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14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels
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Stock Steve
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:17 pm    Post subject: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

I found these for sale on TheSamba and thought they looked interesting and cool--I had visions of refinishing them in some custom color, of which I was unsure, but definitely wanted them. When I contacted the seller, Sam Ryan, a dedicated Formula Vee racer based in Pennsylvania, I learned he was going to be traveling to Connecticut shortly for a racing weekend, and he could bring them with him, and save me some shipping $'s. I traveled up to the Thompson, CT race track this past Thursday, 6/10/2021, to purchase the wheels, met Sam and his daughter Emily (what wonderful people), and got a nice tour of the technical aspects of Emily's Formula Vee car, right before she was going to head out for practice!...

The wheels are 14x6 "Diamond Racing" wheels, made in Wisconsin, ref: https://www.diamondracingwheels.com/ . I still have to measure the backspacing--not sure on that yet.

The wheels were used by Sam and his wife Susan on their Formula Vee "Challenge Cup Series" cars, ref: https://challengecupseries.com/ .

I am very excited to have been able to buy these wheels from Sam, and am looking forward to putting some tires on them and using them on my '60 Bug. I've already done some cleaning up of them and have scrapped my original ideas of refinishing them--their "racing provenance" is way too valuable to tamper with, I am feeling now!

I will be adding more pictures to this thread as I'm able--I have several more ready to go, from initially getting the wheels home and some initial cleaning up--will be posting more hopefully soon...

Here's a picture of Sam with the wheels, the day I met him at the track in Thompson, CT, Thursday, June 10th, 2021. What a great guy! Thanks again Sam!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Stock Steve
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:04 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

Here are more pictures, and a little bit more background info on the 14x5, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels that I purchased on 6/10/2021, from Formula Vee racer Sam Ryan, who is based in Pennsylvania. I spent some time on Saturday, June 12th, when I got the wheels back home, to do a few things. First, I had some of those el-cheapo "Taiwan Special" center caps that I had bought a while ago, that I realized did NOT work with stock VW or Porsche 5x205 wheels--I pulled them out again and they DID work with these! Score! Secondly, I got some advice about how to remove stick-on wheel weights nondestructively, using a heat gun and a plastic scraper tool. Final clean-up was done with "Goo-Gone" (adhesive residue cleaning product). Just waiting on some tires now, before I can get to putting them onto my '60 Bug! Thanks again Sam Ryan!

Wheels loaded into the back of my Subaru at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, on Thursday, June 10th, 2021, in Thompson, CT:
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Here are a couple of background pictures that I found online. Sam told me that these wheels specifically came from "the gold car," which is his wife Susan's ride, in the Formula Vee "Challenge Cup Series," ref: https://challengecupseries.com/

The Gold Car:
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Team Ryan at the track:
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Wheels home now, keeping my '60 Bug company, and me surveying how to proceed. At this point, thinking about the wheels, the great people I bought them from, and their racing history, I decided that refinishing them (disturbing their original finish beyond just cleaning them up) would be a mistake--instead I want to preserve them and appreciate them for what they are and what they have been through:
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Two of the four wheels had these cool "Diamond Racing" decals:
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"Taiwan Special" center caps that I had sitting on my shelf for years have finally come in handy!
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


For non-destructive removal of stick-on wheel weights, I used a heat gun from the back side, then a plastic scraper/prying tool to pry up the weights (it was also suggested that fishing line or dental floss could be used for getting behind the weights to disbond them). "Goo-Gone" was then useful for cleaning up the adhesive residue. Sam had told me that the wheels were powder coated, and I did not want to disturb the original finish.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Next time, hopefully some TIRES updates...
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Stock Steve
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Stock Steve
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:16 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

Bought these online from Performance Plus Tire Center of Long Beach, CA (although I believe they got shipped from a location they apparently have in TN), https://www.performanceplustire.com/ . They are an inexpensive RWL tire that I thought would go well with the wheels and my low-impact driving style. I had bought 205/70s for my refinished 14x6 5-slot mags (currently on my '70 Bug; nice tire, very happy with them), but thought I'd try out 195/70s for these wheels, which will go on the '60 Bug. They're currently at the local garage getting mountd onto the wheels...

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Last edited by Stock Steve on Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:20 am; edited 1 time in total
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NJ John
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:18 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

Diamonds website is hard to navigate. I know that they do vw patterns. Just had to find them.
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Stock Steve
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:25 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

NJ John wrote:
Diamonds website is hard to navigate. I know that they do vw patterns. Just had to find them.


