Nark,
There are cheaper sources of mag wheels for your car. I won't
mention wires because from what I hear they are much prettier tolook at
than to maintain. Try calling Panasport direct, or maybe Revolution
wheels. The prices are about $150 and $140 a wheel respectively.
There is a difference though. Revolution will supply you with new lug
nuts at that price, Panasport will not. Both types require new and
different nuts than your old ones. Revolution will also paint the
centers of their wheels whatever color you want. If you wanted to race
the other beauty of Revolutions is that they will make them whatever
offset you want, same price. Both sets of wheels are considered strong,
but some feel the Panasports are prettier.
keep 'em between the ditches,
Jeff
I recall the prices of Panasports being more around $100/wheel, but that
was several years ago. I called up the Panasport guy (it was somewhere in
California, as I vaguely recall), and asked him what sort of 4x3.75 inch
bolt pattern (Lotus Europa) wheels he had. He said he didn't know, but
what did I want? I told him I wanted a pair of 5.5x13 (stock) and 6x14
(decidedly non-stock) with some .25inch more offset than the stock 5.5x13
Lotus wheels, and he said something like "OK, I can make those for ya",
and I had them a week later. He may have charged me $10 for the 6x14
special order, but I don't remember it. I don't remember if the lug nuts
were "extra", or not, but the nice steel air valve (do it, they`re worth
it!) was an extra $1 or 2.
Both Panasport and Revolutions are great wheels, I think the Panasports
are more esthetically pleasing. And what a difference round and true
wheels can make to a car`s handling and ride!!! Worth every $, and then
some!
-RDH
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Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 12:15:04 EST
From: mit-eddie!sli.com!rdh@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Robert D. Houk)
Message-Id: <8912011715.AA23048@borodin.>
To: british-cars@alliant.Alliant.COM
In-Reply-To: Pete Gregory's message of Thu, 30 Nov 89 18:20:28 PST
<8912010220.AA16840@bally.Bally.COM>
Subject: WIRE WHEELS: true or replace?
I have a '72 MGB with original wire wheels. I've got a few questions for
the wise wire wheel sages out there....
2. A couple of the wheels have some little bends on the edge of the rim,
possibly where the previous owner kissed some curbs. Can I hammer these
out, or could the entire wheel be out of round?
Well, yes, and yes, but ...
What does it cost to have a wire wheel trued? Where would I get it
done? Is it worth the expense, or ???
No idea of the cost, trueing a wire wheel is probably not too expensive.
Replacing the spokes, replating, unbending, etc can all be done, at more
cost, but probably a lot cheaper than finding good replacements. There
are little speciality wheel & tire shops that do this, but they can be
hard to find (it took me an hour with various yellow pages to find one
in eastern Massachusetts). Do it. Don't screw with it yourself, or you'll
just mess it up (unless you are very good of course, in which case you're
maybe in the wrong line of work?). It's definitely worth it. For sheer
performance, buy some good alloy wheels (like Panasports). But "good"
wire wheels are, well, downright "sexy"...
3. Someone told me about some wide rubber band things I should put around
the wheel to cover the dimples where the spokes connect. I presume this
is to prevent inner tube chafing. I have lots of MGB catalogs (Moss,
etc.)
but no one shows these things. Am I dreaming?
Hallucinating, maybe...but I have seen 'em for bicycles...
-RDH
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