846 replies to this topic

[ribz0]

No... not many around now... Not sure if they did or didnt come out with white wheels but have always loved the look... Is the paint on yr car original? Can you tell me what its called and the code please? The Mrs always wanted a red car so this might be the one... heeheehee.... That pic in your garage is the picture I have had in my head for ages... looks fantastic!!

 

Cheers

[timmy850]

The paint isn't original, it was Tartan Red all over when it was new. It was resprayed a custom red about 25 years ago, so we never had a paint code. Sorry that's not very helpful for you!

[jamesmpi]

I have no idea what number I'm up to now (it'd have to be close to 10) but it's the last straw! As soon as I can order in some A008's for the alloys they'll be on the car from now on...

On my old 1963 mk1 I used yoko A032 tyres on my steel rims like yours. Didn't have any problems with them. Trouble is a they don't look very period, but grip really well!!

[Vinay-RS]

What about Dunlop R7s. They are 165s and have a more traditional tread pattern

[timmy850]

On my old 1963 mk1 I used yoko A032 tyres on my steel rims like yours. Didn't have any problems with them. Trouble is a they don't look very period, but grip really well!!

The A032's are really hard to get here, and pretty expensive as well. The A008's can be ordered at pretty much any tyre shop, but the A032's are only available from one national motorsport supplier (or you can import them yourself from the UK).
 

What about Dunlop R7s. They are 165s and have a more traditional tread pattern

They do look really nice, but they are really expensive too.

 

Here is the abridged leaky tyre saga:
-I bought the wheels with 165 Bridgestone tyres which were a bit old and were run tubeless. I removed them to repaint the wheels
-Got the 145 tyres put on at tyre shop 1 with inner tubes (they wouldn't do tubeless)
-Had a flat tyre the next week from a pinched tube during installation. Got a new tube
-Got two flat tyres a few weeks later
-Shop 2 installed some valves for me
-Valves were too small for the holes in the rims and tyres deflated so I had a bigger valve installed which worked fine
-One of the tyres that still has a tube had a flat
-Shop 2 wouldn't install valves anymore so they put another tube in
-Another flat tyre last week...

I'm sure they'd be perfectly fine if the tyre shop would install them tubeless with the correct sized valve. That's proved to be a real challenge though!

Adding on top of the tyres being leaky is that they are getting pretty low in tread too. I'd already decided that when the tyres ran out of tread I'd replace them with some A008's. I'd also decided after the flat I got last year that if I got another flat tyre I'd replace the steel wheels with something else...

 

I'd always like these wheels so they seemed like a good option and they fit the car really well too. There's lots of photos of them on page 7 (the tyres don't have enough tread to use at the moment). 

[timmy850]

I weighed the wheels on the balance yesterday:

Reverse steel wheel (10x4.5") + 145 tyre + inner tube + hub cap and nuts = 9.5kg (~21 pounds)

Contessa alloy wheel (10x5") + 165 tyre + nuts = 8.2kg (~18 pounds). The alloy by itself is under 3kg, which is super light! 

 

So the alloy wheel is 15% lighter, half an inch wider and has wider tyres too. 

[Jared Mk3]

Winning!

[Vinay-RS]

Success. 

[timmy850]

I got the new set of A008's during the week. I took the car out for a run through the country roads and it drove really well. I hadn't driven it for about a month and it really put a smile on my face!

I also got a set of switch extenders





The wheels and tyres need a clean to make them look nice and shiny...

[Jared Mk3]

Definitely keep these wheels on the car. Uniquely Australian. :)

[Vinay-RS]

Agreed, those wheels look great!

[megamini_jb]

Looks great! Keep them wheels on

[timmy850]

Definitely keep these wheels on the car. Uniquely Australian. :)

Agreed, those wheels look great!

Looks great! Keep them wheels on

Thanks guys!

I was on the lookout for a linkage and heat shields for my twin carbs... Somehow I've ended up with a set of Cooper S carbs from a Mk1

Edited by timmy850, 30 June 2017 - 10:55 AM.

[Vinay-RS]

Nice find! They'll look great on your mk1 :)

[timmy850]

Nice find! They'll look great on your mk1 :)

Thanks!

I seem to have a thing for SU carbs...

Edited by timmy850, 30 June 2017 - 10:54 AM.