1968 Shelby steel wheel identification

[Coralsnake]

Lets start with the basic appearance....



The wheel should have four slots around the rim (white arrow)

The wheel should have four nubs in the center face (yellow arrow)

If you have anything else it is not a 1968 Shelby model year steel wheel

Center hole on rim face should be round

[Coralsnake]

Approximate Dimensions:

These are actual dimensions of the 15 x 6 inch steel wheel:

Diameter:  16 1/8 inches

Center hole should be round and just under 2 1/2 inches. There are some Ford wheels that have a larger center hole, but they are not correct

Height: 7 inches

Backspacing: 4 1/4 inches

Measurements are approximate

[Coralsnake]

Other Information:

The rim and the face were stamped at different times and may have different date codes. There are two different formats for the dates on the face of the wheel

1) The wheel may have numbers like "7" "67" between the lug holes. July of 1967 is the earliest wheel dates I have seen and they were not used on very many cars. "12" "67" would be more common for an early production Shelby.

2) Face date code may also be in the "K" format. These date codes usually have a larger "K" (for Kelsey) with two numbers one over the other. Example K2/8 is Kelsey wheel / "2" = Plant Code / "8" = Year (1968)





Dates on the rim:

The rim or outer hoop usually has a date code by the valve stem. Some early 1968 wheels do not have dates on the outer rim. Some late 1967 production wheels actually have dates that overlap into the 1968 production, but they are not correct for a 1968 Shelby.

Typical rim date code is in a format similar to "K2/8 2 12 6"

These date codes usually have a  "K" (for Kelsey) with two numbers one over the other, similar to the face code. Example: K2/8 "K" = Kelsey wheel / Plant Code / Year (1968), in this example the "2 12" is February 12. The last "6" is wheel width (6 inches)

Date codes on the rim and face are usually pretty close in time. The outer hoop may expose an actual "C8" engineering number once the tire is removed. Most 1968 Shelby Kelsey / Hayes wheels were made in Canada.

These were on the cars when they arrived at AO Smith (put on in NJ Assy).

Grumpy old man disclaimer: Stop whinning about not being able to post pictures on the forum (I just did) and NO I don't know where you can find some of these wheels for your car. Get off my lawn!

[Coralsnake]

I might also add these wheels are made for disc brake cars. While they were used on some other Fords during 1968, they are somewhat rare.

[KR500]

I have tried to post photos of these wheels twice now. No luck. Used paint to resize once at 1000 pix. Second time at 800. Still will not post.
Rodney

[Bigfoot]

Looking good!

[KR500]

I added some photos to the Gallery. Some of a 67 dated wheel and some of a 68 dated wheel . Most wheels have two info stamping on the outer hoop, tire side. One partial & one complete( see photos ). Also note the L is missing from the KELSEY on the one wheel.
Rodney

[CharlesTurner]

While they were used on some other Fords during 1968, they are somewhat rare.

With 4,500 '68 Shelby's made, that's almost 25,000 wheels... you'd think they wouldn't be so rare considering a high percentage of '68 Shelby's have 10 spokes now.   

[Coralsnake]

March 26, 1968

[Coralsnake]

[Coralsnake]

[Coralsnake]

[Coralsnake]

[Coralsnake]

[Coralsnake]

Dec 1967