Widen Steelies? Any one....

[Ferrariguyma]

I am considering buying a set of 15x5.5 steelies and having them made into 15x9 and 15x10s. Anyone know who does this kind of work? and a ballpark of what I should expect to spend?

Anyone have pics of 911's running wide steelies?

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

[atlporsche]

stockton wheel in california. they'll also take them to 16" if you wanted.

they'll be heavy...I'm trying to pull the trigger for turbo width ones myself.

sjd

[jtkkz]

My friend widen his steelies on his 67 S

pics

[atlporsche]

cool...now find someone with deep dish turbo sizes.

sjd

[kenikh]

Didn't Gary have Harvey do his?

[jtkkz]

Gary emailed me all the info regarding his widened steel wheels

widened by stockton wheels
6" front
7" rear

tires info:
The Dunlops are;
front: 500L/15 six-inch rim-- tire tread width is 4.7-inches--overall width is 7.4 (I think it's similar to a 185/65-15, although they really look like a 165 to me)
rears: 500M/15 seven-inch rim--tire tread width is 6-inches--overall width is 8.7-inches (I think it's similar to a 220/60-15, although these really look like a 185 to me)

[Walko]

Sorry to hijack this thread does anyone have an idea where I can get a set of stock steelies?

Michael

[lateapex911]

Not to be a wise guy, but why?? Thats a LOT of rotating weight on the front end of a car that has maybe the best steering feel in the world. And unspung weight is enemy #1.

Why not a set of wide Fuchs? light, strong, vintage look...

[Walko]

Different look

Michael

[jwetering]

Originally posted by lateapex911
Not to be a wise guy, but why?? Thats a LOT of rotating weight on the front end of a car that has maybe the best steering feel in the world. And unspung weight is enemy #1.

This could look pretty cool, depending on the car of course. I remember seeing a set of steel wheels, and I honestly can't remember if it was an article or if it was on an Emery outlaw car, but the steel wheels had been drilled and drilled again. Totally swiss cheesed. I recall that 20% of the steel on the face of the wheel had been drilled out. As I type I remember now that it was an article where the drilling was done to mimic an old factory effort to lighten the wheel. A quickie search brought up this image of a "Glockler" Porsche, which had drilled wheels, nut this isn't the look I was thinking of:



Oh, and I found this outfit which will make custome steel wheels for what looks like pretty cheap.

diamond wheels

There's also some chatter on the 914 board.

Anyway the drilled steel wheels looked cool and certainly reduced the weight. Anyone know what the weight of a stock steelie is compared to a set of Fuchs? I think my 8 and 9" Fuchs are actually pretty heavy.

I say go for it, drilled or otherwise and post pics. Heck, I may be tempted.

[lateapex911]

They look cool to be sure...but they're not 10" wide, either!

I just looked at the Diamond website...the weight is very good for a steel 10" wide wheel..under 20 pounds. still not light, but it could be worse. Appearances are another story.

What about Mahle Gas burners? they're a different look..

[Hoffman912]

why not try minilites. they are alloy, very vintage and period for 60s and 70s cars, and come in a veriety of sizes?

[Hoffman912]

Originally posted by lateapex911


What about Mahle Gas burners? they're a different look..

but they dont go as wide as he would like. infact i think the only go to 5.5 or 6 inches wide

[atlporsche]

all the vintage wheels listed don't come in turbo sizes...

I've love a set of superlites for the turbo car, harry, but you can't find 15x10's...or even 17x10's...

mmmm 17x10 minilites...in early offset...

I'm with dude on getting steelies done...I think I'm getting 16x8's and 16x10's...

sjd

[bkreigsr]

Wheel Works. Florence, NJ
"Tim" owner, welder.
609 387 4488

does all the local track guys wheels
has done 2 sets of steelies for me

adding an inch, or 2, or 3 cost around $180/wheel a couple of years ago.

[Shuie]

Go with Stockton Wheel, they do it all the time. If you send them to Harvey, he will send them to Stockton Wheel. The last time I talked with him he said he did it at cost if you were having a set refinished by him.

You will need to specify a backspace. Don't use the word 'offset' with the guys from Stockton. If you have him refinish the wheels, ask Harvey to help spec the wheels. I just measured off of a set standard 7" fuchs, but I don't remember the number.

I paid $35 each for cores from Parts Heaven for mine. Stockton's price to widen and powdercoat was $165 per wheel, IIRC.

The turbo cars were delivered with a different wheel on the spare than what is pictured above. There is a pic of the turbo spare in an old thread I started about steelies somewhere. I've never seen it written anywhere, but my expectation is that the regular steel wheels will not have clearance for turbo brakes. Sourcing Turbo spares as cores is going to be more difficult than the regular steelie cores.

They are going to be really heavy. My cores probably weight 15# each. I expect them to be much heavier after they are widened to 7".

FWIW, the 'Minilites' that are available now are not real lightweight either.

[Shuie]

here's a spare from a Turbo. Ive never seen it confirmed, but I think they are difference because of the brakes. You may want to confirm that you dont need these if your car has turbo brakes.

[Ferrariguyma]

You will need to specify a backspace. Don't use the word 'offset' with the guys from Stockton. If you have him refinish the wheels, ask Harvey to help spec the wheels. I just measured off of a set standard 7" fuchs, but I don't remember the number.


Great information!

Anyone know the backspace I will need if I want to have the wheels sized as 15x7's and 15x8's? and does this number change if I decide to go to 16x7 and 8's?

Thanks in advance for all the advice and help!

Happy 4th everyone.

Andrew

[Jack Olsen]

I've seen steelies widened to 6 and 7, and it looked awesome.

Anything wider than that -- especially in the 10 inch range -- would look silly, in my opinion. I think the steel wheels can look better than Fuchs on the early, narrow cars. But I wouldn't want to see them on a widebody.

But that's just one guy's opinion.

[Shuie]

Originally posted by Ferrariguyma
Anyone know the backspace I will need if I want to have the wheels sized as 15x7's and 15x8's?

BTW, you will ned the backspace measurement in inches for Stockton. Here's the Fuchs chart w/metric backspace measurements and a metric to english calculator.

http://www.psinvention.com/zoetic/convert.htm