Minilite Wheels

[vette]

I guess I'm ready to bite the bullet and buy new wheels and tires. My car has the 5-lug bolt on wheels. Can anyone tell me if the minilite bolt on wheel is for use with tubeless tires? And where would be the best place to buy them? Thanks Dave.

 

[RA_Healey]

Yes on the tubeless tires.

5" X 5" bolt pattern.

You have to go through a Miniite dealer. I ordered mine using Targett Motorsport out of Ohio. I went with 5.5" X 15 and a custom offset of 85 MM. This size of offset decreased the needed spacer down to 1/2".

Unfortunatley John Targett passed away earlier this year so not sure as if the business will continue.

I called Targett Motorsports a couple of weeks ago to order a couple of more wheels and they had a message that they were no longer taking orders.

I then went to AH spares and they have them in stock but only in the size of 6" X 15 and with a 105 MM offset. I did get them but means I either have a 3/4" or 1" spacer depending if it is the front or rear. Ordered them on a Monday, phoned them early morning and they were at my door 4 days later.

You will have to go with longer studs on the front and rear hubs. I have disc brakes in the rear.

Two of my friends have Panasports and like them but that was years ago they got them. They are lighter than Minilites.

 

[Superwrench]

I got mine from Tom's Import Toys in Oregon. He got me KN mini lite style wheels that fit perfect. No spacers I think they are 15 x 6 I can check for you He is a Moss dist. , but owns a Tire and Wheel co. also. PM me if you need any help. Good luck Bob

 

[vette]

Thanks everyone. Yeh, in my searching I'm finding out that there is not alot available for the Big Healey with the bolt-on wheels. I wanted Panasport but one vender just this morning contacted the manufacturer and was told " we no longer make a wheel for your application". I see Moss has Minilite style wheels listed in cataloge. They are the only ones that list a part number for the application of my car. It is 15x 5.5, and no spacer mentioned. I think if I am going to do this it looks like it is going to be Moss. I have been studying wheel dimensions, etc and I'm still not sure I have it right. That is why I might be taking the safest route by using Moss since they specifically state that Part number is for my application.
R.A. , Maybe you can help me to understand these dimensions. I'm confused by your last post where-by you mention your custom offset of 85mm. That should be about 3.33 inches. My understanding of offset is the distance that the mounting surface is from the true center of the tread or rim. Either positive if offset to the outside, or negative if offset to inside. If your offset is about 3.33" and your rim is 5.5", the offset would be greater than half the width of the wheel. But if you mean "backspace", the distance from the mounting surface to the rear or inner rim bead then about 3.33" would fit because as a reference the thickness of our rear brake drums is about 3.25" and 1/2" spacer would just about get the inner bead even with the backing plate of the axle assembly. I really don't know the facts here, just trying to understand it. Dave.

 

[maxwedge5281]

i am also looking for bolt-on minilites...preferably 6 inch in the rear and 5.5 inch by 15 in the front and with no spacers. i talked to targett motorsports just before john passed away. i was put in contact with tim doyle who was seemingly managing or about to manage the minilite account. i have not talked with him in the last couple of months but he did seem knowledgeable and had frequent contact with minilite-uk. i believe that his office is in mooresville nc...not sure! his number is 216 849 4236.. might give him a call and see what he says... i have no affiliation other than as a potential customer . if you contact him i would be interested in your thought regarding the wheel specs. my bj7 currently has the kn 6 by 15 knockoff wheels but i wish to replace with boltons in the near future.

 

[HealeyRick]

Does this help? https://www.bighealey.co.uk/category/catalogues/austin-healey/wheels-and-tyres Price is per EACH

WELLITE 6" LIGHTWEIGHT WHEELS


For sometime there has been a requirement for a 6” alloy wheel that fits the standard bodywork of a Big Healey but it simply wasn’t available.
These new wheels are manufactured in a high-grade Magnesium alloy that is 40 lighter at 6.8Kg than a standard 72 spoke wire wheel, this helps the unsprung weight improve the grip of the contact patch of the tyre.
They have been made with sufficient inset to retain the correct track width whilst fitting under standard bodywork.
6" Wellite Wheel - inset. splined

CWHE110
Price: £795.00


6" Wellite Wheels - inset. bolt on.

CWHE110B
Price: £695.00

 

[Superwrench]

Dave You can't go wrong with the Moss wheels. They will be the UK made KN wheels like Tom got me. They fit perfect, no spacers or BS.

 

[RA_Healey]

Here is the technical info from Minilite's web site. I am using their terminology.

https://www.minilite.co.uk/technical.htm

The offset is the distance between the mounting flange and the inner edge of the rim. In the diagram it would be dimension 'C'.

 

[vette]

https://www.minilite.co.uk/technical.htm

Thanks RA and to all. this is good info and a great help. At the risk of being a great bore, I'm going to pick this diagram from Minilite appart in a desire to learn. This old brain of mine might be failing quicker than I suspect so I might be completely wrong. Apologes in advance.
It is amazing how things seemingly simple can get so confusing. Even when sourced from the correct authorities. In the 3rd para, the tech paper states that the offset is calculated from the center line of the wheel to the backface of the wheel. That would make you think the term "backface" is refering to the back edge of the wheel. But in finishing the sentence the source says that "a backface IN LINE with the CENTER of the wheel IS ZERO OFFSET." That would be pretty much impossible since the backedge of the wheel could never be in the center of the wheel. But it is true that zero offset is when the back surface of a mounting plate is in line with the center of the wheel. So at this point I will claim that their use of the term 'backface' is actually the back surface of the Mounting Plate. So in the 4th para they state that "If the backface/(mounting plate) is forward of this line (the center line, my words) ... it is a positive offset and towards the rear... from the centre line is a negative offset." In Para 5, they directly say that the C dimension is the BACKSPACE. In analysing the drawing itself we find that the dimension A/2 (A divided by 2) is half distance between the beads. An B is the thickness from the outer edge of the bead to the very outer edge of the wheel. So they will use the formula (A/2 + B) - C = Offset. At first glance it looks like they are measuring from center of the wheel to the very outer edge of the wheel to discribe Offset. But if you look at the two arrowheads on that line, they are actually measuring between the back surface of the mounting plate to the true center of the wheel. In that drawing it shows the mounting plate is towards the outside of the wheel so as per their words in para 4 it is a positive offset. Now in trying to describe how to arrive at that demension it would be easier to just say that you measure the distance from true center to the back surface of the mounting plate and in which direction and you get a value that is either positive or negative. But what they did was added half the value of A to B then subtracted C. You see that from the center of the wheel plus B is less than the total value of C which is called Backspace (their words) there is an amount left over. That's the Offset. Sorry to belabor this so much. Dave.