Tim:
The old steel rims may or may not be in a condition to straighten. If there is
obvious damage or if you believe a wheel has been repaired I would advise
against using the old wheels for anything but for shows. The most common area
of stress and fatigue on the steel wheels is the area around the bolt holes. If
you want to use the old wheels for a daily driver then I would have them
magnefluxed and be prepared to have some repair work done if cracks are
revealed. Naturally you'll want to do this before any refurbishing work
commences. You will not need to use tubes on your steel wheels unless you mount
a tube type tire, though some oweners use tubes anyway. In summation, you could
possibly end up spending almost as much per wheel refurbishing the old rims as
you may spend on new Panasport wheels! I would highly recommend the Panasports.
You can buy wheel that look similar for less from the Big Three or any discount
Moss re-seller, but they are not as good. The Panasports have a very
durable finish and are quite lovely!
I have a set of original wheels that I sand blasted and spray painted and
mounted with 195/75x15 redline tires that I use only for the local car show.
For daily driving my car has 15x6 Panasports with 205/65 tires. Yes, they are a
bolt on item with no modifications needed. Paga
A word about tire size: For older car like our's wider is not necessarily
better for a car driven on the road. (Racing is another matter.) The suspension
geometry, bearings, etc. were designed for a fairly narrow tire. The original
tire was 185R15 and according to an article in Moss's "British Motoring" had an
aspect ratio of about 82. If ultra wide, sticky tires are mounted to a TR6 it
puts more stress on the suspension than it was designed to withstand and
changes the geometry. The steering will be heavy, sluggish and the wide tires
will make the car "wander" over bumps. I would not mount anything wider than a
205 width tire (let the flames begin!) on a road car. Personally, I prefer the
way the car drives with the 195/75 tires! It feels more nimble and has better
steering feel. I am thinking seriously about replacing the 205/65 tires on the
Panasports with 205/70 or 195/75 size tires. You can get these tires with
redlines (if you want them) from Diamondback Tires Coker Tires and
Hendrix Wire Wheel. http://www.widewhitewalltires.com/index.htm
http://www.cokertire.com/store/customer/home.php?cat=255http://www.hendrixwirewheel.com/tires.html
Hope this helps, Tim.
Jim Jones
'72 Emerald
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