1965 Pontiac CC 8 lug wheels

Are they safe to use on a CC? Haven't seen picture of a CC with them online. The rears are 5 lug in the center to bolt to the axle and 8 lug around the rim of the drum. I guess I'm wondering if there was a specific reason they weren't used on the CCs as far as safety or load goes.
 
I think they are the most beautiful wheels ever made. I would love to have them on my consort, and being that it isnt an extended wheelbase coach, it is definitely lighter, and hopefully can handle the weight of the car. Im just wondering what the process of changing them over will entail. I imagine the axle will have to be swapped out? Sounds like alot of work will be involved and I have not fully researched it to know what I will be getting into.
 
The fronts are supposed to be a direct replacement onto the spindle and the rears bolt on to the 5 lug axles.
 
They are a direct fit, but you have to use the correct ones. '65 thru '68 fit. The original hub and drum come off the front, they mount in place like the standard front hub. The rear drum attaches with five lug nuts to the rear axle. In both cases the wheel bolts to the drum with eight lug nuts on the outer edge of the drum.

A couple of things make me a little uneasy for the use of these wheel/drum combinations. The wheels are 14" and the tire selection especially that would handle the weight of a CC is probably lacking. You could probably have a set made up using the eight lug centers mated to a 15" rim. It might take some doing to find someone to to this. Stockton Wheel used to but they are closed as far as I know. The more concerting issue is the wheel to drum attachment. Those drums were cast Aluminum with a Iron liner. There was no steel "spyder" or center flange to serve as a reinforcement to anchor the studs to the drum, just cast Aluminum. A lot of force to place on the outer flange of that drum IMO.

The Pontiac parts book I have (dated 5/69) shows a specific wheel for Police, Heavy Duty Chassis and Trailer packages as 9771201 for model years 59 to 66. Stageway 65 thru 68 used 1474185 while 69 Heavy Duty Chassis and Stageway used 1493298.

The parts book never listed the Aluminum eight lug drum as a Heavy Duty part. There was a Heavy Duty Aluminum drum used on 65 to 68 H.D.C. and Police cars but this was a conventional five lug drum with cooling fins on the outside. I only ever saw one car equipped with these despite working in Pontiac dealerships in the early 70's and this was on a junked out 65 Catalina ex-Oakland County Sheriff's Department car.

They definitely look good, in fact I have a set that is for sale with extra wheels and center caps. But probably not a good idea for use on a coach.
 
Just checked further and found that the 14XXXXX series wheels were a Cadillac part number used on Series 75 and CC cars. The Pontiac wheels were a 97XXXXX series part number.

USED to be able to tell what division sourced a part in GM back in the old days. 78XXXXX was a Saginaw Steering part, so was 56XXXXX. 37XXXXX,38XXXXX,39XXXXX were Chevrolet. 70XXXXX was Rochester Division,59XXXXX was Frigidaire,30XXXXX and 31XXXXX was Harrison Radiator and on and on.

This does not hold true with the new GM though....your results may vary!
 
Thanks Joe, you've made my decision and saved me a bunch! I had a feeling that they weren't rated for the CC even though they were used on the full size, just wanted to be sure.
 
i think a full size coach may be a no-go BUT i have a consort, which is considerably lighter than a regular hearse. might it be an exception? i certainly hope so! were these 8 lugs used on wagons? is their a certain weight limit on them? im dying to make my 8 lug dream reality and i think i might have found the most knowledgeable person right here in this thread.
 
I had the 8 lug wheels on a 1966 Bonneville convertible that I owned back in the 1960's, and I can tell you that they look great, but they aren't as great as they look. They are a pain to have tires mounted on, and I doubt that today, you could find anyone that has the equipment to balance them. The local dealership had a Bean balance unit that was designed specifically for the 8 lug wheels, and would balance them on the car by spinning the entire unit, drum and wheel. I had to have a couple of drums replace since they developed stress cracks. The two happiest days with that car were the day that I bought it, and the day that I sold it.
 
James,

I've seen and heard of the eight lugs referred to as heavy duty brakes. They were an improvement over the cast iron drums for heat dissipation but mainly it was a "for show" innovation.

Some of the problems with the eight lug drums are making sure that all eight nuts are installed and torqued correctly. I know that they can be pulled out of shape by overtightening or not using a cross pattern tightening. Stripping a stud, well they had a oversize that could be installed but I never saw one used.

I suppose my real concern is that there is no metal reinforcement in the drum itself to anchor the drum liner and the studs, but that would probably have caused a whole host of new problems of corrosion and reaction of dissimilar metals. And with the level of castings circa 1960's plus the stresses placed on these parts over the last fifty years, well I like to err on the side of caution.
 
thank you. i sometimes forget about the search feature.

i wonder what the weight of those wagons was and how much lighter they might be than a consort?

i understand that they may be a pain to deal with, but i also think a tripower unit would present problems too, that doesnt make me want either any less.

part of the beauty of these cars is the extra headaches they cause, from towing them to storing them to figuring out what some of the parts came off of in the first place. regular classic cars are so much easier, but these are so much more fun. there is always something to learn that keeps things interesting.
 
Darlene, Tripower will be fine (at leastmy opinion) you use the mechanical setup that was used on manual transmission cars. The vacuum setup used on automatic transmission cars was a POS in my opinion again. You can adjust the primary (center) car to engage the front and rear carburetors to kick in wherever you want with the mechanical setup.

Also, if you go with tripower go with the 1966 unit over the 1965. Differences are the 66's use the same size carburetors in all three locations, 1965 use a smaller carburetor in the center location. Also 65 used a hot air tube for the choke while 66 uses a divorced choke with a bi-metallic coil spring.

You can only go with 65 or 66 as 64 had a different intake pattern that is not interchangeable. And tripower was not available after 1966 as GM was de-emphasizing multiple carburetion in all car lines except Chevrolet.

On the eight lugs, what is the weight of your Consort? For example, a 66 2+2 (Catalina body) with 421, manual transmission, no A/C, manual steering and brakes but power windows weighed in on a state tested scale with less than a quarter tank of fuel, about five gallons of fuel weighed 4259 lbs. State title showed 4003 lbs. My at present '67 2+2 equipped similary shows a title weight of just under 4000 lbs but that one has never been on a scale since I have had it.

I might have some vehicle weights of 67 model year cars, they were very similar in size. Get that and PM me or if you like I will give you my phone number and we can discuss this further.

I can put in touch with someone "in the business" of performance Pontiac parts that can help you with the tripower, but it will not be a cheap date so to speak. Don't be shocked but you are probably looking in the area of $1500 and up to a restored setup at about $2500.00 I will set you up to talk to him directly without out any middlemen to "step on" the price.

If you are really set on eight lugs, let's talk. I have a set that I would like to sell as I went back to the cast drums on my 67 2+2 with American Torque Thrust wheels as I got tired of the look of the eight lugs. Pics are available, your call.

Whatever you decide I'll try to assist.
 
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Also, the balance problem can be approached a couple of ways. The plate mentioned earlier is one. The other way that I used was to remove the back drum and use that as the center for the spin balancer. It would not be the perfect solution, but close enough as least for me to well over 70 m.p.h.:D
 
James,

And with the level of castings circa 1960's plus the stresses placed on these parts over the last fifty years, well I like to err on the side of caution.

I do the same, which is why I wanted to ask before going any further. Thanks for all the info Joe.
 
thank you so much! i will have to stop at the scales next time i am out and about with the pontiac. i am so excited that getting these might actually happen. crossing my fingers!
 
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