PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Shiny is Good! => General Pinto Talk => Topic started by: Wittsend on September 01, 2013, 12:00:01 AM
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Does anyone know what car these wheels (and center caps) came off of? They seem to have a large offset. I like the subtle performance aspect.
Thanks, Tom
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Those look like 85 or 86 SSP Mustang wheels.
http://www.sspmustang.org/technical/Wheels_tires.htm (http://www.sspmustang.org/technical/Wheels_tires.htm)
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Thanks Tigger. I would say you are correct. They look like '85-'86 SSP wheels. 10 years ago I was probably walking all over them at Pick Your Part. Today I'd probably be hard pressed to find even one.
And, like the Mopar cop car wheels of the 70's-80's they probably don't come cheap. The Mopar's sell for about $50 and up for each wheel. A pristine set of drill hub caps run $300.
I don't know exactly why, but I have an affinity for deep dished, factory steel wheels. I have the Mopar cop wheels on my Valiant and the Crown Vic cop car wheels on my '64 Studebaker Daytona. Thankfully mine all came very cheap because I got them when they were plentiful.
I have a set of Rallye wheels, but 13" tires are not very easy to find in sizes available years ago. I also have the 15" alloys you see in the picture to the left. But they are too wide for reasonably sized tires for the Pinto (especially the front).
Lastly I'm just too cheap for new tires. Typically I get mounted, balanced wheels/tires with half or more of the tread left for around $20 each at Pick Your Part.
Tom
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UPDATE: I looked on Ebay. There is a set of SSP wheels with a starting price of $800! I know you can ask whatever you want..., but there was a set that recently sold in the $400 range.
A little more searching and I found a T-Bird/LTD wheel that had similar slots and offset (see picture). I hope it is a more common wheel and not the "misinformation" that pops up on the internet. The difference is the T-Bird wheel is 14" and the SSP wheel is 15." The SSP center caps seem to be even rarer than the wheel. From what I read they are plastic and heated bearings would cause them to melt.
Anyway, I thought I'd report back. What I thought was a common Ford wheel turns out to be a rare, expensive item. There may be a similar substitute but it will take more investigating.
Tom
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I believe the center caps are similar to the escort steel wheel center cap of that era. I do not think they are exactly the same but they are close as I understand it.
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Yes, these wheels are from a '86 Mustang police car, 15x7 steel. Because they have so much positive offset there are 1" spacers on the front and 1 1/2" on the back to get the tire back out to the edge of the fender openings. The car is also lowered about an 1 1/2".
Bob in Socal
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Looks great, I'd love to have a set of those, perhaps even those alloys, on my '73.