Occie gets some new wheels!

vaultsman

Well-Known Member
With a day off work today, I decided it was time to have a go at fitting four of these...

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Picked up from a chap on the SD1 forum, they're 6.5J x 15" Vitesse alloys. Powder coated in Silver Sparkle and shod with new Goodyear Excellence 205/60 R15's.

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Forearmed with quattro's thread and his tribulations with wheel studs, I got hold of 20 S/H SD1 front studs from a good guy called Hugh that Colin (arthuy) put me onto. Hugh even threw in a couple of SD1 grease caps as a bonus.

N/S rear studs removed...
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As it turned out the front studs came out fairly easily but the rears needed some serious persuasion...so much for my idea of using a G clamp and socket...not a chance! :)

Had to sacrifice an old wheelnut to protect the end of the studs.

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Winding the SD1 studs in...
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Looking good!
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Hubs look very strange with no studs I think...
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O/S front with SD1 grease cap fitted...
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Couldn't resist fitting a shiny new Rimmer's centre...
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So...time for the serious bit...D post clearance. :roll:

I think I may have some issues to sort here...
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Bearing in mind the car's unladen - almost empty tank, only the driver's seat fitted...and no people! - there's about 18mm or so clearance on the nearside and a tad less on the offside.

What does the team think?
 
vaultsman said:
What does the team think?

First and foremost, I think they look pretty good.

As for D post clearance, the trial and error method of finding out seems a bit brutal seeing as you have new tyres and freshly painted rims and it would be a shame to scuff them. On the other hand 18mm seems like a fair bit of clearance so it might be worth a cautious test drive.
 
I've always liked those rims as well. I have one here somewhere, I may look for some more to have a set to make a change from the Minilites. As for the clearance issues, you could always drop out the rear springs, then you could go through the full range of movement (and more) to see just how close things get.
 
Hello Stan,

Gee, don't those wheels look nice, and those centre caps really look tops.. 8)

Clearance wise, on my o/s the clearance would be 10mm at best running 205 tyres, and with the car loaded and driven in all manner of conditions, including the occasional dirt road with massive pot holes,..so slow and steady giving the suspension a real workout in terms of movement, no scuffing at all.

So based on my experience over 24 years of running tyres of this width with such a close clearance, you won't have a problem.

Ron.
 
I think you should give me the wheels and tyres to test, so as not to damage your d posts, and then in about 5yrs I will give you a brief resume on their performance. I won't charge, much. :LOL:
 
Hi Stan
Just having a look around and spotted your new wheels . Very nice , old meets new ! looks good . If you take no passengers it'll help a with clearance issues . Plus it's more enjoyable . Win win .
stina
 
John said:
I think you should give me the wheels and tyres to test, so as not to damage your d posts, and then in about 5yrs I will give you a brief resume on their performance. I won't charge, much. :LOL:

John,

I'll give your kind offer some thoughtful consideration! 8)

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

SydneyRoverP6B said:
Hello Stan,

Gee, don't those wheels look nice, and those centre caps really look tops.. 8)

Clearance wise, on my o/s the clearance would be 10mm at best running 205 tyres, and with the car loaded and driven in all manner of conditions, including the occasional dirt road with massive pot holes,..so slow and steady giving the suspension a real workout in terms of movement, no scuffing at all.

So based on my experience over 24 years of running tyres of this width with such a close clearance, you won't have a problem.

Ron.

Ron, that's great. The only caveat I can think of is, as has been mentioned before, base unit consistency in this area has been seen to be variable to say the least.

I think I'll have a few test drives with the car relatively unladen, at various speeds and on various surfaces with a bit of cornering thrown in. Looking at the areas again, the rims are going to be fine and I think at worst there may be a slight rubbing at the outer radius of the tyre.

If so, I can get busy with the bottle jack! :roll:
 
Roundabouts seem to show up clearance issues more, yours looks to have ample room compared to mine.

graeme
 
They look really good - I have always liked the Vitesse wheels on a Red P6 8)

Same set up as Adams

18mm of clearance seems quite a lot - more than I have anyway.

I am going to have to repaint mine now :(

Richard
 
quattro said:
They look really good - I have always liked the Vitesse wheels on a Red P6 8) Same set up as Adams

I've just had another look at my third-last pic in my first post...and Occie does look Monza-ish! Bit of glare going on in that I think.

Very pleased with the wheels though! :wink:
 
Looks good, how about a full side view photo so we can see the full munificance of it all :D

I love the tread pattern of those tyres too, are they a silica tyre??

Graeme
 
ghce said:
Looks good, how about a full side view photo so we can see the full munificance of it all :D

I love the tread pattern of those tyres too, are they a silica tyre??

Graeme

Yes, they are a silica compound Graeme. Looking forward to seeing how they perform.

I'll get some better shots once Occie's popped her bum out of the garage! :LOL:
 
Well I HAVE to say I like them... :LOL:

They look really smart Stan, it does make a difference getting them coated with new caps and tyres too. I'd go for a cautious test drive as Paul said, when mine rubbed it made a right racket but it didn't mark the tyre. Some gentle backwards/forwards testing and work your way up to some spirited roundabout action.
 
While I love mine

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it's only 14 inch and that limits tyre size availability so there is little wonder people opt for the 15 inch Vitesse rims.

Graeme
 
That clearance looks pretty good, Stan. I'd guess that you are looking at the difference going for a 60 profile (instead of the correct diameter 65) makes. Not a problem with your new gearbox though! As everyone else has said, the ley test is roundabouts. Full tank, a bag of sand in the boot, and a couple of heavies in the back and try and make them giddy! Curiously, Lucky rubbed on the offside when it was the inside (high) wheel, which I still haven't got my head round.

Look the dogs bxxs though!

Now all you need is some stiffer front dampers and front roll bar and you won't recognise the car to drive.

Chris
 
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