Oh, yeah, I have tried looking at their web site in the past and have given up! Also have attempted e-mailing them an inquiry and never got a response. The guy I bought these from (who I believe has one more set of these for sale currently on TheSamba) told me that the Diamond Wheels guy only does a "run" of a certain bolt pattern wheel, when he accumulates enough orders for them.

I guess if you're a small-time manufacturer, you don't have unlimited budget to pay people to improve your web site (nor probably the time to do it yourself), and can't be "all things to all people," like a lot of us expect in this modern online shopping world (where companies like Amazon have spoiled us).
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 7:54 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

It’s always cool to be different and maybe pull off a back space the no one has ever sourced. Have you ever dealt with Custom Wheel Ind? They used to claim to make custom offsets.
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1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage
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Stock Steve
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 9:20 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

NJ John wrote:
It’s always cool to be different and maybe pull off a back space the no one has ever sourced. Have you ever dealt with Custom Wheel Ind? They used to claim to make custom offsets.


A huge part of the appeal of these is their history, and the person who they came from. I might make up a little window poster showing him holding one of the wheels, the day I met him to make the purchase. Very cool guy, and seems to be very well-liked/well-respected in the Formula Vee racing world.

I have a feeling they are going to make my Bug look like a "big slot car" (phrase borrowed from another old car friend who made the comment), which will be fun.

In general, I enjoy browsing for anything that's interesting and unusual out there.

No, I'm not familiar with Custom wheel Ind.
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 9:53 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

Got the new sneaks mounted onto the Diamond Racing wheels yesterday...

195/70R14 "Vitour" radials got mounted onto the Diamond Racing Wheels on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021, by the good folks at Stony Creek Auto in Branford, CT. I opted to try some driving w/o any balancing weights first--if they are objectionable, I'll bring 'em back for some balancing...

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


If you're really following closely, you'll note that's a different plate on the car now too. We have legal use of the Connecticut Early American Plate # "133," and yes, we're supposed to display the modern reflectorized version on the car. This, however, is an early Porcelain version that we found at Hershey some time back in the '80s. They have an unusual attachment bolt spacing (wider than a conventional plate), and also small attachment holes. So far I've "roughed out" a bracket, made from some thin steel stock with holes in it, just to get basic fit. Will be going back to custom-fit it better, clean up any sharp edges, and then paint it. I will keep the modern reflectorized "133" plate in the car with me just in case. Oh, and the blue "60" tab is also way-incorrect for this plate (the CT EAs came out in 1952, I believe, with # "100" being the first issued, so this would be the 33rd EA plate ever issued in CT).

Here's some excellent history on Connecticut EA plates: http://www.kcstudio.com/colea.html

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Stock Steve
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:14 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

Got them onto the Bug finally yesterday (Saturday, July 24th, 2021)—couple of pictures for your amusement. The chrome center caps ended up being a pain, so I decided not to wrestle with them THIS TIME—some other time perhaps. Adjusted pressures to 20 front and 25 rear, and took a nice pleasure drive over to the center of Guilford, CT and back—very happy with the setup! I installed chrome plastic lug bolt head caps, for a slight bit of bling.

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Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
-----
Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
-----
Thanks Veterans


Last edited by Stock Steve on Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:25 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:24 am    Post subject: Re: 14x6, 5x205 "Diamond Racing" wheels Reply with quote

Bolts is Bolts... This past Sunday (8/1/2021) I took the race wheels back off of the ‘60 Bug—for two reasons: #1 is I decided I needed to get them balanced, after a reasonable amount of driving around (my usual M.O. with wheels/tires on the Bug is to try driving them first as-mounted), and #2 is I consulted with Sam Ryan (the Formula Vee driver I bought them from) about whether he ran ball or cone seat lug nuts on his race car, and he indicated cone (stock for the ‘60 Bug are ball seat). I found an ad from a Samba seller for a good-looking set of aftermarket cone seat lug bolts, paypal’d him the funds, and when those come in I’ll bring the race wheels over to my trusted local garage (Stony Creek Auto in Branford, CT) for balancing (since I’ll have to supply my balancing adapter & 5 matching bolts also). For now, the knobbies are back on the Bug (I opted not to fuss with the drum covers this time)! Happy Volkswagening!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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