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13 INCH CHROME WIRE WHEELS

D

DAVID LAWLER

Platinum Level Sponsor
I have a set of four 13 inch chrome plated wire wheels in quite good condition from my Series IV Alpine. They need a minor clean up since the car and wheels have been in storage since 1982. They are complete with barely worn tires and tubes - vintage 1981 and still hold the original air. The tires are are fine for moving around the garage but definitely not road worthy. I have switched to 15 inch wheels on this car. Make a reasonable offer. I intend to be at the United in West Lebanon, NH. The wheels are in Harleysville, PA.

Dave Lawler
 
Dave,
I have a customer whose Series V is going to have wire wheels. I spoke with him and he's
interested. What are you looking for for them? Would you be able to bring them to the United
if we make a deal?
Thanks.
Steve Shuttleton
 
sunalp said:
Dave,
I have a customer whose Series V is going to have wire wheels. I spoke with him and he's
interested. What are you looking for for them? Would you be able to bring them to the United
if we make a deal?
Thanks.
Steve Shuttleton
Click to expand...
Steve,

Since I am driving the "Orange Blossom" I will have no way of bringing them to the United. Actually I will be leaving in a few hours to meet up with my niece, Kate, who will be driving her Tiger.

Talk to you at the United.

Dave Lawler
 
DAVID LAWLER said:
I have a set of four 13 inch chrome plated wire wheels in quite good condition from my Series IV Alpine. They need a minor clean up since the car and wheels have been in storage since 1982. They are complete with barely worn tires and tubes - vintage 1981 and still hold the original air. The tires are are fine for moving around the garage but definitely not road worthy. I have switched to 15 inch wheels on this car. Make a reasonable offer. I intend to be at the United in West Lebanon, NH. The wheels are in Harleysville, PA.

Dave Lawler
Click to expand...
Hi David - I read in your post that you switched to 15” wheels. What size tires are you using on the 15” rims. Do the fenders accommodate the larger tires? Any problems? I own a 1968 Sunbeam Alpine V and would like to switch from 13” wire wheels to 15”.

Alex
 
Last edited:
Alex,

The answer to the tire question is that I used Altamax RT45 - P185/65r15 tires on all three Sunbeams that I converted, Kate's Mark1 Tiger, Elnore's Series V Alpine and my Series IV Alpine (only one with wire wheels) In all three cases, I had to do minor trimming on the front valance for the tire to clear at maximum turn. I just made a two simple cuts to trim off the conflicting metal.. The longer cut being perpendicular to the major axis of the car. Very easy modification with an small angle grinder and a cut off wheel. This particular tire is approximately 1/2 inch larger in diameter than the original tire, although quite a bit wider.

The other question is not quite as easy to answer. None are inter-fearing with the fenders, However, it basically has to do with the proper back-spacing, offset of the wheel. In the case of the steel wheel replacements on the Tiger and the Series V, I used VTO's wheels and took their word that they would work. The wheels were 15x6 inch. The center of the new tire tread was essentially at the same center as the original tires. I had no fender or other clearance problems.

The Series IV with the wire wheels was somewhat more complex since I found no one who seemed to address the change to fifteen inch wire wheels. I approached it with the same goal of keeping the center-line of the tread, before and after the change in the same location. I was aiming for the same rim conditions of 15x6 that I used previously. I borrowed a 15x6 Triumph (?) rim from a friend and mounted a new P185/65R tire to it. It should have had the proper backspacing that I was calculating. It cleared the fenders properly as predicted, but I was uncomfortable since the rim was quite elderly and most likely did not have had the same bead configuration as currently used with tubeless tires. I ended up working with Dave Austin of British Wire Wheels and with his assistance was able to review two possible solutions. The new bead configuration of the 15x6 rim cleared everything but was very uncomfortably close to the outer upper edge of the top A frame. Too close when you consider the manufacturing tolerances of wire wheels. I backed down to use Dave's 15x5.5 rim which still maintained the same tread center-line, but added 1/4" of clearance between the rim and the upper A frame.

For the cars all three cases, I never expect the them to be used for anything but conventional driving and I would not expect much shift of the body with respect to the wheels as might be encountered in competitive driving events. In any event, approach the change with your eyes wide open and respect that there can be a lot of differences between the cars over the intervening years.

Dave Lawler
 
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