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Wire Wheels

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DesertSprite

Jedi Warrior
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What's the general opinion on wire wheels? I know the Midgets had them as an option. Are they for purely aesthetic purposes? I would like to put some wider rubber on my car in the future, anyone ever put anything besides stock rubber on wire wheels?

I think the wires look nice, but they don't seem very sporty. Minilites aren't bad but it appears that Minilites and steel wheels are the only other wheels we can run on these cars. Am I missing something?

Mahalos,
Joel

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Wires are nice, chome wires are nicer but they need to be cleaned and polished twice a day /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I have had wires a few times, I gave up on the looks due to worn hubs, stripped wheels, and just was too lazy to keep them looking as they should.
Minilites to me are way to common on Spridgets. Seems everybody has em because that's all the 2 major suppiers sell.
Check out some wheel shops on line. I am running vintage aluminum slots on my Sprite, Chevy 13" 4 lug (Vega) rims fit. My buddy has Cragar SS rims on his Midget.
There are hundreds of wheel variations that will work. BMW rims fit but need to be altered slightly, Lots of jap 4 lugs work too. Although the metric wheels are 100mm, if they are unilug, it's not a problem for 4" (1mm dif per hole)
 
A few comments:

it's actually 1.6mm difference between 4" and 100mm. What do you mean by 'uni-lug'? I have Vega wheels, but found that the centers had to be enlarged, or they couldn't seat on the drum face in the rear. Also, the backspacing is a bit large, making it likely that contact would occur on a square arch. BMW wheels, ie my alloy 4X100mm, 14X6" wheels, are hub centering, not lug centering. Isn't this a problem?

Matt
 
I just mounted 4 tires on my brother's wire-wheel Midget over Christmas....by hand, of course (no local tire guy would do these at a reasonable price). I used 155 Kumhos (about $23 each).
I can swap tire manually, but it's not something I like doing very often, and with tubes (in wire wheels) it's even harder.
I would imagine wide wire-wheels would be very expensive.
Changing from wire wheels to bolt-on wheels in a Spridget (or visa-versa) is a big deal since the axles and hubs are different.
The 13" Mini wheels (used on later "classic Minis") have a 4" bolt-circle, but way too much offset. A buddy of mine has a set of those and I looked at them for my race car...no good.
The Vega wheels will fit, but be careful of the smaller lug size on a Sprite.....the lug holes in the Vega-type wheel are very big. I used these on a previous race-Spridget, but I swapped to bigger lugs (12mm I think). Swapping to larger lug nuts on a Spridget is tricky on the rear axle....not much "meat" there. Fronts are easy.
Diamond Wheels and Pete Paulsen Wheels can both make wide 13" wheels with 4" bolt circles. I've bought from both these outfits and they have some neat looking steel wheels that are reasonable...but they have the same "big lug hole" problem as the Vega wheel. And all steel wheels are heavy.
While the Panasport and Minilite wheels are "common", I do like the way they look on these cars.
Years ago, I had a set of stock steel wheels widened....I actually think this looks the best.
By the way, I'm racing on stock Rostyle wheels and 175/60 Yokohama A032R tires and these have plenty of grip for this size car (the skinny wheels are required for my race class).
 
I think wires look great on most older sports cars. I have no trouble keeping mine clean using some of the spray on wheel cleaners. They really cut the dirt.

I also think Minilite styles look great on older sports cars. And you can get a wide range of sizes.

Bruce
 
Well, I suppose I should go for the Minilites or widened stock wheels since I do want to put a little wider rubber on the car at some time. Right now I just have steel wheels, but I think one of them is off of a Bugeye. Not sure, maybe three of them are from a Bugeye. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Anyway, maybe I'll go for wires if I was going to try to keep the car period correct in terms of brakes, tires, suspension, etc.

Mahalos,
Joel

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BMW wheels are center-centrific because they don't use lugs, they use lug bolts & the center of the wheel holds it in place until a bolt is inserted.....Midget wheels are lug-centrific because they do.

Back when I had a 2002 & wanted to put 320is wheels on it, I had a machine shop change the wheel center so it'd fit on my 2002 properly.
 
