Nearly There Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Hello. For reasons I won't go into here I have ended up with a mish mash of wheels on my car. It's gonna be easier to just buy a set of 4 off of another car. Will spitfire 13" 5.5J's fit on a GT6 mk3? In the past I would have just assumed they did, but during the restoration of my car I have discovered that a lot of bits are subtly different between gt6 and spitfire and that wheels can have different offsets leading to wheel rub. I want 175 r13 75 tyres on my car with standard steel wheels.Thankyo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 For that size of tyre you only need 4.5J rims which are much more common (remember lighter wheels = better performance) and Rimmerbros lists these (part number 312046) as being fitted to both Spitfire and GT6.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 I have a set of 4.5J wheels from a Mk3 GT6 that I don't need (although I was thinking of using them as temporary replacements while I get my Vitesse's wheels refurbished) if you felt like making an offer. I'm a bit of a long way from you, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly There Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Thank you for your replies. I just wondered about the 5.5's as I think that's the size rim I had the on the car on the when it was on the road. I currently have 2 x 5.5's (I think these are my original wheels), a 5.5 with a different offset and a 4.5. Had all the wheels powder coated and tyres fitted to them before we realised they didn't match. Damned annoying. Very angry about it (not angry with the current restorers as they are doing their best with what's been a difficult restoration to say the least). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 29 minutes ago, Nearly There said: Had all the wheels powder coated and tyres fitted to them before we realised they didn't match. Damned annoying. I had a set of Mk3 Spitfire / Herald / Vitesse wheels powder coated before realising one of them was a 3.5J but at least I still has a correct set of four. It is annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 1 minute ago, NonMember said: I had a set of Mk3 Spitfire / Herald / Vitesse wheels powder coated before realising one of them was a 3.5J but at least I still has a correct set of four. It is annoying. Ouch yes and for a 3.5J it looks like the max recommended size is only a 145! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Foster Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 4 hours ago, Nearly There said: I want 175 r13 75 tyres I think 175/70 R13 might be the closest option. This works well with 5.5" rims but could be a bit wide for 4.5". As you already have two 5.5" rims you could put those on the rear and find one 4.5" to go with your existing one on the front. 5.5" original pattern steel wheels might be difficult to find and expensive. I did have 13x5.5J steels on my GT6 mk2 for many years before changing to Cobra Supaslots. Both now sold, as I am running 13x5.5 Revolutions (+25mm ET with 6mm spacers). Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 2 minutes ago, Ian Foster said: This works well with 5.5" rims but could be a bit wide for 4.5". My experience with a 175/70 on a 4.5J.13" rims on my Spitfire as purchased was although they fitted, they were too wide leading to lateral instability (wobble). They were replaced by 155/80 tyres which improved the handling. 175 tyres would be better suited to the 5.5" rims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 I thought that spitfires only got 5J for the late years not 5.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Cant see any small chassis car would have got 5.5J as original if the recommended tyre was 155. Looks like the last of the Spitfire went to 5J so maybe they upped the tyre size a little? Rimmers do there own 5.5J steel wheels in the old style as an after market option... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 1 hour ago, GrahamB said: 175 tyres would be better suited to the 5.5" rims. agree with that , had 175 on the orig 4.5rims before swapping onto 5.5alloys and the sidewall balloon is unstable /unsupported Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Yes I think Triumph knew what they were doing using 155... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 or that was just a commonly used tyre of the day on just about everything i remember Cortina's having 155 on 4,5J as an option where as Hunter's had them as standard hey ho !! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly There Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Thank you all for your help. I take it then that Spitfire (Mk4/1500) 13" 5.5j's are compatible with GT6 mk3. I mean, it sems like an obvious thing that they do. I can't see any reason why they would be different. I just thought I would double check before buying any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 The Spitfire Mk4 wheels were 4.5J and are the same wheel as a Mk3 GT6. Only the late 1500s got wider (5J) wheels, which are also fully compatible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly There Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Ah, okay. Thanks Rob. There was a listing for a set of 5.5's on ebay that had come off of a Mk4 Spitfire. The listing has ended now, so missed out on them unfortunately. I will contact the seller to see if they are available though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 i have a local Nr stevenage has a set of 4 spitfire IV wheels with very old tyres for a donation to cats protection you will need to remove the tyres the wheels are as used Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 1 hour ago, Nearly There said: Ah, okay. Thanks Rob. There was a listing for a set of 5.5's on ebay that had come off of a Mk4 Spitfire. The listing has ended now, so missed out on them unfortunately. I will contact the seller to see if they are available though. Don't always trust what the owner says, I have seen quite a few 3.5j early wheels listed as 4.5 as they have a ruler measuring the wrong bit. There were no spitfire 5.5j wheels so the listing was not correct unless maybe Ford or aftermarket wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 23, 2023 Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 wider tyres will add effort to low speed manoeuvres and you wont gain any grip as the footprint is controlled by load and pressures so the contact remains the same unless you change one of the two parameters pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 15 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: wider tyres will add effort to low speed manoeuvres and you wont gain any grip as the footprint is controlled by load and pressures so the contact remains the same unless you change one of the two parameters pete You beat me to it... albeit 14 hours ago. Wider wheels are not always an improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigolf Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 When I bought my Vit in 1981, it had 165 tyres on the rear and 155 tyres on the front...🤔! For some years now, I have been running 175/ 70 tyres on 5J Triumph rims, which I understand is permissable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlubikey Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 Yes, the Mk4 and 1500 Spit were all 4.5J with the so called "oval hole" pattern, and the same wheel was fitted to the GT6 Mk3 too. Did I say all? All except the very last 1500 Spits (1yr or 18 months of production) got 5J oval hole pattern. Dunlop, who made these wheels for Triumph, made a 5.5J wheel for the after-market. I've heard people mention Formula Ford, but they fit Spits and GT6s just fine. These, like the 5J, are visually identical to the standard 4.5J wheel. You may get some rubbing on the front arches with wider tyres (175 and 185), but you can roll the lip of the arch to overcome this. Do I recall someone saying that there may be a problem with wider tyres rubbing on the inner arch at the rear on short shaft cars - that's Mk4 Spits and the GT6s. Can anyone throw any light that? Beware! There is another oval hole 5J wheel made by Dunlop which has completely the wrong offset for our cars. I thought I was getting a bargain at last year's SEM, but it was one of these Cheers, Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 we have a local spitty with 185 and that rubs the rear wheel arch flange on undulating surfaces Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Nock Posted March 26, 2023 Report Share Posted March 26, 2023 I Have a late swing spring MK3 GT6 and it has 175/70 13 Uniroyals and no problem with rubbing but I did fit genuine minilite wheels with the correct off set ,supplied by the Club shop cant remember if they are 5.5 or 6 j Regards keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanT Posted March 27, 2023 Report Share Posted March 27, 2023 Try Spitbitz. They often have sets of wider rims in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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