Rallye Wheel Trim Ring Dilemma

[floorit426]

The set I have, came off my wife's T/A, which had steel wheels. They are brushed. We pulled them off her car, in favor of rally wheels, decades ago. What became of the 450 wheels? I put them on an old '74 pickup and got rid of the truck. I'm still trying to find that truck!

I have just the opposite problem, as the OP. I have them on my '70 Cuda and need to polish them. Has anyone ever done this?

[Floyd]

No BS for my car.  SPD 1 Apr.  years ago I decided there was enough leeway that polished were possible, and polished is my preference.  However, most of the back in day pics of AARs an T/As that I have seen show brushed. 

[cuda dad]

wanna bet?   

the 2-digit code on LINE#4 of a broadcast sheet under "WHEEL COVER" is the last 2-digits of the 7-digit part number for the trim rings

43 = 3461043 polished 15x7.0" trim ring
22 = 3461222 brushed 15x7.0" trim ring

but they came from the factory in the trunk, anything could've been on it when it left a dealership

That's why we ask questions, I was only looking at Line 11 WH/COV.  Mine says 43 on line 4.

[cuda dad]

per the broadcast sheet AARs & T/As used "brushed" "polished" trim rings with W21 "rallye wheels",
the 15" brushed trim rings were introduced 1/2 way thru Superbird production (AFAIK everything else 15" B/E-body for '70 was polished) * not sure what was on a T/A with hub cap & trim ring ??


I think the use of brushed trim rings was a cost cutting measure on cars they were already loosing money on & they were used on everything in '71

I edited the above after looking at a couple broadcast sheets, including my 702-SPD Challenger R/T w/W21

Yeah, that threw me off.

[signsgonebye]

So who makes the best trim rings now?

[cuda dad]

The camera makes the trim rings look sorta like they are the later realeased 15x2.5 rings but they are not. They are real deal 15x3 inch deep rings.  I can still remember the old library book smell of the divider paper lol.  ....yum!!!!!!!!!!         I need help lol

I don't see the Love button! Thanks for the confirmation.
All that being said, the OP should then go with the style they prefer and don't sweat it.

[RUNCHARGER]

No one makes good trim rings now. They are all garbage, some are the wrong colour, none have the correct curvature on the 3 inch part, all have the wrong profile near where the outer edge rolls over. None of them mount correctly.

[Floyd]

I guess I will give some more thought before changing anything.  Thanks for all the responses. 

[js27]

Here is a pic of my friends T/A he bought in 1973. It was a 100% original untouch one owner 7200 mile car. Sorry the pic isn't the greatest but it is a scan of a Polaroid.  To me the rings look polished but hard to tell
JS27

[Floyd]

Those actually look brushed to me.  Same in this picture (from the Mr. Norm's website), but it's pretty small...

[Floyd]

And this one from member "Koby's" post about his dad's T/As

[cuda dad]

I am running brushed on my AAR.  If you do, you will inevitably have some know-it-all come up and tell you they are wrong.

[Floyd]

Tell me about it!  I have an early build 71 Challenger that came with a 70-style rear wing.

[anlauto]

I always thought that in 1970 E Bodies with15" rallies had polished trim rings with the exception of TA's and AAR's which never made sense to me that they used brushed and of course 1971 E Bodies used brushed as well...

[RUNCHARGER]

That's my understanding as well Alan. It seems screwy that they had brushed and polished rings on the line at the same time.