Subject: RE: Help on Wheels and Color Schemes
>***** NOTES from Jay Laifman (JLAIFMAN (at) PNM) at 9/27/95 11:40a
>There were two blues available for Series II Alpines:
>
> #52, Lake Blue, a mid blue, and
>
> #53, Wedgwood Blue, a light blue.
>
>There was also #61, Quartz Blue Metallic, a pale silvery blue, but used
>only on Series III.
>
>I bought new wire wheels from Valley Wire Wheels (they are about 10 miles
>from me), about 8 years ago and have been very happy. I do not know
>about their wheel restoration abilities. FYI, to my knowledge, the
>Sunbeam wires are the same as the AH Sprite and MG Miget, but not the
>Spitfire. At least that is what the Moss Motor cataloge shows.
>
>As to tires, I have been running Michelin XZX's, which I believe are a
>slightly lower profile (I will check tonight). Depending on your use,
>i.e., freeway vs. city, the rpm can get pretty high unless you keep the
>tires bigger or have an overdrive. My Series V manual says that stock
>tires are 6.00 x 13 "C41" or 5.90 x 13 "RS.5" (optional), and I haven't
>the foggiest ideal what that means as compared to today's tire
>measurements, which I also do not understand (Isn't it something like the
>percentage of the sides to the entire cross cut of the tire?)
>Didn't interiors come in three choices?: Black, black or black?
==========
Thanks for the help on the colors; I'll bet it's the Wedgewood. I talked to
the technical support line at an unnamed east coast Sunbeam parts supplier
who said that Rootes was offering black, blue, red, and a tan upholstery in
the Series 2. Of course, this is a supplier that has not been very good about
returning calls, sending samples, and has had some mixed quality on the few
parts I've ordered - so don't know if this pattern extends to the information
too. However, period B/W photos do show that there were colors other than
black - but that's all I could tell.
The comments on Valley Wire Wheels were appreciated. I received good
recommendations on both British WW and Valley WW. I plan to ship to one of
these outfits tomorrow.
I'm no expert, but believe you have the right idea on the current tire size
nomenclature: (track width in mm)/(sidewall height/track width ratio) so
a 155/80 would be about a 6.1 inch track with 4.9 inch sidewall. The Series
II manual also shows a 5.9 or 6.0 inch track - though I don't know how the
differences between the radial and bias ply footprints should be considered.
The 4.9 inch sidewall seems to match closely to measurements I've made off of
factory and road test photos.
Bob Douglas
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