The slotted mags caught my attention. The four-lug bolt pattern had me curious.
Do I need anything? Probably not, as I never have a list with me, and I don’t just focus on the sections that interest me. Ford Diesels, minivans, Volkswagens, whatever, if it’s wrecked and sitting there, I walk through to take a look. Trucks and vans are great, as they sometimes warehouse the really good stuff like aftermarket parts, mags, decent radiators, etc. Did I find anything on this trip? Nope, but I almost found a set of mags. As I wandered through the rows of ancient stuff, pre-1980, I saw a crusty old aluminum slot mag. As I got closer, there was one on the back, too. Went around the other side, and there they were. The other two. A complete set of aluminum slots, still on the car, just begging to fill the space I had left in the truck. Did I have a use for them? Nothing immediate, but they’re aluminum slots. They’re timeless and not always this handy. They looked like fourteen-by-six, or maybe seven, so I bent over to check the tire. Sure enough, they were fourteens, but they were also four-lug. Normally I’d catch that, but this was on a 1965 Comet.
I crawled through the filth to get under this crusty Comet to see what was going on. My whole life I thought four-lug was pretty new in the ‘70s, aside from Corvair’s and small, imported cars, but this Comet looked totally original. Being as they weren’t five-bolt uni-lug, I never even inquired about them, instead choosing to look into it further at home. Sure enough, the base-model type, six-cylinder cars were four-lug, four-and-a-half inch bolt pattern. That bolt pattern was shared by the Mustang, Datsun, and MG, but interestingly enough, it was not shared by the Mustang II, as it was smaller and four-and-a-quarter. Not only that, the Chevy Vega was smaller yet, at only four-by-four inches. No wonder I’ve never got into four-lug stuff. Not only is it a potential weak point, but it’s also generally confusing, and I won’t even get into all the metric stuff. I have an Austin Healey that has what I believe to be the Vega bolt pattern, but it came rolling on Ford wheels that someone finessed with a die grinder to make them fit, just for rolling purposes, obviously. When I think about it, it’s funny how Ford used four-lug so often. In my opinion, they made excellent differentials, suspension, and steering, yet a lot of the time, when I needed something, it was four-lug, meaning a re-drill, or new axles or rotors or whatever. According to my research, the Chevy II came in a four-lug trim early on as well. If I’ve ever seen one, it must’ve had hubcaps. Certainly didn’t have slots or Cragars, as I’d catch that on a Chevy.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk
