Wheels... can anyone identify these wheels

1976fiatspider · Post by **1976fiatspider** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:03 pm

Found this at a local dealer... someone traded it in and I managed to snap it up... turns out it was someones project car and came with a trunk full of goodies... body is iffy... planning to take it to dad's autobody guy for an inspection in the spring.. to tell if its worth putting money into... (grin Of course its worth it!!)

my question....
I am wondering if anyone has seen this style of rim before?? Personally I like them (look real good once the lip is polished up and clean) and would really like to find the same rim but in a 14" or 15" size...
I think that painting the "mesh" center either black or red would dress them up a bit...

thanks for your help!!

http://flickr.com/photos/38097470@N00/?saved=1

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:42 pm

I've only seen a couple of those sets on Fiats, but they were popular on other cars. I have a used set with a different bolt pattern from Fiat. It looks like your set has quite a bit of offset. I'd make sure the front wheel bearings are in good shape since an offset wheel shifts the load onto the outer bearing from the inner bearing

1976fiatspider · Post by **1976fiatspider** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:04 am

hmmm... by offset, do you mean someone has used spacers between the hub and wheel?? I have only had the rear wheels off (to replace shocks) and never noticed any spacers there....
Thanks for the wheel bearing tip... I plan to have a very close look at the suspension this spring... getting lots of good tips/and warnings from the web...

also, you mentioned seeing these rims before... have you seen them in sizes larger than 13" that would have the same bolt pattern??

cheers!!!

Gerard Del Monte · Post by **Gerard Del Monte** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm

No, offset is determined by how centered the attachment plane is on the wheel center. In other words, your ( very attractive ) wheels have a deep offset, it looks like the hub is almost even with the rear lip of the rim. More normally, Fiat wheels are offset a small amount... mine are stamped with a 23 mm offset. Somewhere on your wheel sit should be stamped how deep the offset is.

Not sure how articulate I have been but I hope you catch the drift.

1976fiatspider · Post by **1976fiatspider** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:48 pm

ohhhhh.... I think I get what you mean.... the fact that my wheels have a rather large lip means that it "pushes" or places the tire out further than say a stock spider rim would....

will have to wait till spring to "dig" out the car to have a look at the wheels... having to store it outside this year (cry) hope this is the first and last time I will have to do so!!

cheers!!

brad131a4 · Post by **brad131a4** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:29 pm

Just a little more info on the offset. Positive offset is when the rim is pushed into the car from centerline. It looks as if you have close to 0 offset on those rims. The rims look like they may be some old american racing style rims from the 70's . My friend had some on his spider back in school. I don't think they came in any size other than 13 at the time. I would venture to say that you will find it about impossible to find them in 14 or 15 inch.