I did this conversion about 20 yrs ago on my Bugeye with the help of racer
Stan Huntley of FASPEC. His advice was to use the later (stronger) spridget
wire wheel axles from the 1275 cars. Knock out the welch plugs inside the
hubs (air chisel works good) and press the axle out to the length of the disc
wheel axle. About 5/8" if I recall. Install new welch plugs or small rubber
balls to keep the diff fluid from leaking out. I've driven about 20,000
miles since then with no problems, including autox. Someone asked why bother
pressing out the axles which shortens the amount of axle left in the hub. My
guess is the axle is more likely to shear inside the diff rather than at the
hub. Don't know if Stan used this technique on his race sprite or not. Just
my experience, if your wheel falls off, don't blame me!
Rick
In a message dated 10/12/02 2:34:53 PM, jburruso@earthlink.net writes:
<<I'm going to be getting a Bugeye in the near future and will be
configuring it somewhat like an early vintage racer. I would like it to
have have wire wheels.
I've asked the list before and I've gotten two distinctly different
responses. Response one is, you must use an early quarter elliptic rear
end from a wire wheel spridget since the wire wheel shafts are shorter
and will cause big problems.
Response two is, if your not going to race, simply exchange the disk
wheel axles with wire wheel types and don't worry about the difference
in length.
Is there anyone who definitively knows from experience the right way to
go? I've searched the archives and the net and the only links to such a
modification are now defunct.
Thanks in advance.
Joe Burruso
La Crescenta, California
In search of an AN5
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