1956 Convertible

[julianburke]

I have a beautiful 1956 series 62 convertible.  For a long time I have been pondering of putting wire wheels on it.  The tires on it now are terrible, cannot be balanced and speeds of around 45 MPH want to shake the car apart.  While I am going to put those new "old style" looking radials on it I have thought of changing the wheels as well.  Two questions here:  Do the new wires balance out that you can drive it on trips of 100 miles or more to shows without shaking the car apart?  Second question is does anyone have a set they would like to sell that they took off not wanting them anymore?
The tires I want to use are Diamondbacks as everyone who has them loves them.
Certainly I will keep the original wheels and covers as they are scarce to find when you need them.

[35-709]

I have a set of aftermarket wires on my '35 Resto-mod sedan.  The car has been finished since January of 2011 and most of the 17,000 miles on the car have been racked up driving the car on long trips.  My wires are from Wheel Smith in California although I know there are vendors selling repops of the original Cadillac wires which is probably what you would use.  I have never had a balance problem with my wheels or my tires by Diamondback.  No reason at all that wires can't be as smooth as steel wheels, wire wheels have been around for many years on sports cars and full size cars.  BTW, if you have the option, by all means get the stainless spokes!

Having said that, and as I mentioned in another thread, keeping those wire wheels clean and looking as good as when you put them on the car is a royal pain in the tush.  Lots of work and chrome polish, and no fun unless you don't drive the car except to shows.  My '35 is the sort of car that really needs wire wheels to look correct so I have them, but it has taught me to never have chrome wire wheels again on a car that came with steel wheels. 

As to your Cokers, I know some people have good luck with them but my only comment is to have no comment in keeping with the rules of this forum.
   

[gary griffin]

Beautiful car, one of my all time favorites (I received my drivers license in 1956) .  You are in a situation where the owner gets all of the votes and you should make it your car, but please keep the original parts for future possible use. My opinion, with a value of ZERO is to keep it original.

[julianburke]

Wow!  Gorgeous car and with a red interior just like mine!  It's "almost" as pretty as mine!!  PS, I found a match for the red leather from a leather supplier if you ever need replacement material.  I only have to do the front seat as the rest is perfect original.  Drivers' side has sun deterioration and a bad spot where you sit so it has to be done.  I'm looking forward to the two hides I ordered.

With the red interior,  dark blue, white, black and camelot gray (mine) exteriors are my favorites.

Thanks G. Newcombe for the input.  I adjusted the post as you suggested.  The tires were expensive but don't perform well as besides balance, they also handle poorly around curves with excessive body roll and if the brakes are quickly applied the front wheels seem to want to lock up instantly no matter what the tire pressure.  For today's' roads, radials are the answer over bias for a car this heavy and I certainly don't want to hit anything.

[walt chomosh #23510]

I bought an "American made" set of wire wheels and couldn't get a good balance until we balanced the wheels off of the lugs. The tire shop kept balancing the wheels off the hub until I did my research and found out the proper balance requires using the lugs......walt....tulsa,ok

[D.Yaros]

Have you considered putting Cadillac sabre/turbine wheels on it?  I like ém!