picked these up recently. i'm curious if they are magnesium. the metal finish is different then alloy when compared to a mid 70's aluminum slot "mag" but they don't have the gold dow #7 coating that i've come accustomed to seeing on older magnesium wheels. the silverish alloy coating (paint) appears to have been weathered off from all the parts of the wheel exposed to outside air. note the silverish paint behind the hub & between the wheel beads where the old slicks were mounted. the silver coating has faded & come off in spots & the wheels have started to discolor. pictures were taken about 20 mins after the fronts were scrubbed clean. they started to get white spots & discolor almost immediately. what do you guys think... magnesium? magnesium alloy? pott metal? i am almost certain they are not aluminum

 

well..they have the right look..but i am sure you already know the answer


but i'll play along..how much does one weigh compared to the known alum wheel?

not paint...its plated..GM used the same process on early 4 speeds...looks like silver paint but is a coating..the early transmissions that have never been cleaned or exposed to the sun have a bright zinc coating on them.

 

I knew they weren't aluminum but was unsure if they were magnesium or not. I haven't owned too many pair of magnesium wheels. I wish I could compare them with the other wheel but these are 15x8.5 the alloy slot mag is 14x6... it is substantially lighter when lifting each. Thank you

 

they def have the right look for magnesium...and the weight is a dead give away..

and you shouldnt use them on the street..they are brittle and unsafe...

neat find......i have seen a bunch of slots and never have found a set in magnesium

 

Scrape a few shavings off and try to set the shavings on fire. If they ignite and burn white hot, magnesium.


Can you find a manufacturer on them anywhere? Only true magnesium wheels I know for sure were Parnelli Jones and early Halibrand.


Mark is right. Unsafe to use. Around 1968, cousin had a set of Parnelli Jones on a 66 Cyclone and the spiders cracked on two of them. He cut his losses and took 'em off before they had a chance to wreck the car. Those were high $$$ wheels even back then.

 

My first thought was set one on fire and see if it burned as bright as the sun.

The shaving idea is probably safer than lighting the entire wheel.

I have heard stories about folks igniting an old VW block(?) out in the sand dunes at night and lighting it up as bright as day. Sounds cool.

 

I was able to witness this. They had a truck load of VW blocks and burned them all. Yes, VERY bright! They would stand way back and toss water balloons into the fire and they would explode. It had about a half a square mile lit up and I was told you could easily see it from camp about 7 miles away.

 

A friend of mine set himself on fire while polishing a set of mag wheels. He will not touch another set. Most pro polishers wont go near them for the same reason.

 

Be very careful setting any magnesuim on fire as you WILL NOT be able to put it out without the proper equipment. Anything else close by is also likely to also burn.

 

i'll check & post a pic up if i find anything. i didn't see any manufacturer info on them when i looked. just the size "15 x 8.5", "Made In The USA" & "4 3/4" stamped on the backside of the hub near the lug holes.

 

That's why I suggested shavings!