Many thanks to those who identified the mag wheels I described a couple of
weeks ago....mid 70's era Capri II wheels. I have just finished
installing them on my Tiger with 185/70/13 tires, and IMHO they look
pretty good. I thought the following comments about the fitting process
might be useful to someone else. I don't see why they would not be equally
suitable for an Alpine, though there might be an increased risk of body
interference at the rear.
The wheels are 5 1/2-J-13 and have the standard Sunbeam bolt pattern with
3/4" stud holes. The Capri nuts come with sleeves which exactly take up
the gash space, and with shoulder washers.
Front axles. When first checking out the fit, I thought that I was going
to have to lightly machine the inside corner of the hub opening on the
mags in order to clear the Sunbeam hub shoulder, so that the mag could lie
flat on the stud flange. However, I discovered from my supply of Sunbeam
front hubs that there is quite a range of variance in the height of the
first shoulder rising from the flange. Provided the height of this first
shoulder is no greater than 0.15", then there is adequate clearance for
the mag to sit correctly. With heights greater than that, there is a risk
of interference with the inside surface of the mag which would prevent
proper seating of the wheel. I found two hubs with less than 0.15" at that
shoulder, but several others with heights up to 0.3", which cause serious
interference problems. Once the wheel is mounted properly on the flange,
you will be pleased to know that there is JUST clearance at the steering
ball joints, and minimum, but adequate clearance at the top suspension
arm. There appears to be no risk of body interference.
Rear axles. The only concern here is to ensure that the wheel mounts
flush....there are no interference problems. In order to do that, with the
Sunbeam brake drum which has a raised outer portion, a 1/4" spacer is
required. I fabricated one for each side out of 1/4" Aluminum, and found
that this gave me a minimum but adequate gap at the raised portion of the
drum. Again no problems with body interference.
That said, the car is still in my basement awaiting more genteel weather,
so the practical side of this evolution will have to wait.
John Slade
Manotick, ON
B9470349
B9401380
|