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Gt6 mk3 wheels


ASP123

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The ones on EBay are the 5.5j wide wheels that were never actually fitted as OEM to the GT6 or Spitfire.  They look good and enable wider tyres to be used but make for very heavy steering on a GT6 with the boat anchor of an engine up front.  The price is about correct for that type.  Solid ones would probably be £100 more.

the “correct” 4.5J wheels should be about £50 for a set.

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3 minutes ago, Waynebaby said:

But that is the going rate for 5.5 oval hole wheels. I am not convinced they were ever a factory fit to the GT6 anyway, but then again there are quite a few about. MAybe a dealer option back in the day?

Original would have been 4.5 wide wheels, same pattern. I have a set here that would need a refurb free if anybody wants them, but I am not packaging them up or waiting in for anybodies courier!

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Same wheel I believe. But always watching the offset, there are at least 2 versions out there!

I wonder if the popularity is that they were easily (cheaply? certainly cheaper than alloys) available. 

If dealers did fit them when new, I wonder what sized tyres were fitted? 

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I have a set of the Spit/GT6 oval hole wheels on my Vitesse Mk2, I brought a set of 5 wheels, 2/4.5in and 2/5 inch & 1/5.5in wheels from a fellow club member then had them re-rolled to straighten and remove any flange damage (Lindsey's frilly rim) then sandblasted and finally powder coated silver, initial purchase price was around $130. the finished cost about $700.

They replaced a set of Australian Performance Minilite replica's 5.5in (trade) for $750. which I'd LOST to my daughters Mk2 Spit, they were purloined by her! Her original wheels were std Spit Mk2 steel wheels which had been widened to 5.5in, by what was called reversed rim ie Formula Ford style.

I think the Spit oval holed wheels look great but the Minilites set the Spit off.

Isn't there two different types of slots on Spit wheels?

Peter T

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17 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

Isn't there two different types of slots on Spit wheels?

Peter T

Early Spitfires used the same pattern of wheel as the Herald; from the 1300 Mkiv onwards they used the Dunlop oval hole versions.

I don't know if the oval holed versions were any different during their manufacture, other than the width eg 3.5J, 4.5J etc but you'll find people these days selling TR7 wheels as 'rectangular slot' Spitfire wheels.

 

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The standard oval hole wheels were 4.5J and were fitted to all MKIV Spitfires, most 1500 Spitfires and all GT6 MKIIIs.

There is anecdotal evidence that some of the late 1500 Spitfires were sold with 5J oval hole wheels that were factory fitted.

The 5.5J Oval hole wheel was NOT a factory option, nor was it a dealer fit option - although there may have been a few people that persuaded the dealer to fit them.

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These Oval Hole style wheels were also fitted to the Dolomite 1500 SE Model too, with Stainless steel rim embellishment's?

Some of the very last standard range Dolomites manufactured around late 1980 also had these 5J Oval Hole wheels fitted, presumably to use up stock with the Shut down of the Canley Factory for car production😢 

Regards

Gary 

 

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Attached is a photo of my daughters Minilite replica wheels with our home made Triumph World hubcaps.

The cap consists of a 45 or 50mm dia uPVC pressure pipe blank end which is slightly domed at the end, with the outside slightly turned down by bolting it into a drill chuck using a long bolt they were turned down just enough to fit the wheel hole, painted silver, and with the standard Aluminum Triumph World Logo badge bolted onto the domed end. For added security I put a narrow strip of the soft Velcro around the outside of the painted tube/blank end to ensure it was a tight push in fit.

The wheels are Australian Superlite/Performance at the time made in South Aus, 13in dia, tyres are Michilin, which luckily we get free (son works there!)

This was all done around 15 years ago

Regards

Peter T

Home Made Triumph World Minilite Hub caps.jpg

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35 minutes ago, thescrapman said:

The last year or 2 of 1500 production were all fitted with 5J rims.

The SE dolomite rims are a different offset think. 

 

I wonder if the wheels changed with the steering column change etc? That was 77 I think?? And yes, pretty sure dolly wheels are a bit different. Are we surprised BL went under?

I am still intrigued why there are so many sets of 5 1/2j oval slot wheels out there. Nobody seems to really know, but surely they can't  all have been aftermarket?

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2 hours ago, thescrapman said:

The last year or 2 of 1500 production were all fitted with 5J rims.

The SE dolomite rims are a different offset think. 

My brothers Dolly had Marina rims on the back I think it was, more outward offset so filled the arches better

I found out the offset problem when trying to put Doly Sprint wheels on my 1st Mk2 Vitesse back in the 80's😦

I had to use wheel spacers?

At the front to stop the wheels fouling the Brake Caliper, (about 1/2 inch if I remember correctly) and about a 1/4" spacers on the rear to stop them fouling the Lower Wishbones I think it was🙁 

Gary

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Sprint Wheels need an horrific amount of spacer to work on a Herald/Vitesse.  Had them on mine briefly but had vibration and fear-of-death issues so bought a Dolly to put them on!

Have a nice set of 5" oval hole wheels on the GT6 which are a perfect fit on the front but too narrow/inset on the back with Roto suspension.  Will probably get a pair of my standard 4.5" banded to 6" for the rear.

Nick

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