Wheel Options

[Chris-72-Sprint]

I am thinking about wheel options for my sprint restoration

The current wheels are standard KO's but in poor condition.

Can anyone advise what other KO wheel options exist ......or is it straightforward to switch to bolt on wheels - would this give a wider choice ?

Thanks in advance

James

[1964 S1]

Switching to bolt ons would give a larger choice of wheels BUT it isn't a straightforward job in that I believe you'll have inferior brakes.
Retro fitting usually results in older technology being applied.
Stock knock off wheels in great shape often appear on eBay, personally I'd go that route.

[msd1107]

James,

Hard to say if you have a better selection of wheels in bolt-on rather than knock-off.

The problem is the 3 3/4 PCD which is hard to get now.

Panasport has aluminum wheels available in both bolt-on and knock-off through RD Enterprises and others. Minilite claims to have them in both 13 inch and 14 inch sizes.

Front hubs for bolt-on conversion are available in both cast iron and aluminum for early and late uprights through Dave Bean and others.

Bolt-ons for the rear are much harder. They are a Lotus specific part, and have been unavailable, except through the second-hand market, for some time now. I understand that Tony Thompsom may be producing them now, and maybe some others have them available. I haven't looked since getting my rear bolt-ons.

David
1968 36/7988

[smo17003]

James,

I'm in the process of converting the other way i.e putting K/O's on to my S4. So I have spare, 4 hubs and 4 wheels which appear to be a copy of a minilite wheel - MAG I think. You will also have to change the stub axles in your front uprights. If you are interested in a deal I still need one rear hub and a couple of good wheels.

Mike

[Elanintheforest]

There is an option that you can hunt for, but it may take a bit of tracking down. The Revolution K/O wheels. I bought a set from eBay a couple of months ago for my Plus 2 BDA as I wanted something a little different...and the original owner always wanted Revolutions on it. Beware though, they need adapters to bring the wheels out a little, and the fronts have different offsets to the back, but they fit under the std arches of a Plus 2, so can be made to fit a Sprint as well. They are 14 x 6 in size...see (rather poor) ebay pics. Alternatively, TTR sell the 26r replica wheels and spinners, which look like Revos...maybe they are?

Mike (SMO17003)..if James doesn't want your bolt-on hubs and spindles, can I buy them off you? I'm in the process of (wait for it) converting my S2 from K/Os to bolt ons....... I just fancied the original hub caps!!
And I need 1 bolt-on wheel.
Mark

[smo17003]

Mark,

If James isn't interested they're yours. I only have the hubs though; no front spindles although the front hubs do have new bearings.
I'd be happy to swap for a R/H rear K/O hub.

Mike

[Chris-72-Sprint]

Thanks for the advice, it has given me some things to consider!

Mike - Thanks for the offer but I think I am going to find out how much it would cost to get my KO steel wheels refurbished at this stage before deciding whether to covert to bolt on's so go ahead with Mark.

Mark - I like the revolution wheels. I visited the revolution wheel website and saw that they do 13 x 5.5"" wheels (bolt on) which I really liked the look of. In fact that was the reason I started to look into the bolt on option!

[Elanintheforest]

Mike (smo17003)....My msg to you is still stuck in the outbox...could you email me on [email protected] re the hubs?
Thanks...Mark

[pereirac]

There's usually someone at the Club Lotus shows with steel knock on wheels, about ?90 each if I remember correctly. They look new so may be reproductions? It may be worth talking to the Club?

Carl