Monday, August 27, 2007

Sports road wheels continued

The Sports Road wheel were Option 52 on the option sheet, and were either a factory ordered option, or could be installed by the dealer. They had alloy centres and steel rims and were heavier than the steel wheels they were an option to replace.

The Sports Road wheel had the same chromed centre cap with a spun alloy centre and five screw fixing method as the Bathurst Globe alloy wheels. Originally, the fixing screws were Phillips headed.

The wheel nuts are not the same as those used for the Bathurst Globe wheel. The Sports wheel nut has a flat top - as opposed to the slightly pointed top to the Globe wheel nut - and, more importantly, they do not have a washer, but instead have a taper which fits into the rim without a washer. This is the same wheel nut that was used later on the XC GXL Falcon’s mag wheels.

The Sports Road wheel was made in Australia by R.O.H. and is not the same as the wheel fitted to the U.S. 1969/70 Shelby Mustang which was all alloy with more prominent, wider spokes. It continued to be offered as an option through the XB Falcon even though Ford swapped from a small centre hub hole of 2.5 inches, to a larger hub centre hole of 2.75inches. The later version had a ‘step down’ to cater for the larger hub.

The Sports Road wheel has its date of manufacture and part number stamped on the inside edge of the rim. The tyre has to be removed to see this. It was not just an option fitted to GT’s, but could fitted right across the model range, including utes and panel vans.

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