Dean Zywicki asked about aftermarket wheels for Spridgets...
The Spridget shares its bolt pattern with (ugh) Vegas and Monzas/Skyhawks of
decades past. As I remember, it is a 4 hole on 4" circle (shorthand = 4on4).
So...look/ask for Monza/Vega wheels, and see what you can find. Locally, I
can only get ARW *butterflies* - way too much flash for my lbcs.
My '72 Midget came w/Monza factory alloys in 13"x6" which, w/205/60R13 tires
fit under the car with 1/4" spacers in the back, and no rubs, even tho the
car has been lowered about 1.5". These are rare, at least around here.
The 5.5" width sounds about right, and pay attention to the backspacing (the
distance from the inside tire bead to the surface which seats against the
hub). Anything wider or with more backspacing will cut into your ability to
turn tightly - the tire or wheel runs into the end of the sway bar.
If your car has the "square" wheel arches, you will want to take all this
with a grain of salt, as mine has "round" arches, and I do not know what, if
any, differences may exist.
While you're at it, going to alloys will likely require 7/16" lug studs.
this mod makes lotsa sense anyway. the front is no problem - just make sure
the hubs bolt up to the disks correctly, but watch the thickness of the
"head" of the studs in the back - they can hit the wheel cylinders, with bad
results. This is one place you do not want to cut corners.
I thought (before the Midget, which came with 4 sets of wheels) about getting
a set of Centerlines w/the correct offset (any 4-bolt pattern), and having a
machine shop drill another set of holes for my car. THis being possible on
account of the wheel being a plain disk. You would NOT want to auto-x or
race on those, but they'd look ok, and aren't too pricey.
Good Luck, and keep us posted.
Ernest Davis
wily1@aol.com
9/8/93, 13:15
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