Originally Posted by oldskool
"Looks like Welds and Cragar Super Tricks ruled that era in terms of wheels! Interesting to see."
Yeah, as I remember it, The Tricks were the 1st mass produced lightweight drag wheels, which were widely used by Stock/SS cars.
Just did a search & found this.
"...1970: New Super Trick Wheel is introduced..."
They were quite a bit more expensive than regular steel wheels & street legal "mag" type wheels. So, I had to stick with cheaper wheels. Bought my 1st pair of S/T front wheels in '78. Probably found a good deal on 'em, used. All the other wheels I ran that year were Cragar S/S wheels.
To save $$, I bought some Appliance brand wheels, which looked sorta similar to the S/S, from a distance, but were cheaper. On my 1st Stockers, I ran alum slot wheels on the front, & painted steel wheels on the rear. Yeah, my operation was low budget. But, the cars won quite a few area races, back then.
These pics are not of '80's-'90's cars, but show some of the different wheels that I & others used, back in the mid to late '70's & '80's. Some here may be interested - others not.
(1) I started in '73, with my '69 GTO. Had alum slots on the front & black painted steel wheels on the rear. At our local tracks, slicks were not legal. Had to be DOT legal street tires with stock type grooves. If there were any soft compound street tires, back then, I was not aware of them. But, M&H Racemaster did sell some hard rubber street legal tires. So, that's what I used.
(2) In '74, we were allowed to use a new M&H "cheater" tire. They were just like a soft compound slick, but had a couple of small grooves. These tires knocked a half sec off my ET, instantly. That season, I ran alum slot wheels front & rear.
(3) Here's a close up pic of how I remember those "cheater" tires lookin. Only used 'em in '74. They let us run 9" slicks in '75.
(4) For my girlfriend's E/SA '68 Bird, in '75, I used alum slot fronts, & black painted steel wheels with 9" slicks on the rear.
(5) For her bracket Bird, in '77, I used Appliance spoke wheels on the front & alum slots on the rear.
(6) In '78 I switched her car & mine over to all Cragar S/S wheels.
(7) Also in '78 I built another '69 GTO for another guy to drive. It used my 1st pair of Cragar Tricks, on the front.
(8] My wife's last bracket car was in '88. IIRC, it has Tricks in the rear. On the front, it had the Appliance brand version of a Trick. It was just a solid center alum wheel with no holes or slots. It had decorative rivets, so it would look similar to a Trick. Was much cheaper than a real Trick.The car had drum brakes. So, I bought 14" wheels, & the shortest tires I could find, locally.
(9) I think most competitive Stock/SS cars in the '80's had Tricks, all around, & probably ran Moroso brand front tires. This '72 GTO Super Stocker belonged to Sonny Ray. It was a nat record holder & won several national events, including the Cajuns, in the '70's & '80's.
|