These knock-offs are for a lotus Elan. Wonder if they would fit? 5 ½” x 13” is pretty wide, but IMHO they look cool. Check under specials, then previous specials here Dave Bean
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I have a 73 Midget that originally had bolt on wheels. I wanted wires though so I swapped suspensions with an old toasted 67. So now I have painted wires and I really like the look. Since they are painted anyways, I change colors whenever it suits me. Right now they are metallic blue. I have had to change the bearings which needed done anyways, and now I still have a bit of wobble in the front passenger which is caused by worn hubs. I have new hubs to put on, just haven't gotten to it yet. I also have really, and I mean REALLY wide tires on the car. It corners and brakes like nothing I've ever ridden in. The car tracks great and I have never had any problems with the tires. They are 175/60/13 Falkens. For people who don't quite get tire sizes, that's just about as low and wide of a tire that you can put on that rim without being true race tires! You can see them by clicking here
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Oh, and nice signature. Noone provokes me with impunity either! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

JACK
 
Jack,

That's a sweet little car. Definitely something different. I think it has a bit of a "rat rod" look to it. How wide are those wires though? I didn't know you could fit that rubber on those wheels. I was under the impression that wires were a bit feeble when it came to handling really sticky tires and beefed up suspensions. Still, I think they look cool. And, you got disc brakes on there, nice. Can you put disc brakes on the rear as well with wires?

I see that you're from Portland. Shoulda known an Oregonian would paint their wire wheels metallic blue. I grew up in Beaverton. Miss the rain and the beer.

As for my signature, its an old Revolutionary War slogan used by the colonies and encouraged by Ben Franklin. I figure since I'm a soldier it was still a fitting slogan considering the current state of affairs.

Joel

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Thanks Joel. That's exactly what I was going for with my car... something different. That's the best compliment I could get.
The wires are the stock 60 spoke 13x4 and when I got these tires I basically went in to Les Schwab and said "what's the widest, lowest profile tire that will fit this rim". This is what they had. They where pretty expensive but they handle. I drive the car hard with the expectation that stuff will break and then I'll get to repair it. That's the fun of having a car like this. If you don't break stuff from time to time, you're not driving it hard enough /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
The discs in the front are the Brembo cross drilled AND slotted rotors. I have seen rear disc conversions but they aren't giving them away and I can't imagine needing any more breaking power than I have unless I were on a race track.
Anyways, if you would like to see the rest of my car's history you can click here.
Thanks again and good luck with your car
JACK
 
Interesting dash....& I like that cold air system through the headlight!

Does the license plate in the grille affect cooling?
 
[ QUOTE ]
...& I like that cold air system through the headlight!

[/ QUOTE ]

How do you handle legal headlights?
 
Bruce...I was hoping he'd tell us...but it is a neat setup, huh?
 
I like the pins on the hood. Definitely would make it easier to work on the engine. I also like that brake setup.

How does the car ride with those 520lb. springs?

Joel
 
I just wish the site wasn't that blue/black combo with the small 8-sized print...I have to back out of it after a little reading to keep from getting a headache...I think he explained about the headlight but I was getting tired of reading through that combination.
 
Lets see... the dash is the original dash just stripped down to bare metal and clear coated and outfitted with Aucometer Ultra-lites. You may notice that since I deleted the heater, I also removed the big selector knob on the left hand side to make room for an extra gauge. The licesne plate hasn't made the slightest bit of difference but if you'll notice, it isn't blocking the radiator. It is actually in front of where the heater intake tube normally fits up.
As for the make shift ram-air system, I never quite ironed out the bugs and so it has been shelved for the moment. My air box was too small and was actually reducing air flow to the engine because due to hood clearance, it had to make a very narrow 90 degree bend right at the carb and the box itself couldn't be very big without having to cut a scoop into the hood which I don't think I'm quite interested in.... yet?!? I put the passenger side headlight back in for now but even with it out, I have a really nice set of PIAA driving lights mounted in the grille which meant I never had any trouble seeing the road or being seen. I wasn't too worried about cops giving me too much trouble, they have better stuff to deal with.
I like the ride with the 520lbs. I think alot of the purists cringe, no, I'm SURE they cringe at the idea of a ride in a Midget with low wide tires and 520 pounders. It is super stiff but the handling is ridiculous!!
And as for putting the hood on pins, I don't think I could still be working on it otherwise. Just leaning under the hood for the 5 minutes it takes to change spark plugs is too much. Plus with the engine and tranny going in and out all the time there for awhile, it was indispensible.
Sorry about the black and blue font. But since my car is blakd and blue, it was an obvious choice. My young eyes don't have any trouble with it.
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JACK
 
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