Hello again, everyone,
First of all, a big thanks to everyone who responded to my original mail. I
have one of the wheels in my possession right now for testing of offset
and such. What I did notice on closer inspection might be useful to
others out there. The rims that I am looking to buy do not have MINILITE
cast into the outside surface. What they do have is a very small MW
symbol stamped into the backside of the rim on the hub surface space.
The M and the W interlock each other, just as they do on their center cap
stickers (MW, standing for MINILITE Wheels). They also have "Made in
England" stamped into the same backside surface. I was lucky enough
to also talk to the original purchaser of the rims on Saturday. Me
mentioned that the rims were purchased in 1970, and that he had to pay
$105 a piece for them!. The original purchaser stated that the only
MINILITE's that had the name cast into the outside were the later
aluminum design wheels. He also mentioned that the aluminum wheels
have a raised ridge around the center hub of the wheel which
differentiates them from the earlier magnesium wheels. This information
coincides with a response to my original mail (thanks, Chris Robertson),
and a friends NOS set of aluminum wheels. The original purchaser also
mentioned that it wasn't until these aluminum wheels were offered
(approx. 1975) that the aluminum lug nuts appeared. He thought they
looked cool so he purchased a set. The wheels I am looking at have both
the steel and aluminum lug nuts with them. As I am probably boring the
large majority of readers right now I will wrap it up. Oh yeah, one last
thing, the letters/numbers "E7 571 SB" were also stamped into the
backside of the rims. I have no idea what this stands for, but thought I'd
throw it in.
Chad Raynal
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