Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Posted: **Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:10 pm**

Old English White wrote:Alex ,
Better ask Doug , as he has 13" Minilite's on its blue S4 ...
On "OEW" -an S3 and thin round wheel arches on centered chassis-, the thickness of the rim made me use the file on the rear bolt and A-frame , same as many racers , and so far no problems . For the front , the tyre can rubb the inner arch ,then brake it. Some of us could say a word on that , I allready read that story on the forum ...
BTW , I will be interested to see 14" Minilite's on an S3 ...
Christian.

If my mind is not playing me tricks, Worzel and I had a conversation regards the 13" minilites before I bought mine. His advice was to go with smaller springs as per Alex, then get a middle of the road offset, (that is offset on the inside of the wheel). This is where my mind tricks come in, I think minilite say they can supply in various offsets up to 105mm. I have seen it said on here before that no 2 Elans sit on the chassis the same. I suppose any of you may have come across this at some stage.
I went for 95mm and with a little rear bolt adjustment :wink:

they fit superb.
Now I must admit the front of my Elan rides about 1" to 1 1/2" too high for my liking and when a eventually lower it, I too may have some front wheel issues to correct, as Christian says, but hoping I haven't.
Hope this helps with your decisions guys.
By the way I saw about 4-5 Elans with Minilites fitted at Snetterton last weekend. So I think it's all about you pays your money and takes your chance.
Oh! 1 other thing, at present I have the standard 155 x 13 tyres fitted.

Doug.

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:01 am**

.....and if anybody is interested in my silver Minilites (Not sure about the size but they are what Spyder recommends for the Zetec conversion), I reckon I'd let them go for 200.

Rich

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:27 am**

DHC Sprint Guys... 1972 born. Reg'd begin 1973...

Brilliant info guys. Doug? you have minilites on the same car or ser 4? I am happy to fit 13''ers if need be.

Thanks.

Richard..Made your mind up yet?

Alex.

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:18 am**

RichardS wrote:Alex and Richgilb [another Richard?]

Just got this email back from Russ at Minilite regarding prices:

Please see below prices which include UK delivery for black with polished
rim knock-on Minilite wheels.

MA1350P 5.0x13 ?103.00 each + vat
MA1355P 5.5x13 ?107.50 each + vat
MA1360P 6.0x13 ?113.00 each + vat
MA1455P 5.5x14 ?124.00 each + vat
MA1460P 6.0x14 ?130.00 each + vat

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:19 am**

RichardS wrote:Alex and Richgilb [another Richard?]

Just got this email back from Russ at Minilite regarding prices:

Please see below prices which include UK delivery for black with polished
rim knock-on Minilite wheels.

MA1350P 5.0x13 ?103.00 each + vat
MA1355P 5.5x13 ?107.50 each + vat
MA1360P 6.0x13 ?113.00 each + vat
MA1455P 5.5x14 ?124.00 each + vat
MA1460P 6.0x14 ?130.00 each + vat

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:20 am**

How typical. Mine are the most expensive size - 6 x 14. Well, at 200 quid, that makes my silver ones look like a bargain. Any takers? I have to do it. I guess the bolt versions are the same price? I also guess they would not discount if they had to deliver to different addresses? RichardS, where do you live?

Rich

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:21 am**

richgilb wrote:How typical. Mine are the most expensive size - 6 x 14. Well, at 200 quid, that makes my silver ones look like a bargain. Any takers? I have to do it. I guess the bolt versions are the same price? I also guess they would not discount if they had to deliver to different addresses? RichardS, where do you live?

Rich

Rich

Have sent you a pm. Have just spoken to Sean at Spyder who says that the 14 x 6.0 normally fit the Sprint but can be fiddly - so I am wondering about fiddling with some second hand ones first and perhaps the black ones at a later date!

Richard

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:42 am**

Yes, Spyder fitted 14 x 6 minilites to my +2 (pictured)....so I guess I will have no problem. What is a pm?

Rich

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:40 pm**

Spoke to Russ at Minilite - interestingly he says they supply Spyder. [I think Spyder used to have someone else manufactiring them].

