TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Nov 15, 2008 10:36 pm

Found these wheels Could not find a price on them. Just want some input on what there worth?

Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:26 am

their worthless, i'll pm you my address to ship them to. :)

Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:05 am

I had a couple of set's about 10 year's ago and I sold them both for $900 a set. But the way the economy is now I doubt you would get that much for them. To make sure they are real ET's take the tires off and if they are ET's they will have rivet's on them and not just welded from the backside as they will not say ET on them anywhere.

Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:09 am

I looked in the old classifieds and there was a set for $751 in 2004. Weird price. 2004 prices may not apply.

I found another pair but they just say "Pending". I hate when people erase the price like that.

Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:39 am

well they are on a buggy that someone has for sale. I have some thing worked out if the first person in line for the ugly ass buggy dose not buy it.

I just got this pic from him on email. the one he had on his add was from the side and they looked like cal parts.

I have not seen any ets for sale any where. Only the cal parts...

What is the history on these wheels????

Sun Nov 16, 2008 11:05 am

hi there, that is more or less the same condition as mine before I did some work on them. I appreciate I am in the uk, and the prices are probably slightly higher over here but I paid around $1000 for mine including caps and bolts.

They are very similar looking to cal parts, crestlines and atlas wheels, kind of like a generic 5 spoke design, and as restojohnny says, these have no markings, except "made in usa 15x5.5" stamped where the tyre covers the wheel. The other types have manufacturers name stamped into them. I think they are literally made by the ET wheel company. They are a steel and alloy design that are riveted together.

Here are mine after work:-

Sun Nov 16, 2008 11:40 am

henry roberts wrote: their worthless, i'll pm you my address to ship them to. :) ohh ok send me your addy and I'll send you something...............................Smelly...............

Mon Nov 17, 2008 12:09 am

vwbilly wrote: ohh ok send me your addy and I'll send you something...............................Smelly...............

i hear the local post office is doing a special deal on posting fish at the moment. :)

i hope you get them. they seem to have a more distinctive peak in the spokes than the set shown by simon uk, though this could just be the pics.

Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:10 am

yep, some do have a ridge through the middle of the spoke, but whether there are mark 1, 2 and 3 which are all slightly different, I dont know for sure.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:43 pm

well i got them it only took like a looooonnnnngggggg time but here they are.

No rivets ??.

crimped round the edge.

thick valve hole you can see the steel wheel under the center..

going on my DC for a bit..... should look nice..

Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:28 am

vwbilly wrote: well i got them it only took like a looooonnnnngggggg time but here they are.

No rivets ??.

crimped round the edge.

thick valve hole you can see the steel wheel under the center..

going on my DC for a bit..... should look nice..

those dont look like ET's to me... could be the angle of the photo but see the sharp ridge on each of the spokes... Et's are smooth there, they dont come to a point like that.

Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:38 am

sorry didnt see the already discussed ridge on spokes, a friend of mine has a set of those with the ridge on the spokes very similar ro et but also backspacing is different and the inner casting of the spokes are a little different verified by comparing side by side. I think that what restojohnny said about the rivets is the best way..

not best pic but you can see the rust from rivets.. this was a pic while cleaning them up.... another way to tell with a tire on, are there tubes in the tires... if yes highly possible that there ET's... finding stems for these wheels is a pain in the ass and getting them to hold air because of the rivets is also a PITA!!!

Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:46 pm

well two of them had tubes. two did not. no rivets but the steel hoops look a lot like the ones tony posted.

So what is the deal with the ET's who made them and for how long??
Dose any body know what these are??

bb

Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:48 pm

vwbilly wrote: well two of them had tubes. two did not. no rivets but the steel hoops look a lot like the ones tony posted.

So what is the deal with the ET's who made them and for how long??
Dose any body know what these are??

bb

the tube thing is not a sure fire answer, there are ways around this.... but like said before I do believe (until proven otherwise) that the rivet thing is... Im no where near my spare otherwise I would snap a photo but for reference take a photo of the back of your wheel and mabye Simon could do as well (the one with rivets) and im sure thery are not the same, in one of your photos you have a little peek of a inner spoke without the extra casting.... put up some photos and lets see.. this has come up a bunch (what are ET's and what are not) and now Im curious too if this would be a tell tale sign!!!!

Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:09 pm

vwbilly, I found this;

"If you're an old-time hot rodder, then the ETIII name should sound familiar to you. Founded in the late-'50s by Dick Beith in Concord, California (near Oakland), the wheel company at its peak was producing one wheel per minute and owned the largest die-cast machine west of the Mississippi. You'd find ETIII wheels on every type of hot rod and drag race car back in the day, but by the '70s, the wheel market had changed so much, Beith decided to sell out to Filter Dynamics and go Indy car racing."

at this link:
http://www.kitcarmag.com/techarticles/142_0505_team_3_wheels_build_process/index.html

It turns out that he started the company back up, retired, and sold it to a partner who still runs it as Team III Wheels.

I remember seeing ET wheels on all kinds of American iron back in the day. They were pretty common, but nice wheels. They still make a wheel like yours in a narrow five bolt patttern. It's called the Classic Five.

Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:59 am

mlhsquared very cool info thanks for that...... Simon and Billy get some photos of the backs of your wheels lets see if there is a difference!!! If I would of thought of it when I was at the OldSpeed display in Daytona I would of done it then!!! damn hindsight! :D

Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:06 am

x2 on cool information, I thought they were made by a company literally called ET wheels. Mine are on my car, but I might try to get out and get one off and take a pic of it.

Si.

Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:16 am

ya looks like i need to get in touch with team 3 and see what they know.

Has any body started a wide five history?? I see one for 4x130..

man i like the oval caps...

Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:22 am

hey simon post up a pic of those on your car.... i want to see......

Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:32 am

its not the greatest, but here is a pic of my car sat in the paint shop recently:-