April '04 Feature car

[hvychev]

Don, Mr Yenko did in fact upgrade to the SS wheels that were also used on the 70 Chevelle SS. They used no trim ring and instead of a SS center decal they use a Y decal for Yenko. The finish would have been the same. The original "as delivered" wheels would have been a steel XT 14X6 body color painted rim with a dog dish hubcap. Attached you will find a pic of Marlins Deuce in the "before converted" configuration.

Joey when I look at the pictures the more I can't wait to see her in person! BTW I LOVE the Lustine dealer emblem. Hell the memorabilia KING should have an emblem for the dealer that his own SUPERCAR came from........If I only had some Loehmann items!

[camarojoe]

Well said Frank! As a sidenote, the wheels were not "GM" wheels, and were bought after the fact by Yenko to replace the XT coded steel wheels and "dog dish" hubcaps the cars were delivered from GM with. The center caps had "Magnum 500" in the centers, and Yenko placed the "Y" decal directly over the top without removing the original insert. If you look closely, you can still see the original emblem underneath the Y decals. Oddly enough, the wheels DID have the same AO code as GM factory installed SS wheels from 70. The paint finish is the same, as is the offset. No trim ring was used. The spare tire remained the factory installed XT wheel painted body color.

[Don_Lightfoot]

Interesting. Thanks for the clarification Frank & Joe

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Joe is right on the money, and you should know that the hubs on your Yenko are actual NOS, deep, Magnum 500 hubs that I gave to Neal. So under your Y decals are the original, correct, pressed plastic inserts!

Trivia questions:

Did all Deuces get the wheel swaps?
Why did these wheels receive GM's AO code even though they are not from GM?
What was the stack of leftover XT wheels called?
Who actually did the wheel swaps?

[hvychev]

M why didn't you give Neal the hubs for my car!!!

Hey M I remember that the stack of XT's were refered as the rainbow right? That would have been a cool sight.

M I have a basic novice type question regarding the Deuces. What happened to the factory window stickers that would have been on the cars from GM that showed the COPO info? Have any ever surfaced?

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Frank;
I didn't happen to find these 3 sets of NOS hubs until well after Neal had finished the red deuce

The stack was indeed called the 'rainbow'!

Start a new thread regarding the window sticker question, so we can get specific replies.

[Mr70]

Marlin
Are you saying You put the Y circle inserts over the SS circle inserts on those deep center caps,or did they all get this done to them ONLY at Dons Dealership?

[camarojoe]

No, What he's saying is that the Magnum 500 wheels installed on the Deuces were NOT SS wheels.. they NEVER has "SS" inserts in the center caps, because they were bought direct from the manufacturer, not from Chevrolet. The original center inserts read "Magnum 500" and Yenko then applied the "Y" decals directly over these "Magnum 500" logos without removing them. This is what Marlin is referring to about being able to see the magnum 500 impression through the "Y" decals. Hope that makes sense.

[Supercar_Kid]

[ QUOTE ]
Why did these wheels receive GM's AO code even though they are not from GM?

[/ QUOTE ] Good question. My guess would be that they were actually given the AO code by Motorwheel when they were produced, which was probably just their way of identifying a 14x7" 4&3/4" painted steel wheel that was manufactured for '70. The ones they sold GM were most likely from the same batches as the set you'd buy at your local speed shop, or wheel/tire shop down the street in Don's case. I'd like to know the definitive answer though, so let's hear it.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

That is exactly what we believe as well regarding the AO code! When Don called Motorwheel to order them, he gave them the application of '70 Nova, 14x7, and they shipped them the standard SS wheel with the Magnum 500 hubs. Don didn't care that they said AO, YA, or nothing at all - as long as they were correct for the application.

So, the question has always been, did GM use Motorwheel's application codes or did Motorwheel use GM's application codes?


Camarojoe is right on the money, the original cars always have the Magnum 500 insert impression showing through the Y decal. That assumes that the Y decal was even installed!