Bobtaylor Posted April 19, 2020 Report Share Posted April 19, 2020 HI, I have an almost stock Vitesse 1600, except that it had Herald 3.5" rims when I bought it. I have since fitted 4.5" spitfire wheels but would really like the correct 4.5" steel wheels as would have been fitted originally. With so many cars sporting minilites and other types of aftermarket wheels I am hoping that someone has a set of 4 or 5 they would like to sell. Cana any one help? Cheers Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.vitesse Posted April 19, 2020 Report Share Posted April 19, 2020 Only very late 1600 and 2 Litre models had 4.5" Rims. The most 1600's had 3.5" rims. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted April 19, 2020 Report Share Posted April 19, 2020 I am assuming you have fitted Mk4 or 1500 Spitfire Rims otherwise Spitfire wheels should be the same as the Vitesse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobtaylor Posted April 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hi, one pic shows the original wheel the second with the spitfire wheel. Both tyres are 155 , but the external measurement of the spitfire tyre is almost 1' more than the original. I can therefore only deduce that the original is 3.5" although my workshop manual says that vitas 1600 were fitted with 4.5" rims. I would prefer to re fit original style wheels, but 3.5: is just a bit too skinny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 Yes Mk4 rims. I have a set of those for my Vitesse 6 though at present it is sitting on 4.5" Vitesse rims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobtaylor Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 I will just keep on the lookout for 4.5" steel wheels. Cheers Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Rimmers list steel wheels for the Vitesse in various sizes but 4.5 shows as out of stock, didn't realize they were that expensive. Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobtaylor Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 I am quite happy to refurb an old set of wheels. With so many cars having aftermarket wheels I would have thought that there would be loads of original 4.5" rims lying around. Maybe people are hanging on to them in case that want to revert to originality? I am sure some will come up eventually. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, Bobtaylor said: Maybe people are hanging on to them in case that want to revert to originality? Not quite. I have a pair sitting in my shed but I'm planning to refurb the Vitesse's ones eventually and I'll probably pick the best five from the seven in total. The two in the shed are already the least good of the seven I had, because five of them got refurb'd for the Spitfire (reverting to original from the Mk3 GT6 wheels it had). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 At one stage I had lots of wheels lying about, maybe two dozen or so, then sold a lot off or gave them away; sadly I forgot to check them and ended up giving away mismatched sets of 4.5s and 3.5s - it was hard to tell with the tyres on and I just grabbed the nearest. I had to buy one 4.5j to make up a set for my GT6 from Chic Doig and it wasn't cheap - he'll have them, as will most of the breakers, but they're more sought after than the 3.5s and the price will reflect that. I was lucky enough to buy a full set of 4.5s at Stafford for £40, and they're going on the Herald, but that was a lucky one-off and I snapped them up on sight. At present I have seven or eight 3.5s, both narrow and wide slot but obviously want a full matching set of four, and this lockdown thing has scuppered most of the shows and autojumbles which I would advise as the first place to look. Easiest way to tell is to place a coin on the lip of the wheel - a 1p overhangs on the 3.5 but sits nicely edge to edge on the 4.5 in the photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 One of the Vitesse I bought came with a set of 5.5J steel wheels, never used them as happy enough with the standard wheels. Colin's 1P test. Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 What big wheels you have, Grandma....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 What expensive wheels you have grandma.... 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Spitfire graveyard may have some?. I always found them very friendly and co operative and very reasonable prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potey Posted April 30, 2020 Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 Hi Bob I have a set of steel wheels from my triumph/Vincent hurricane car, not sure what theyre off but I have a photo of it and it measures 5.5" from outer edge of rim to other outer edge! They will need restoring though. they are 13" Let me know if they are suitable cheers colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potey Posted April 30, 2020 Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 On 21/04/2020 at 10:54, Bobtaylor said: I am quite happy to refurb an old set of wheels. With so many cars having aftermarket wheels I would have thought that there would be loads of original 4.5" rims lying around. Maybe people are hanging on to them in case that want to revert to originality? I am sure some will come up eventually. Bob Hi Bob see my above post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted April 30, 2020 Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 They have the look of 1300fwd wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted April 30, 2020 Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 1 hour ago, thescrapman said: They have the look of 1300fwd wheels. Yes, that centre is very pronounced. It looks the same as this 1300 version: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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