but for the work involved, I wouldn't touch them either.

Bob