[Tigers] Factory steel wheels wanted

[TIGEROOTES at aol.com]

Steve,

Tiger wheels and late Alpine wheels are visually identical with the hubcaps 
on, but they are not the same wheel.

The lug holes on Tiger wheels are not simply a punched hole as found on 
Alpine wheels: stock Tiger steel wheels have a much larger reinforced formed 
area that can (allegedly) handle the additional torque and that 'area of the 
wheel' is similar to early Alpine wheels.

Sorry, I don't currently have photos available to send to you to show the 
difference because of a hard drive crash.

I learned about this the hard way: I literally tore the center out of a 
stock Alpine 5 wheel in about 1980 ... my right-front wheel left the car (it 
tucked into the fenderwell - then shot out like a launched depth charge) but 
the lug nuts were tight, holding on small portions of the lug area of the 
stock wheel.

Anyway, unless you are certain you have "big-lug" wheels, I suggest you 
don't autocross your car.

Jim Leach    Pacific Tiger Club     Seattle

... PS I have been told very late Tigers used the Alpine small-lug wheels 
and that's spooky.