K
Kit Sullivan
Guest
The Magnum 500 seems to be one of the most popular wheels for old 'Stangs...and for good reason: They look awesome!
What I like about 'em is the visual sense of "movement" the wheels set up when the car is moving. The polished chrome, contrasting against the black coves (inserts) really show off movement, and the white letter tires only enhance that effect. Movement, of course denotes "action" and what better connotation is there for our cars than "action-packed!"
That is one of the things I DON'T like about modern vehicles: Smooth, featurless wheels with no areas of contrasting paint, coupled with blackwall tires: The wheel/tire package draws zero attention from your eye as the car is moving.
My car has reproduction Magnums on it, and they look great. I bought them about 20 years ago and they still look like brand new. I have always heard they were not nearly as weather-durable as OEM units so I have taken great care to keep them clean, dry and waxed often. That has worked great so far!
However, since the tiniest things bug me, I have always been annoyed that the repro Magnums are not really great when it comes to specific details. Details make all the difference to me.
1) The spokes on OEM Magnums are brushed chrome, not highly reflective. Actually it is the entire center section of the wheel: It was apparently chromed, had the chrome "brushed" somehow, then had the black areas painted. Then the finsished center-section was attached to the highly-polished chrome rim.
The repros however have highly polished chrome spokes. I think they look fantastic that way, better than original...but it isn't original, so a repop is easy to spot from a mile away. Only a real Mustanger ever notices this...typical observers just "ooh and ahh" at the shiny bits and love it!
2) This is the part that bugs me most: The rim itself is actually the wrong shape. An authentic Magnum 500 has a wide, flat "shelf" with somewhat sharper edges that gives the wheel a better look somehow (to me, anyway), and this single, flat ridge tends to accentuate the "dish" effect of the wheel, making it appear "deeper" visually. The first "step" of the rim from the outside going in is much shallower on an OEM unit, allowing the next area to be a little deeper...if that makes any sense.
I am shocked that the makers of the repops did not take the time to get it "right" in this respect. It is not really better or worse...just different, and therefore: wrong.
My assumption is that the wheel manufacturers are just using a typical steel rim "band" that is already available, and used on regular old painted steel wheels. Why tool up an accurate repro when an existing unit can be chromed and most won't know the difference?
This aspect of the repops bugs me the most. It is a small visual difference, but it makes a big imapct.
3) And, ridiculously...the center hole for the hubcaps is not actually centered accurately on the repops!
Of course, to get your tires balanced, most machines mount the wheel on the center holes and spin, spin, spin!
If the hole is not actually centered on the rim, then you would never be able to get an accurate spin balance that way.
"No big deal" says the repop wheel manufacturers: "Just find a shop that uses 'lug centric' adaptors...like they did in the old days!"
In twenty years, I have never met a single wheel mechanic thast has ever heard of a "lug centric" wheel or a balancer adaptor...and I've asked around plenty!
4) The valve stem is positioned at the wrong angle(I think) due to the surface the hole is drilled in is not at the same angle as the OEM wheel. I don't have access to look at both close right now for this, but i think I'm right on this.
5) And another "misleading" fact about the repops: In EVERY SINGLE AD I have ever seen for a repop Magnum, they always showan OEM unit. Wrong.
The pictures easily show the differences between an original and a repro Magnum 500. The first pic is an original 500 (silver horse), the next two are repro wheels (red horse), the last pic is a beauty shot of an OEM Magnum 500:
What I like about 'em is the visual sense of "movement" the wheels set up when the car is moving. The polished chrome, contrasting against the black coves (inserts) really show off movement, and the white letter tires only enhance that effect. Movement, of course denotes "action" and what better connotation is there for our cars than "action-packed!"
That is one of the things I DON'T like about modern vehicles: Smooth, featurless wheels with no areas of contrasting paint, coupled with blackwall tires: The wheel/tire package draws zero attention from your eye as the car is moving.
My car has reproduction Magnums on it, and they look great. I bought them about 20 years ago and they still look like brand new. I have always heard they were not nearly as weather-durable as OEM units so I have taken great care to keep them clean, dry and waxed often. That has worked great so far!
However, since the tiniest things bug me, I have always been annoyed that the repro Magnums are not really great when it comes to specific details. Details make all the difference to me.
1) The spokes on OEM Magnums are brushed chrome, not highly reflective. Actually it is the entire center section of the wheel: It was apparently chromed, had the chrome "brushed" somehow, then had the black areas painted. Then the finsished center-section was attached to the highly-polished chrome rim.
The repros however have highly polished chrome spokes. I think they look fantastic that way, better than original...but it isn't original, so a repop is easy to spot from a mile away. Only a real Mustanger ever notices this...typical observers just "ooh and ahh" at the shiny bits and love it!
2) This is the part that bugs me most: The rim itself is actually the wrong shape. An authentic Magnum 500 has a wide, flat "shelf" with somewhat sharper edges that gives the wheel a better look somehow (to me, anyway), and this single, flat ridge tends to accentuate the "dish" effect of the wheel, making it appear "deeper" visually. The first "step" of the rim from the outside going in is much shallower on an OEM unit, allowing the next area to be a little deeper...if that makes any sense.
I am shocked that the makers of the repops did not take the time to get it "right" in this respect. It is not really better or worse...just different, and therefore: wrong.
My assumption is that the wheel manufacturers are just using a typical steel rim "band" that is already available, and used on regular old painted steel wheels. Why tool up an accurate repro when an existing unit can be chromed and most won't know the difference?
This aspect of the repops bugs me the most. It is a small visual difference, but it makes a big imapct.
3) And, ridiculously...the center hole for the hubcaps is not actually centered accurately on the repops!
Of course, to get your tires balanced, most machines mount the wheel on the center holes and spin, spin, spin!
If the hole is not actually centered on the rim, then you would never be able to get an accurate spin balance that way.
"No big deal" says the repop wheel manufacturers: "Just find a shop that uses 'lug centric' adaptors...like they did in the old days!"
In twenty years, I have never met a single wheel mechanic thast has ever heard of a "lug centric" wheel or a balancer adaptor...and I've asked around plenty!
4) The valve stem is positioned at the wrong angle(I think) due to the surface the hole is drilled in is not at the same angle as the OEM wheel. I don't have access to look at both close right now for this, but i think I'm right on this.
5) And another "misleading" fact about the repops: In EVERY SINGLE AD I have ever seen for a repop Magnum, they always showan OEM unit. Wrong.
The pictures easily show the differences between an original and a repro Magnum 500. The first pic is an original 500 (silver horse), the next two are repro wheels (red horse), the last pic is a beauty shot of an OEM Magnum 500:
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