Sean at Spyder suggested avoiding the 13" wheels as they can foul the wishbone bolt heads and he does not condone filing them down! Iam not sureif this the same with the standard suspension [I have the Spyder RSC] - may influence your decision Alex.

Richard

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:58 pm**

I fitted 13" Minilites on standard Elan rear suspension. The head bolts needed one of the flats chamfered (to create about 2mm clearance) but IMO this isn't anything that would compromise the strength of the bolt. However, my biggest problem was eccentricity of the wheel on the original hub which, had I kept the old hubs, would have required an additional 2 mm to be taken off, which would have then required part of the wishbone journals and bush sleeves to be filed away.

I replaced with TTR hubs. Now the wheel runs with about 1mm clearance from the wishbone journals so it is quite tight, and if the position of the bushes in the wishbone was slightly different it would bind.

Paddy

Posted: **Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:28 pm**

paddy wrote:
I replaced with TTR hubs. Now the wheel runs with about 1mm clearance from the wishbone journals so it is quite tight, and if the position of the bushes in the wishbone was slightly different it would bind.

Paddy

ie its never straight forward and always takes longer than anticipated ,,, and costs a fortune!!

Richard

Posted: **Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:18 pm**

alexblack13 wrote:DHC Sprint Guys... 1972 born. Reg'd begin 1973...

Brilliant info guys. Doug? you have minilites on the same car or ser 4? I am happy to fit 13''ers if need be.

Thanks.

Richard..Made your mind up yet?

Alex.

Alex,
Not quite sure what you are asking, my Elan is J reg 1970 S4 SE I suppose somewhere near to the end of the S4 and the beginnings of the Sprint.
Personal opinion here, if you look at the picture of the +2 14" wheels they have a ridge around the centre, just out from the bolts. Even though my minilites are centre fixing they do not have this ridge. My mate has a +2 with centre fixing 14" and I do not like them as much as the 13" because of this.

Doug.

Posted: **Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:23 am**

dougweall wrote:
alexblack13 wrote:DHC Sprint Guys... 1972 born. Reg'd begin 1973...

Brilliant info guys. Doug? you have minilites on the same car or ser 4? I am happy to fit 13''ers if need be.

Thanks.

Richard..Made your mind up yet?

Alex.

Alex,
Not quite sure what you are asking, my Elan is J reg 1970 S4 SE I suppose somewhere near to the end of the S4 and the beginnings of the Sprint.
Personal opinion here, if you look at the picture of the +2 14" wheels they have a ridge around the centre, just out from the bolts. Even though my minilites are centre fixing they do not have this ridge. My mate has a +2 with centre fixing 14" and I do not like them as much as the 13" because of this.

Doug.

If I remember correctly, way back when, the Minilite Wheels were made only in Magnesium Alloy & were expensive.
The company introduced the Minilite "Sport" range made from Aliminium Alloy to reduce cost & make them affordable for road use.
All of that range had the "Ridge" running around the centre, which did nothing for their "Street Cred'"

Cheers
John

Posted: **Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:03 pm**

Just spoken to Andy at Spyder.....he does the Minilite copies pictured in the link for ?80 + Vat without colour, ?85 +VAT if you want colour on the spokes (or was it 85 and 90. Anyway, cheap). He says they are from the same manufacturer that Minilite use. I guess this is also for the largest size, since he knows I have a Zetec.

http://www.spydercars.co.uk/QP1G0067.jpg

So does anyone want my old wheels?

Posted: **Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:28 pm**

Thanks for all the advice and especially to Brian Clark for his information - I have taken the plunge and bought and fitted black minilites with polished rims and I think they look superb!

This is what I went for:

5 1/2 x 14" black minilites with polished rims. 115mm back space. I bought these directly from Minilite

Yokohama A-DRIVE 175/65 R14 H (82) [Vredesteins of the same size were not available anywhere]. My local garage couldn't supply these so I ordered from http://www.blackcircles.com who were very efficient. They cost ?167 for 4 delivered. My local garage fitted and balanced them.

Did a few miles this morning and the set up feels good - and achieves my original aim of keeping the black wheel + chrome rim effect I was looking for.

Richard

Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

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Re: Black minilites - any pics out there?

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