Minilite type wheels

[lotuselanman]

Gidday,
A bit of advice required.
We have a +2S, it has been along term resto.
My wife is presently in the UK for a fair period, St Albans.
I would like a set of Minilite type wheels with 5 or 5.5 wide rims but with 14 or better still 15" diameter with either bolt on or centre attachment. Not necessarily Minilites but those that look as such.
Why taller, they look magic on the Spyder site and ours will have a well tweaked Zetec engine on EFI so hopefully there will be a fair power spread.
Can you help me ?
Thanks,
Les.

[steveww]

www.minilite.co.uk they still make them and can build anything to order.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

"Two Gates" wheels used to provide the 14" x 6J wheels for Spyder.
Knock on or bolt on.
Have a look at "Image" wheels, they don't do the knock ons but can provide Minilite look-alikes as split rims in any diameter, width & offset you want.
Check out the recent threads on this subject for "Elans"

Cheers
John

[jono]

2 gates went bust. They used to supply Caterham and the quality is, er, not very good.

At Donny on Sunday Spyder were selling Minilites for knock on hubs which looked very nice. Proper branded Minilites too, albeit not magnesium.

I think 14" inch is what is recommended.

[rdssdi]

Years ago, I purchased a set of 5 from Spyder with the chassis and other components. As the exchange rate was favorable to the U.S. dollar at the time they were quite reasonable.

I have received mixed reviews as to the safety of the two gates minilite pattern wheels.

What is the cost for a set of 4 "real" minilites KO for my +2?

14" by 6J?

Bob

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Some time ago someone mentioned that a "Two Gates" wheel broke on a racing Elan, this threw the maker into a bit of disrepute on this forum although others mentioned that on road going cars the wheels should be fine.
My Zetec Elan with 185 bhp & loads of torque is still being hammered around on a set of those wheels after the rebuild 6 years ago.
Admitedly I have not knocked up big mileage but I am not worried about my wheels.
Famous last words
John

[rdssdi]

Apparently the problems are sporadic and as far as I can determine caused by poor quality controls of lax manufacturing standards.

I purchased my wheels about 6 years ago. I have had a Long restoration. I will continue to look for failure reports on these wheels and price a set of 4 minilites.

Bob

[stuartgb100]

Bob,

As previously posted, check this link:

Minilite,Minilite wheels,historic and classic car wheel ...Manufactured in the UK, Tech Del Minilite wheels are low pressure die cast, pressure tested, batch x-rayed and machined using the latest computer controlled ...
www.minilite.co.uk/

I bought my set direct from Tech Del (I think).

If you check the link, you will find a list of their US importers/dealers.
Maybe better to finalise your requirements stateside, even if you end up ordering from the uk?

Regards,
Stuart.

[stuartgb100]

Les,

Sorry, forgot you !

See their site also, for Boss Enterprises in Aus.

Regards,
Stuart.

[msd1107]

Les,

No mention of concern about either weight or cost.

The original steel wheel was homologated at about 5.6kg/12.5lb (from memory), rather light weight for a steel wheel.

Minilite wheels used to be light weight. However, their current 14X6 wheels are in the 14lb range, which may be of some concern to you.

The 185/60-14 tires Minilite (and Spyder) use are smaller than the stock 165-13 tires on your current car (185/60-14 is 915 rev/mile, 165-13 is 887 rev/mile, 155-13 is 912 rev/mile, 185/55-15 is 904 rev/mile).

The 185/60-14 vs 165-13 odometer will read 3.2% fast and should use the speedometer drive gear for the next higher differential ratio. IE use the one for a 3.55 if you currently have 3.77, use the one for 3.77 if you have 3.9, weep silently if you have the 3.55.

Interesting you should mention 15in wheels. A 185/55-15 tire is much closer in size to your current tire (See above, and a 195/55-15 is 887 rev/mile - the same as your current 165-13 if you can squeeze a 195 section under your fenders).

However, a 15X6 wheel (the minimum recommended width for 185/195 section width tires) will be quite a bit heavier (the weight scales as the square of the wheel size, and also increases as the wheel width).

http://www.superlite-wheels.com/wheelpage.asp?cat=5 offer a Lotus 26R style magnesium wheel if you feel the need to substantially lighten your wallet.

Minilite has a US distributor http://www.minilitewheels.us/ They require you to request pricing for anything, but offer 14X6 and 15X6 sizes, and also possibly in magnesium.

Good luck

David
1968 36/7988

[msd1107]

The new Minilite is more responsive than a couple of years ago.

A set of 15X6 aluminum Minilites is around $1160 in the States, including shipping. However, each wheel is around 20 lbs!

A 15X6 magnesium wheel is around 13 lbs. But no price quote, only a general statement that each magnesium wheel is not too different than a set of aluminum wheels.

Superlite wheels has a minilite pattern aluminum wheel in the ultralite series at about 14.8 lbs. Unfortunately, their billet wheels at 12.8 lbs are not available in a minilite style.

It is rather difficult to ascribe corporate direction and philosophy from a few casual interactions, but it appears Minilite has moved away from the market the Lotus owners represent. The days of the 9.5 lb 13" wheel are gone.

Panasport has done the same. I have weighed their wheels, and they are the same weight as the Minilite wheels.

3000 lb sedans are much more numerous than a few orders per year from 1500 lb 40 year old cars.

It is unfortunate, since I am sure they still have the old drawings, and could produce the old pattern wheels, even if they are labeled for off road use only.

Some companies are different. When I had my Mk II Jaguar sedan, I could still get Michelin tires. There were only a few cars that used that size tire, but Michelin would make one production run a year for the expected demand so that faithful Michelin buyers could still get their tires.

David
1968 36/7988

[lotuselanman]

Gidday,
Jeez there is a fair bit of info to digest here.
Thanks very much.
Les.

Ps those 26R wheels look the part ay !!

[robcall]

And-according to this site-"care and repair of Lotus steel wheels"- a reproduction steel wheel weighs in at 15lbs.
So its not only the Minilites which have put on the beef!

[RotoFlexible]

It is rather difficult to ascribe corporate direction and philosophy from a few casual interactions, but it appears Minilite has moved away from the market the Lotus owners represent. The days of the 9.5 lb 13" wheel are gone.

Panasport has done the same. I have weighed their wheels, and they are the same weight as the Minilite wheels.

Ray at RD Enterprises lists the bolt-on 13x5 Panasport wheel at 9.5 lb, the knock-on at 11.25 lb. I haven't weighed them myself but Ray probably wouldn't list that weight if he didn't believe it was true.

[twincamman]

I purchased a set of pansport for my Europa 13 x 5.5 and have a wheel lug problem as the wheel ionly allows 6 turns of the wheel nut ----so Im searching for suitable longer lugs ----just a point to keep in mind ---the thickness of the wheel ----ed