On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Richard Ceraldi-ERC004 wrote:
> Mike, Are you sure of this? I have always heard you have to cut the
> studs shorter for wire wheels.
Hi Richard,
While this will not be the definitive answer you are probably after, maybe
it will be enough. I have a '70 Spit that originally came with steel
wheels. When I decided to put wires on it and began to assemble the
needed bits, I too remembered hearing that you needed short studs. I
looked high and low (through the factory parts manual, the Big Three
catalogs, John Kipping, etc..) for a part number for shorter studs and
could not find them. I did find a different part number for the lug nuts,
but that's it.
On a lark, I fitted a splined hub and a wheel and found, lo and behold,
everything fit properly - there was plenty of clearance between the inside
of the hub on the wheel and the studs. I fitted the hubs and wheels with
the stock studs in place (remember, the car came from the factory with
steel wheels) and drove many thousands of miles on them with no problems.
>From my experience, I think the reason I could not find a part number for
shorter studs is because there never were shorter studs - they're not
needed! I think my (and your?) confusion about this comes from the fact
that shorter studs _are_ required for the TR3-6 range of cars. When you
convert these cars to wires you must change to the shorter studs, or cut
down your longer ones, to avoid having the wheel foul the studs.
> Is it possible you have only a few threads engaging when going back the
> steel wheels because they are already shortened for wires?
No, the car originally had steel wheels and I did not alter the studs when
the wires were fitted.
> How about providing a dimension for the amount of stud sticking out from
> the front of your brake drum.
Let me know if you still want this info. (It might be a while before I
can get to it though...)
A final word about the lug nuts. As I mentioned, I did find two part
numbers for lug nuts: one for steel wheels and one for wires. I went
ahead and bought the ones specified for wire wheels and found that they
were very similar (but not quite identical) to the ones holding my steel
wheels in place. In retrospect, the original lug nuts would probably have
worked fine although I went ahead and used the new ones. Remember that
this is an early Spit so did not have the "acorn" type lug nuts - If your
car has these, the new nuts would be required.
> Wondering in Texas,
Hope this helps,
Mike Burdick
'70 Spit Mk3
Omaha NE
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