Project Nighthawk 1969 Camaro - Ground up rebuild

[Amituk]

Originally Posted by InfernalVortex

Those are more of those cookie cutter "made in the usa" wheels that are actually made in China and assembled here. Theres a bazillion Miami and California wheel importers making wheels like that and none are JWL or TUV approved. Be careful with those and inspect them for cracks regularly if you use them.

Some of the companies known to be a part of this are iForged, ADV.1, Cor, rotiform, Strasse Forged, 360 Forged, Sevas, New gen (yes, those too) etc. If you look through all their portfolios you will see the same wheels over and over. Rotiform is actually pretty unique, but you can tell they use the same wheel blanks and construction methods as all the other companies. Kind of a shame because tehyre very nice looking.

Thanks for the heads up. I didnt know this was the case! I will certainly raise it with rotiform.

[Amituk]

I spoke to Rotiform and this was their response.

"Not sure where that poster got his info but its incorrect. Our forged wheels are 100% USA made. Our blanks come from Alcoa. I cant speak for any of the other companies he mentions but you can rest assured you have the highest quality wheels and they exceed VIA, JWL and TUV specifications. You have nothing to worry about "

[syborg tt]

Originally Posted by Payton King

Thanks.

Take this from someone who has been there and done that...mini tub your car while you are there. I did not the first time I did my car and I had to go back to do it...at a very large cost. Pictures are different than real life and the 335 rear do not look to large. Tub it for 335's even if you are not going to run them. If you ever sell, I would be the buyer will want 335's on the back. Can't remember what motor you are going to run, but anything over 400 hp at the wheels will cause traction problems without the larger tires.

I did exactly what your saying. I set my car up for 335's even though I am only running 295's. It's a just in case scenerio

Amit I love your build and how you detail each post. You and Bret @ Fab43 must be distant cousins with the way you both post such great updates. Makes me feel like I should step up my post detail.

[Amituk]

Thanks Marty.

As this build is mainly a cheque book build, the threads and research are the only way to keep my hands dirty so to speak.

All my previous cars I have built myself.. But now with two young kids, it would take me a few years to build this car.

Now of to search for some threads from bret

[syborg tt]

Originally Posted by Amituk

Thanks Marty.

As this build is mainly a cheque book build, the threads and research are the only way to keep my hands dirty so to speak.

All my previous cars I have built myself.. But now with two young kids, it would take me a few years to build this car.

Now of to search for some threads from bret

your welcome and here is the link

https://lateral-g.net/forums/show...6&goto=newpost

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by Amituk

I spoke to Rotiform and this was their response.

"Not sure where that poster got his info but its incorrect. Our forged wheels are 100% USA made. Our blanks come from Alcoa. I cant speak for any of the other companies he mentions but you can rest assured you have the highest quality wheels and they exceed VIA, JWL and TUV specifications. You have nothing to worry about "

Not the first itme I've heard the "Oh they certainly exceed [whatever] certification!" line. If they are not JWL or TUV certified then its just lipservice. Many legitimate wheels are. BBS, HRE, Volk, etc. It's not hard to submit wheels for testing, although it costs a bit of money. Not super uncommon for a custom wheel company though, as they have to get wheels of every variety and size tested, so if you're selling custom wheels you can easily have 50-100 combinations that would have to be tested. But many custom wheel companies DO go through that kind of trouble, and its good peace of mind to me. HRE is JWL/TUV certified. CCW is not, so it just depends, no one is going to say CCW is second rate.

http://importgenius.com/importers/rotiform-llc

http://rotiform.com/contact_us.htm

The address in Westminster, CA is also correct here. 6382 Industrial Way.

This is the real clincher to me that made me suspicious. The trend I see is most of these companies taking advantage of "made in the USA" standards which basically mean if you bolt it together here, you can say it. Most of these places will only show pictures of their warehouses full of wheel parts, and pictures of them assembling wheels. You rarely ever see any of them actually machining their own wheels. HRE for example goes through a lot of trouble to show pictures (and videos) of their machining processes.

Rotiform's wheels are unique amongst these other companies, despite similarities in general shape, so I can beleive they actually do machine their own centers, but why there are import records showing parts from China is a mystery to me. maybe it's just centercaps or something? Or maybe its their 1 piece wheels?

Regardless, in their particular case, Im tempted to believe them. But it's a serious issue these days. You have to be real careful, because as the Cor fiasco (along with the Sevas debacle) shows, these boutique wheel companies can get people into trouble from time to time.

Anyway, just keep an eye on em, Im sure they'll be fine. The Cor wheels that failed visibly looked fairly weak.

As a little aside,

HRE http://importgenius.com/importers/hr...ormance-wheels
Their parts come from England and germany

BBS http://importgenius.com/suppliers/bbs-washi-wheels-gmbh
England

So not everyone imports from China... You can play around with that site and find a lot of interesting things about different companies.

[Amituk]

Yeah I also believe it is the case with rotiform as I was able to order the wheels to my spec and had to wait for them to be machined.

Maybe some of their cheaper wheels are from china?

Either way defo a good heads up and something for people to think about.

It's all to easy to take these things for granted.

Amit

[Dereiter]

Nice project! Congrats!

[Amituk]

Just a minor update so you guys dont forget me

I would like to say a big thanks to II Much Fabrication for hooking us up with their fuel and diff vents

As you guys know by now, I am a sucker for great engineering. Even on the most minute part of the car. These are designed to vent the fuel tank, and diff case, allowing the systems to breath without odur and leakage.

I will be using two of these, one to vent the diff case, and one to vent the fuel tank.



We are a long way off installing these, but hey, collect the parts and the project will continue.

Hopefully back soon with some more drawings, and fab pic of the front end

Amit

[GregWeld]

#1 -- I can't believe that you or anyone (Mario) would start with bodies that are so rotted out! OMG! But I also understand it. Not dissing you or anyone else that's had to go thru this. Just saying - it's amazing how much work and $$$ has to be spent just getting back to 'standard'.

#2 -- Great project. Taking it on in the UK even more outstanding!

#3 -- IMHO -- just get a nice GM crate motor - LS7 is 'more than' ample - LS9 if you want to scare yourself and spend a bunch more... I would think sticking with a standard crate motor and standard computer to run things in the UK would be a huge advantage. Dress it nicely and you'll have a great car.

#4 -- Commenting really just because I wanted to subscribe! So pay no attention to #'s 1 thru 3