Nory wrote:
> I couldn't help noticing that you converted to wire wheels. Did you use
> one of the wire wheel conversion kits the suppliers sell (rather than
> switching hubs and half-shafts from a donor car)? If so, how do you
> like it? Do they look good? Is it very noticeable that it's
> "different" than a "real" wire wheel car?
Hi Nory - I used the conversion kits for the rear, they help to compensate
for the rostyle axle being wider that the wire axle. The front wire hubs are
standard. The alternative would be to have replaced the axle and handbrake
cable, at least. I am well pleased with the result, the chrome wires look
brilliant (in both senses of the word) against the Black Tulip, although it
takes about an hour to wash, dry, polish and buff each wheel. Being a summer
car I generally only have to give them the full works a couple of times a year.
If you compare the tyre - arch spacing at the rear you can see the conversion
is
different - less clearance - and this caused me a problem with rubbing on
cornering. At first I thought it was tired springs, but OEM replacements were
little better. It only became a real problem with two-up and luggage on a trip
to Jersey this year. As we were taking the car to France a couple of months
later I felt I had to do something, and after discussions with a local parts
supplier who had examples of cars with various springs, including an add-on
booster spring, I opted to replace the springs again, but with rubber bumper
springs instead of chrome. These are quite a bit harder to cope with the
additional weight, but 'shorter' to give the correct ride height on a rubber
car. After bedding in the front is about 1/8 inch higher and the rear about
one
and a half inches higher. The rubbing has stopped except on hard cornering
fully laden, and the roll and dive are dramatically reduced.
Cheers,
PaulH.
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