Magnum 500's: OEM vs repro...

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K

Kit Sullivan

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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:

Magnum 500-original.jpg

Magnum 500-repop.jpg

Magnum 500-repop #2.jpg

OEM Magnum 500.jpg

 
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Nice write up Kit..One thing I would add is that most if not all o.e.m. wheels were HUB CENTRIC not lug centric. Lug centric came into play on aftermarket wheels so that the manufacturers could produce one wheel size that fits many applications..I've seen many guys with aftermarket wheels chase vibrations wheel shimmy around 60-75 mph..Even with all new suspension components. When I tell them you need HUB CENTRIC RINGS they look at me like I have 2 heads. I don't know what I'm talking about. I just went through this with the green car..There is no way no how you are going to get a aftermarket wheel to center 100% with out them. They must also be used for the balancing procedure. it's one of the biggest mistakes I see made concerning AFTERMARKET WHEELS so if your ordering aftermarket wheels make sure to ask for the proper HUB CENTRIC RINGS FOR YOUR APPLICATION. Don't let them tell you the wheels are lug centric & will center by the lugs it's b.s.

 
The horse in the center cap was always silver ( chrome). I painted mine red just to be different.

 
Nice info. I have always liked the originals too. That's why I bought Originals versus reproduction.

I thought they actually chromed the outer rim, ground back to steel on the weld points of the wheel and welded a stainless center into the rim. But I am unsure.

I always look for that extra flat spot in the wheel offset to make me smile. I am glad I bought the ones my brother had. I know I posted a picture of the ones I cleaned up, I just can't find it now!

 
Apparently there were two different style center caps used on '71 Magnums: the early 5/8"-tall version and the later 1"-tall version.

The size of the hole in the center of the wheel changed also: early wheels had a 2" hole, later wheels had a 2 1/8" hole.

The caps and the center hole size changed at the same time. Must have been supplier/ vendor changes that brought that on.

 
Check these from an earlier post. I used to know the production date changeover to the bigger hole wheels and taller caps.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-for-sale-69-71-n-o-s-magnum-center-caps

Edit: These magnum center caps (shorter) are correct for magnum 500 wheels that were built before 4/2/1971 (2 inch center hole in wheel)

71 Magnum 500 caps.jpg

The other (taller) caps fit the Magnum 500 15 inch wheels fit a wheel center of 2-1/8" diameter.

Ray

 
Kit, sorry, forget about it. I messed up. Mine are 1 inch tall. I simply compared them in my head to the ones an acquaintance of mine has on his 73 and those are about 2 inch, like the Mopar ones. (I don't know if they're original or not)

So I simply assumed I had the smaller ones. That and I did not convert the 1 inch into 2,6 cm , so it did not form a picture in my head.

Here's a pic of mine. The rims were actually in the same condition which explains why I painted them black for my old school look.


a2e3e3yq.jpg


 
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Kit, sorry, forget about it. I messed up. Mine are 1 inch tall. I simply compared them in my head to the ones an acquaintance of mine has on his 73 and those are about 2 inch, like the Mopar ones. (I don't know if they're original or not)

So I simply assumed I had the smaller ones. That and I did not convert the 1 inch into 2,6 cm , so it did not form a picture in my head.

Here's a pic of mine. The rims were actually in the same condition which explains why I painted them black for my old school look.


a2e3e3yq.jpg
Lux - from what I remember, the only ones that are correct for our cars are the ones like yours or the shorter ones - pics I posted earlier.

The 'spinners' and longer 'shot glass' sized ones were never stock for our cars.

Ray

 
There were actually 3 different sizes of center caps for magnums, but only two of them were ever factory-installed on '71 Mustangs.

The taller 1" caps were installed on the early 71 wheels, while the shorter 5/8" caps went on later '71 wheels.

The tall "shot glass' size cap was a genereic "Magnum 500"-emblemed cap that came with the wheels when bought as aftermarket accesories. I think this cap was also use on some of the GM and Chrylser versions of the wheels.

The pic of the original Magnum in the first post shows the tall, original cap and the later shorter caps are shown in the next two pics.

 
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Kit - If you are talking all caps for Magnum type wheels, there are also the spinner type that try and create the look of a wire wheel screw on cap.

I don't know if they were ever stock on any cars or just sold as an accessory for Magnums from Motor Wheel Corp... ??? The generic Magnum 500 centers could be easily changed out for Mustang, Shelby, Cougar or whatever centers one might want.

mag500-knockoff-cap.jpg

Magnum 3 bar cap.jpg

Boss 429 cap:

Boss 429 Magnum cap.jpg

69-70 Shelby insert for shorter caps like the ones correct for 71 (before April 1971):

69_70 Shelby magnum center cap insert.jpg

Ray

 
Yes, there were spinners too, of course. I am fairly certain they never came factory-installed on any OEM application from any manufacturer.

Here are some generic "Magnum 500" caps, and even a "Kelsey-Hayes Mag-Star" spinner cap. I have never seen one of those installed on a KH wheel.

Mag 500 caps.jpg

MagStar cap.jpg

 
I don't care for the spinner "look" either. Especially when you can also still see the lug nuts, which just reinforces the fakeness of the spinner.

 
After close examination I can see that, yes: The holes for the valve stems are indeed in the wrong place on the repro Magnums.

The first pic is of an OEM magnum. Notice that the valve stem hole is located on about the extreme outermost edge of the flat area, almost touching the "corner" where the metal bends in.

On the repro, the valve stem hole is clearly higher up on the flat spot, closer to the upper bend.

Not that it makes any functional difference. But it makes it easier to spot an OEM vs a repro.

zpfile002.jpg

zpfile001.jpg

 
trudesignwheel used to do the best restoration of original wheels. They were very expensive and also very good. They are now gone. Stockton wheel does a lot of OEM wheels and may be able to replicate the brushed chrome but, I somehow doubt it. Chuck

 
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