Tire Size and Stock BE Wheels

[Jim_Gruber]

Thanks guys. Someone buy Bill's spare wheels and BE rims. Those tires have some useful years left in them and the rims are great. Unfortunately I'm a year plus away from needing rims and tires on my optimistic restoration schedule.

 

[smaceng]

BTW, the blackwalls that 59diamond has for sale are the third generation of the BE wheel (strongest), were tested for run out, bead blasted and painted. The wheel covers he has for sale are all original and look great! I should know, I used to own them! Scott in CA

 

[Rut]

I've made an offer on the blackwalls and hope it's accepted!
Rut

 

[Bayless]

Nial, one beer for mounting a tire sounds pretty cheap. I wonder about the semantics though. Do you charge yourself or pay yourself that beer?

 

[Rut]

Ok, I'm officially a tire-wheel addict! With the current purchase I now have a set of VTO Classic 8s, 5 13" wire wheels, 5 14" wire wheels, 8 original Bugeye wheels, and the new Bugeye wheels/tires coming from Bill. Oh yea, I have the 4 4 spoke BWA Milano mag wheels that came on the car.
Rut

 

[59diamond]

Man that is a lot of wheels. I guess we should call you a "Wheeler Dealer"

 

[59diamond]

Thanks everyone who participated in my tire sale. They are all sold along with a lot of other stuff I didn't need.

 

[Rut]

Bill,
the tires and wheels made it yesterday in great shape. Thanks for a very fair deal and getting them out to me so quickly! I really appreciate the card you included...what a great touch!
Thanks, Rut

 

[59diamond]

I am glad to hear they made it alright. The Cherry Red Bugeye I sold was finally delivered to Washington Yesterday also.

 

[SaxMan]

On a related topic, I picked up a set of trim rings for my Sprite...I've always liked the look of dog pans and trim rings. With car's blue color, the trim rings should really make the car "pop". Is there a trick to getting them on? I cannot get them on the wheels for the life of me. I'm thinking I may have to bend in the tabs just a smidge so they fit better. I remember my friends with Chevelles used to say the trim rings were a pain in the butt.

 

[JPSmit]

Rubber mallet

 

[59diamond]

STOP STOP. They will only scratch your wheels. What MOSS or VB didn't tell you is that those trim rings are made to fit Rosstyle Rims. No matter how hard you try they will never fit. I bought a set and scratched the **** out of my rims before sending them back. Online it doesn't mention rosstyle but the catalog from either Moss or VB says rosstyle. When I asked VB the nice lady said "OH" we always go by the catalog not whats on line. You would think they would point that out in both catalogs. Sort of said it was my fault for going by what was on line.

 

[CLEAH]

Moments ago I popped the trim rings off my wheels so I can paint the wheels (if it ever warms up). They were on the car when I bought it last year and I don't intend to put them back on. They have been on there so they do in fact go on, and yes they scratch the paint under them. I tried to put one back on to see how hard it is, and it is not easy to do. Looks like the best way to do it is to remove the wheel, lay it flat on the floor, then press the trim ring on with two hands and a knee to get more even pressure around the rim.

 

[59diamond]

Just curious Cleah, do you have standard BE Steel Rims or something else, because I could never get the trim rings I got from VB onto my rims. You say they came with the car so they could be different then the ones VB and Moss sells

 

[CLEAH]

Just curious Cleah, do you have standard BE Steel Rims or something else, because I could never get the trim rings I got from VB onto my rims. You say they came with the car so they could be different then the ones VB and Moss sells

Stock BE wheels. I just leafed through the receipts for the car and they are the Rostyle rings from Moss. With those steel ears all the way around I think it is a matter of applying even pressure so they seat on the wheel evenly (to at least get them started, then use a rubber mallet to seat them fully). They did come off easily, so they were not unusually tight.

 

[59diamond]

Me and another guy worked for several hours trying to get them on the car and never succeded. We tried everything but they wouldn't stay on. I am not sure what a Rostyle rim is, but it has to be different then a stock BE RIM. More power to you if you can get them to stay on, and yes we used several sizes of rubber mallets.

 

[JPSmit]

These are Rostyles - and, now that you mention it, I think the trim rings were a later accessory.

 

[Rut]

JP,
you need to post more pictures...been a long time!
Rut

 

[SaxMan]

I got on the horn with VB today and asked them about the rims. They had all kinds of records, including from the manufacturer who indicated that they could be used "in a variety of applications", as well as some other customer complaints about them being difficult to install. They indicated they could not be installed by hand and a rubber mallet or some other tool that I wasn't familiar with needed to be used. They also indicated that the tabs may need to be bent.

It was definitely a nuisance, but I first bent the outward tabs downward with needle nosed pliers. Then I had to take an awl and use that to bend the entire tab assembly back towards the center of the ring. Using a little bit of "influence" from a rubber mallet when mounting and Voila!, they ended up fitting nice and snug. They totally change the look of the car! Can't wait to get the car out of the garage and take some pictures, but that's probably going to be a while.

 

[JPSmit]

sounds great!