Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Many thanks Bill!
The reason I wanted to know the measurement is because I just bought a set of 6 inch Revolution wheels (I am a fan of the Revolution look) from Bob Leitzinger who you may know. They came off a racing Elan and have a 4 inch set-back. I wonder if I am going to have to modify the inner rear wheel arches?

David,

I've used 13 X 6.0 and 13 X 5.5 Revolution Wheels (both 40 years ago and currently) with back space up to 3.75 inches and only with an Avon tire that had a section width of 8.5 was there minimal tire rubbing on the rear inner.

I have also used 14 X 6.0 Revolution Wheels with 4.125 back space.

All the above was on a S1/S2 body with 26R arches and stock inner wells.

Wheel rim to spring perch and lower control arm are also tight spots. 2.5 springs and perches are needed for most wheels more that 5.0 inches and of course the outer wheel opening on a stock S1/S2 body is not very friendly to wider rims and tires.

I don't know about 26R bodies produced in the 1960s but most currently produced bodies have expanded inner rear wheel wells like this for tire clearance:



Clark

Sorry again for the thread jack, are there 26r style alloy knock offs available or these five pin wheels?

John, do you want the knock offs or the wheels?

If its the knock offs you need then Dave Bean has a good deal at $65 each (retail).I got a set last week and I am impressed.
They are not polished but they are a fraction of the cost of the ones from the UK.

Bill, thanks for the pictures of the wheel arches. When I raced a 26R in the eighties (with a new, lightweight body) the Avon tires modified the inner wheel arches for me- All I had to do was fill in the holes!

Edit: Clark, thank you for the response and photo-I thought it was from Bill308!

Hi John and Davidb..

Yes, I have 26r style ko's to match the wheels. Mine are polished. I wish I knew about the DBE ko's before my purchase decision last year.

One of the concerns I have with the wheels is whether they are air tight and how much of a concern there will be with corrosion. I believe they are bare, cast and machined. I like this look. Does it make sense to treat them in some way prior to fitment? Is there a way to seal any possible porosity other than painting or power coating? What about anodizing?

John, body mods by Avon?

Bill, I have had the Kelsport wheels on my car for 14 years with no air loss issues. All I did was properly prep and paint them.

I checked with Dave Bean and the only have the 26r thread knock offs, not the stock thread for five pin hubs.

John, I believe DBE make them in-house. Perhaps if a couple of people ordered sets it would make it worth their while?

I already gave them that pitch this morning. Any other interested parties please chime in!

I have the kelsport 26r wheels too with the standard 5 peg drive, I painted mine too.
Only negative I see it that the casting means that the centre does not protrude that far though and using 26r alloy spinners the thread only goes half way through, ..... Okay gets driven a lot and yes I lost a wheel once early on (thankfully in 1st gear) so I do think about it, maybe with steel spinners and not being aware of how much thread you have I guess ignorance us bliss?
Anyway my 2c worth

As an aside currently run yoko a048 175 front and 185 rears looking to replace soon.

I have a set of minilite ko I have to try and see if the thread protrusion is better, will try and remember to post a pic of 2

john1180 wrote:I already gave them that pitch this morning. Any other interested parties please chime in!

John, how did you go with this?

Nothing happened so far. Did not realize that the five pin KO threads might be too short. Interested to hear from anyone using these wheels

john1180 wrote:Nothing happened so far. Did not realize that the five pin KO threads might be too short. Interested to hear from anyone using these wheels

John, my car has 6" minilites and the thread shown is 32mm or 1.25". What is the depth of thread on these.

David, I've been following this thread, because I'm still deciding on which 26R rims to use. 4-pin, 5-pin, or bolt on. I do have some additional information that may help. Original 26R 4-pin rims have a 4.26 inch backspace. The hubs do very in height. Starting with a small bearing 4-bolt front hub (the shortest), a large bearing 4-bolt hub flange is 1/16 inch farther out. A 5-pin hub flange is 1/4 inch farther out. The stated 4 5/8 inch backspace for the 5-pin 26R replica rims correlates back to roughly a 4 1/4 inch backspace on a bolt on rim (for tire placement under the fender). So based on what I know and have learned from this thread, I'm going to make two assumptions. First a 4-pin hub and a bolt on hub have flanges in roughly the same location. Second, to answer your original question, a bolt on 26R rim will have a 4 1/4 inch backspace. When fitting 26R panels on my S2, I've been using 13X6 rims with 3 7/8 inch backspace as a mock-up. It would be nice to have a little more backspace especially at the front. The rear inner mini-tubs are easy to fit, but do interfere with the filler neck. Jay Leno (video) relocated the filler neck on his 26R clone.

Vic