True Connections

This Month we are going to discuss steering wheels for 1964-1972 Chevelles and El Caminos. The standard wheel for 1964-1965 is a two spoke plastic wheel, with an integral hub, painted the same color as the interior. They have four chrome rings pressed into the outer rim at the 2, 4, 8, & 10 o’clock positions, and a two spoke chrome horn ring with a cross bar on the bottom. The 300 series Chevelles have just a plain plastic two spoke wheel with no horn ring and a cast horn button in the center. The option wheel for 1964-1966 is a two spoke simulated wood wheel with a bolt on hub. The spokes are brushed aluminum with three holes on each spoke. The center caps were slightly different for all three years. 1964-1965 has a plastic center with chrome trim, 1964’s have a clear background while the 1965 cap has a black background. 1966 is cast brushed aluminum with a raised bowtie. The 1966 standard wheel is similar to the 64-65 but the hub of the wheel is much thinner and is entirely covered by the horn ring. The 1967 standard wheel changed to a 3 spoke design. It is still an interior colored plastic wheel but it no longer utilized a horn ring. It has a bolt on 3 spoke chrome trim piece with horn buttons on each side and one center horn button. The option wheel for 1967-1968 is a 3 spoke simulated wood wheel with a bolt on hub. The spokes were brushed aluminum with slots in the center of each spoke. The 1968 standard wheel is an interior colored plastic wheel with three spokes but has a bolt on shroud that is die cast. The horn buttons are mounted on each side of the T shaped shroud and in the very middle is written “Malibu” or “SS396”. The 1969-1970 standard wheel is an interior colored plastic wheel with a single wide bar across the middle. It has a plastic center shroud with horn buttons on the very ends of the cross piece. In the middle of the shroud, there is either a “Malibu” or “SS” emblem although the 1969 “SS” emblem is framed and slightly smaller than the 1970 “SS” emblem. The most common option wheel for 1969-1970 is the rubber grip sport wheel. This wheel has and outside rim made of rubber that is the same color as the interior. The center is a 3 spoke design made of brushed and slotted aluminum with a bolt on hub, similar to the 1967-1968 option wheel. In 1969, GM also offered a simulated Rosewood wheel that is very hard to find original. It is also the same basic design as the 1967-1968 wood wheel. The 1971-1972 standard wheel is similar to the 1969-1972 standard wheel except that the center shroud is covered with a soft rubber and the entire center piece is the horn button. The center shroud is the same on many other models of that year and the have a metal strip across it with an identifying script, the most common being “Chevrolet” and “Monte Carlo”, although some “SS” scripts can still be found. The option wheel in 1971-1972 is fairly common with a horizontal four spoke design that is entirely wrapped in rubber. This wheel has a single round horn cap in the center with either a bowtie or “SS” emblem in the middle. Next month we will discuss power window installation. If there are any specific topics our readers would like to have discussed, feel free to let us know, your continued support to our column is vital.